A Body Paragraph
Where does a body
paragraph fit into the
research paper process?
1
Brainstorm
the topic
2
Make it more
specific
Write down
your topic
3
Research
Source cards
Note cards
8
7
MLA citations
Outline
Copy & paste works
cited page to back of
research paper
12
14
Thesis
sentence
Introductory
& concluding
paragraphs
11
13
Parenthetical citations
9
10
Works cited page
Body
paragraphs
• A body paragraph is the basic
paragraph of a research paper or an
essay.
• Body paragraphs are all the paragraphs
between the introductory paragraph
and the conclusion.
• Body paragraphs support and prove
your thesis.
• You learned about them in middle
school:
Introduction
Body paragraph #1
Body paragraph #2
Body paragraph #3
Conclusion
We’re going to learn how to write an
effective body paragraph for a
research paper.
The body paragraph’s structure may
remind you of a certain food.
Which of these three is your
favorite?
The McParagraph
logic:
Topic sentence
Topic
sentence
Support sentence 1
Support reason 1
Proof sentence 1
Support reason 2
Support sentence 2
Support reason 3
Proof sentence 2
Support sentence 3
Conclusion
Proof sentence 3
The McParagraph
sentences:
Concluding
sentence
Topic Sentences
• Topic sentences state the main idea of
the paragraph.
• The rest of the paragraph must expand
on, describe, or prove what the topic
sentence states in some way.
• A good topic sentence make a point
and suggests the logical structure of
the rest of the paragraph.
Which are good topic sentences?
• Texas has 267,000 square miles.
• Texas is so big that you can find many
things to do.
• There are several ways of accurately
telling how old fossils are.
• The animal dies and sinks to the sea
floor.
Topic sentence
Support sentence 1
Proof sentence 1
Now we’ll look
at support and
proof sentences
Support sentence 2
Proof sentence 2
Support sentence 3
Proof sentence 3
Concluding
sentence
• A topic sentence is the first sentence in
your body paragraph.
• A support sentence gives a reason in
support of the paragraph’s topic
sentence.
• A proof sentence proves a support
sentence by providing a detail or
quotation from a source.
• A conclusion (one sentence) refers
back to the topic, provides a logical
closing, and may provide a transition to
the next body paragraph.
What makes each sentence in the
following body paragraph what it is:
a topic, support, proof, or
concluding sentence?
The political success of Lincoln's speech - the last speech
in a series sponsored by the Young Men's Central Republican
Union of New York that winter (Holtzer 13) - had something to do
with timing and luck. A sizable number of Republican leaders
were worried that the front-running candidate, New York Senator
William Henry Seward, was perceived by the Northern electorate
as too close to the unpopular abolitionist movement (Holtzer 32).
“Lincoln’s best ally in the winter of 1860 was his lack of
association with the abolitionists in the mind of New Yorkers,”
according to Holtzer (32). Republicans were worried also that
Seward has little appeal in the West (Illinois, Ohio, etc.) (Burris
126). Burris asserts that “Indiana and Illinois Republicans
perceived Seward as an Eastern liberal” (127). Lincoln also
benefited from the political machinations of the speech series’s
sponsors. The Young Republicans planned the speech series
ostensibly to introduce alternative candidates to Seward, but the
real motivation of the group's leader, James A. Briggs, was to
damage Seward enough to promote his favorite alternative, Ohio
governor Salmon P. Chase (Holtzer 34). The Republican party’s
soul-searching and the secret motivations of the series sponsors
gave Lincoln the opening he needed.
Topic
Support
Proof
Support
Proof
Support
Proof