A Body Paragraph

Where does a body paragraph fit into the research paper process?

Brainstorm the topic Make it more specific Write down your topic Research Source cardsNote cards MLA citations Works cited page Parenthetical citations Outline Thesis sentence Body paragraphs Introductory & concluding paragraphs Copy & paste works cited page to back of research paper 14

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:

Conclusion Introduction Body paragraph #1 Body paragraph #2 Body paragraph #3

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?

Support reason 1 Support reason 2 Support reason 3 Topic sentence Conclusion Topic sentence Support sentence 1 Proof sentence 1 Support sentence 2 Proof sentence 2 Support sentence 3 Proof sentence 3 Concluding sentence The McParagraph logic: The McParagraph sentences:

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 Support sentence 2 Proof sentence 2 Support sentence 3 Proof sentence 3 Concluding sentence Now we’ll look at support and proof sentences Now we’ll look at support and proof sentences

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