Academic Essay
Academic Essay 3 - Importance of Body Development and Transitions
An essential component of an essay is its body paragraphs. Without them, you have a great opinion that falls gracelessly to the ground because it lacks support.
Body paragraphs (and truly every paragraph in an essay) should be unified, coherent, and well developed.
When a paragraph is unified, every sentence in that paragraph supports the essay's thesis.
When a paragraph is coherent, every sentence in that paragraph is presented logically and is arranged in a way that provides strong transitional flow, and again, supports the thesis and overall development of the essay.
When a paragraph is well-developed, evidence and details are provided as concrete, visual proof that supports your thesis.
To have a strong body paragraph that is unified, coherent, and well-developed, you must do four things:
Write a topic sentence that illustrates the paragraph’s (or paragraphs') purpose.
Supply concrete and specific details and examples to explain generalities and support your essay's thesis.
Close the paragraph in a way that restates the topic sentence and ties the paragraph back to the essay's thesis.
Have transitions that make for smooth reading within a paragraph as well as between paragraphs.
Topic Sentence
The topic sentence is typically the first sentence in a paragraph, and it introduces the paragraph's main idea. Topic sentences are, essentially, “mini-theses.” The thesis tells the reader what the essay's main purpose is, and a topic sentence tells the reader what each body section's purpose is.
Supporting Sentences
Supporting sentences come after the topic sentence and make up the body of the paragraph. Supporting sentences give details and evidence that develop and support the topic sentence. Facts, details, and examples are ways to add support to a paragraph.
Closing Sentence
The last sentence of a paragraph (or set of paragraphs - a body section) should
An essential component of an essay is its body paragraphs. Without them, you have a great opinion that falls gracelessly to the ground because it lacks support.
Body paragraphs (and truly every paragraph in an essay) should be unified, coherent, and well developed.
When a paragraph is unified, every sentence in that paragraph supports the essay's thesis.
When a paragraph is coherent, every sentence in that paragraph is presented logically and is arranged in a way that provides strong transitional flow, and again, supports the thesis and overall development of the essay.
When a paragraph is well-developed, evidence and details are provided as concrete, visual proof that supports your thesis.
To have a strong body paragraph that is unified, coherent, and well-developed, you must do four things:
Write a topic sentence that illustrates the paragraph’s (or paragraphs') purpose.
Supply concrete and specific details and examples to explain generalities and support your essay's thesis.
Close the paragraph in a way that restates the topic sentence and ties the paragraph back to the essay's thesis.
Have transitions that make for smooth reading within a paragraph as well as between paragraphs.
Topic Sentence
The topic sentence is typically the first sentence in a paragraph, and it introduces the paragraph's main idea. Topic sentences are, essentially, “mini-theses.” The thesis tells the reader what the essay's main purpose is, and a topic sentence tells the reader what each body section's purpose is.
Supporting Sentences
Supporting sentences come after the topic sentence and make up the body of the paragraph. Supporting sentences give details and evidence that develop and support the topic sentence. Facts, details, and examples are ways to add support to a paragraph.
Closing Sentence
The last sentence of a paragraph (or set of paragraphs - a body section) should