Good writing has a beginning, middle, and end. Beginnings and endings are brief. The majority of an essay is the middle part. That middle part is called the body. The paragraphs that make up that body are called body paragraphs. The purpose of body paragraphs is to explain your ideas. But even body paragraphs have a structure: a beginning, middle, and end. Good writing uses this structure to explain and transition between ideas.
Body Paragraph: Meaning
A body paragraph is one of several paragraphs that make up the body of an essay. Let's take a closer look at what body paragraphs are.
Body paragraphs are the paragraphs that make up the bulk of an essay. They appear between the introduction and conclusion. Each body paragraph covers a different aspect of your main idea.
In a 5-paragraph essay, there are three body paragraphs. Each body paragraph supports your main idea by explaining a different aspect of it.
The Purpose of Body Paragraph
The purpose of body paragraphs is to explain your ideas. In the body paragraphs, you make your arguments, provide evidence, and explain your reasoning. Think of your essay as a literal body. It has feet, a head, and everything in between.
Fig. 1 - Your paragraphs are your body.
A good essay starts with a solid foundation. The introduction is the essay's feet, providing that solid foundation. This foundation sets up the essay so you can build on it.
As you build the essay, you work your way upward, ending at the conclusion. The conclusion is the head of the essay. It completes the picture and allows you to summarize your ideas and look forward to the future.
So, what is between the head and the feet? Everything else! The body paragraphs are like the actual body of your essay. They take up most of the essay. Body paragraphs explain the bulk of your arguments and ideas.
Without the body paragraphs, you would have no essay!
What is the Purpose of Each Body Paragraph?
In a 5-paragraph essay, each body paragraph serves a different purpose. Look at the table below to learn about the purpose of each body paragraph.
| Paragraph | Purpose |
|---|
Body Paragraph 1 | The first body paragraph starts the body of the essay. It explains and supports the essay's most important idea or strongest argument. |
Body Paragraph 2 | The second body paragraph explains the second most important idea or second strongest argument of the essay. |
Body Paragraph 3 | The third body paragraph explains the essay's least important or weakest argument. It builds on the ideas from body paragraphs 1 & 2. It can also be used to address possible counterclaims to your argument IF you were not able to address them throughout your essay. |
Body Paragraph Structure With Examples
The structure of a body paragraph includes a topic sentence, supporting sentences with evidence, and a concluding sentence. Let's take a closer look at each of these features and how to write them.
Topic Sentence
Every body paragraph should begin with a topic sentence.
A topic sentence is a sentence that states the main idea of a paragraph. It states the one thing you want the reader to understand from that paragraph.
A good topic sentence focuses the paragraph. It should be the very first sentence of the paragraph. When writing a topic sentence, ask yourself: what is the one thing I want the reader to get from this paragraph?
A good topic sentence clearly connects to the essay's thesis statement.
A thesis statement is a sentence that summarizes the main point of an essay. It appears at the end of the introduction.
Think of the topic sentence as one part of the thesis statement. It states one important piece of your main idea.
Thesis statement: If we are going to provide equal education for all, teachers will need more support in terms of funding, resources, and professional development.
Topic Sentence Body Paragraph 1: Teachers need more funding to obtain more resources and give them the time and energy needed to focus on student learning.
Topic Sentence Body Paragraph 2: Teachers must be provided with the necessary resources to ensure every student has equal access to classroom materials and content.
Topic Sentence Body Paragraph 3: Teachers need more professional development to learn how to utilize equality-building resources in the classroom and beyond.
Supporting Sentences
If the topic sentence supports the thesis statement, then what supports the topic sentence? Supporting sentences!
Supporting sentences explain the reasons for the main idea of the paragraph. Each paragraph should have multiple supporting sentences that explain the topic sentence.
Fig. 2 - Include supporting sentences.
Every body paragraph should have at least 2-3 supporting sentences. Each sentence should relate to the topic sentence. *Note how each supporting sentence offers a different reason for the argument. Think of supporting sentences as reasons for your argument. What are your reasons?
Topic Sentence: Teachers need more funding to obtain more resources and give them the time and energy needed to focus on student learning.
Supporting Sentence 1: Teachers often pay for resources out of their own pockets, which limits what they can provide students.
Supporting Sentence 2: Teachers do not make enough money to live on, let alone provide their own educational resources.
Supporting Sentence 3: Working multiple jobs distracts teachers from their classes, drains them of energy, and keeps them from seeking out professional development opportunities.
Note how each supporting sentence offers a different reason for the argument. Think of supporting sentences as reasons for your argument. What are your reasons?
Fig. 3 - Support your argument with how work affects people.
Evidence
Back up every supporting sentence with evidence.
Evidence is what you use to support a claim. It includes any facts, examples, or sources that back up your ideas.
Fig. 4 - Supporting sentences need evidence.
Here are some different types of evidence you might use to back up your ideas:
- Facts or statistics
- Quotes from interviews
- Opinions from authors
- Descriptions of events, locations, or images
- Examples from sources
- Definitions of terms
Supporting Sentence: Teachers often pay for resources out of their own pockets, which limits what they can provide students.
Evidence: According to a 2018 survey, 94% percent of teachers spend their own money on supplies and resources for their classrooms every year.1
How can you communicate evidence? There are 3 different ways to do so:
1. Summary
You can summarize a source by overviewing the main ideas of that source. For example, you might summarize the findings of a study. Summaries are helpful when the general gist of a source is all you need to support your idea.
2. Paraphrase
You can also summarize one or two points from a source. This is called paraphrasing. For instance, the evidence in the above example paraphrased one point from an article. Paraphrasing is perfect for pulling important ideas from a source.
3. Direct Quote
Sometimes you need to use the exact words from a source to convey its message. We call the use of a source's exact words a direct quote. Direct quotes are helpful when a source words something perfectly.
Concluding Sentence
Every body paragraph must come to a close. Let the reader know you are wrapping up the paragraph with a concluding sentence. The concluding sentence is the last sentence of the paragraph. It wraps up the paragraph and lets the reader know you are ready to move on to the next point.
A good concluding sentence:
- Briefly summarizes the ideas of the paragraph.
- Provides a sense of closure.
- Signals what is coming next.
Teachers are expected to pay for their own resources with limited funds, limited time, and limited attention to their students' needs.
Body Paragraph Transitions
Once you have the basic structure of a body paragraph, add transitions. Transitions are important for showing how your ideas fit together.
Transitions are words and phrases that show the relationships between ideas.
Transitions help your paper flow from one paragraph to the next. They also show how your paragraphs connect to the thesis statement.
Fig. 5 - Move from one concept to the next.
Transitioning from the Introduction
Add a transition to the topic sentence of Body Paragraph 1. Use transition words (e.g., therefore) that emphasize the relationship between the topic sentence and the thesis statement.
Ask yourself, what part of the thesis statement is this paragraph? Is it the most important idea? The first event? The strongest argument?
Transitioning Between Body Paragraphs
Consider the logical relationship between your paragraphs. Map how one idea goes into the next idea following a line of reasoning. Also, study transitions between paragraphs!
Ask yourself, how do these ideas build on each other? How do reveal another aspect of the main idea of my essay?
Transitioning to Your Conclusion
Urge your reader toward the conclusion using a concluding word (e.g., finally).
Ask yourself, how can I let the reader know this is my final point? How can I show the relationship between this final point and my other ideas?
Body Paragraph Example
Let's look at an example of a body paragraph. Note how each feature is in a different color. Pay attention to how these different features work together to explain the main idea.
Use this table for reference to identify each element:
| Topic Sentence | Supporting Sentence | Evidence | Concluding Sentence | Transition between paragraphs | Transition between ideas |
| | | | | |
Most importantly, teachers need more funding to obtain resources, as well as to give them the time and energy needed to focus on student learning. Teachers often pay for resources out of their own pockets, which limits what they can provide students. According to a 2018 survey, 94% percent of teachers spend their own money on supplies and resources for their classrooms every year.1 Teachers do not make enough money to live on, let alone provide their own educational resources. The same survey found that teachers pay anywhere from $400 to over $1000 per year on average for classroom supplies. Couple this fact with teachers' notoriously low wages, and it's no wonder over one-third of teachers take second jobs. Teachers are expected to pay for their own resources with limited funds, limited time, and limited attention to their students' needs, so how can they be expected to ensure these resources are available to students that need them most?
Body Paragraph - Key Takeaways
- Body paragraphs are the paragraphs that make up the bulk of an essay.
- The purpose of body paragraphs is to explain your ideas.
- In a 5-paragraph essay, each of the three body paragraphs serves a different purpose.
- The structure of a body paragraph includes a topic sentence, supporting sentences with evidence, and a concluding sentence.
- Once you have the basic features of a body paragraph, add transitions to those features to show the relationships between your ideas.
1 Grace Sparks, "94% of teachers spend their own money on school supplies," CNN. 2018.
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