Writing a Body Paragraph

In an essay or similar written work, ​your paper will usually have 3 body paragraphs
between the introduction and conclusion paragraph.

These paragraphs will follow the same format, which you can see below. Keep in mind that ​in
one body paragraph, there should be one main comparison consistently​ written about
within the suggested number of lines of 7-10.

A body paragraph should include the 3 or 4 parts below:

1. Topic sentence
2. Explanation
3. Examples of 2 quotations
4. Concluding sentence

Step 1 - Writing a Topic Sentence

A topic sentence is the line that describes one of the comparisons you wrote about in your line
of development. It should be as clear and concise as you can write it. Don’t worry if you feel like
a sentence won’t cover the comparison completely; that’s what the explanation and the
example(s) are for in the rest of the paragraph.

Step 2 - Writing an Explanation

An explanation helps you show more details about your main idea. You may describe the
reason why your comparison is important, or describe this comparison in more detail.

Step 3 - Writing Example(s) with Quotations

In this part, you can emphasize your comparison by using quotes to prove your point. It is ideal
to have 1 quote from each source, and to keep each quote shorter than 3 lines. It’s important to
write more about your analysis or elaboration of the quote than to show the quote itself on your
paper.
Step 4 - Writing a Concluding Sentence

A concluding sentence summarizes and rephrases the main idea in the body paragraph.

Check out an example on the next page with the colour-coordinated parts. Also, the example
starts with an indented first line. On your keyboard, you can find the “tab” key or a key with an
arrow, most likely on the left side of the Q key. If you’re having trouble finding the “tab” key, just
add 7 spaces at the start of each paragraph in your written work.

Example:

“The Cask of Amontillado” (“The Cask”) and “The Fall of the House of Usher” (“The

House”) both happened in settings most people find frightening.​ Since both of them are similar

in terms of their settings, it is easy to compare the two stories written by the same author, Poe.

“The Cask” describes the setting as “a deep crypt” (Poe) indicating that they are in a

mausoleum where dead people are buried, and not only that, but the word “deep” emphasizes

the abundant amount of dead people in this setting. Similarly, in “The House”, the narrator

mentions the word “coffin” (Poe) a few times, indicating a comparable setting where a dead

body is placed.​ From this, it is evident that both settings show a direct comparison of what can

be seen as horrific--a tomb where the dead lie.

by Maria Asuncion