Need a structured way to write paragraphs for the main body of your essays? Try this seven-step approach:
- Start with a topic sentence. This sentence encapsulates your topic for this particular paragraph – your primary point, what will happen in the paragraph and how it relates to the main thesis.
- Explain the topic sentence. Sometimes, the topic sentence is enough. Other times, it needs to be expanded. Adding one or two sentences to more fully explain it is perfectly acceptable.
- Introduce an evidence. When you’re proving a point, you need evidence to back it up. Before you can present one, it pays to get the reader ready by offering a brief summary to provide context and identifying the source.
- State the evidence. Once you’ve laid the groundwork, state the evidence.
- Explain the evidence. After stating the evidence, you need to explain your interpretation of it, as well as how it ties in to your various arguments. Not doing so will leave the reader to guess what a piece of evidence actually means.
- Repeat 5 and 6 as necessary. If you have more evidence to present, then do so.
- End with a concluding sentence. Avoid ending paragraphs abruptly. Instead, use a concluding sentence that reasserts how the paragraph contributes to advance the paper’s main thesis.
Of course, strong paragraphs need to exhibit mechanical correctness too. As such, we encourage you to employ an advanced English program for writing, particularly one geared towards students and academic use.
