Please prepare for notes (date and title) in your English notebook. Body Paragraphs Please prepare for notes (date and title) in your English notebook.

Basic Essay Structure Introduction Body Paragraph One (covering 1st reason/point in thesis) Body Paragraph Two (covering 2nd reason/point in thesis) Body Paragraph Three (covering 3rd reason/point in thesis) Conclusion

What is a body paragraph? Body paragraphs are the meat of your essay, and as such are the most important component of your essay. In the body paragraphs, you will expand upon and provide support for the theme you introduced in the first paragraph and will provide the details that move that theme forward. http://students.berkeley.edu/apa/personalstatement/paragraphs.html

Components of a Body Paragraph A topic sentence that expands your theme and makes a transition from the previous paragraph Development of ideas that support your essay's theme Analysis of how your evidence proves/supports your thesis An ending sentence that wraps up the paragraph, and helps to transition into the next paragraph http://students.berkeley.edu/apa/personalstatement/paragraphs.html

In other words, body paragraphs should contain: Main point: the topic sentence, which describes the focus of the paragraph Support: explanations, evidence, and examples that reinforce the main point Transitions: connections between this paragraph and the thesis statement/guiding statement nearby paragraphs

First…Your Topic Sentence Main point All paragraphs should be focused: they should discuss only one major point (also called a controlling idea). That point should connect with the overall focus of the essay (as described in the thesis statement).

Body Paragraph Structure Basically, the topic sentence summarizes the paragraph in the same way that the thesis statement summarizes the whole essay. The rest of the paragraph supports the topic sentence, by explaining it in detail, and then giving an example, or citing evidence that reinforces it.

Support in a Body Paragraph The largest part of any body paragraph is the support: explanations, evidence, and examples. It is not enough to just explain an idea. You need to show specific evidence that supports it as well and explain how it does.

Transitions Body paragraphs do not exist in isolation. They should fit together like a jigsaw puzzle. Transitions show the connections between paragraphs themselves, and the connections between the paragraphs and the overall focus of the essay (the thesis statement).