Essay paper
Strong Body Paragraphs
A strong body paragraph explains, proves, and/or supports your paper’s
argumentative claim or thesis statement. If you’re not sure how to craft one, try
using this handy guide!
1. INSERT A TOPIC SENTENCE:
Encapsulates and organizes an entire paragraph. Although topic sentences may appear
anywhere in a paragraph, in academic essays they often appear at the beginning. When
creating a topic sentence, ask yourself what‟s going on in your paragraph. Why you
chosen to include the information you have? Why is the paragraph important in the
context of your argument or thesis statement? What point are your trying to make?
It should be noted that relating your topic sentences to your thesis can help strengthen
the coherence of your essay. If you include an argumentative claim or thesis statement
in your introduction, then think of incorporating a keyword from that statement into the
topic sentence. But you need not be overly explicit when you echo the thesis statement.
Better to be subtle rather than heavy-handed. Do not forget that your topic sentence
should do more than just establish a connection between your paragraph and your
thesis. Use a topic sentence to show how your paragraph contributes to the
development of your argument by moving it that one extra step forward. If your topic
sentence merely restates your thesis, then either your paragraph is redundant or your
topic sentence needs to be reformulated. If several of your topic sentences restate
