15 Writing Topic Sentences and Body Paragraphs
Learning Objectives
After completing this chapter, you will be able to
- identify characteristics of a body paragraph
- create an effective topic sentences
- evaluate the effectiveness of support within body paragraphs
- recognize concluding statements
In academic writing, Canadian professors expect you to adhere to a very specific and formal organization. This organizational style reflects the direct, linear, and explicit style of communication preferred by low-context cultures.
Basic Paragraph Structure
Composing an effective paragraph is like building a house. You may have the finest content, or materials, but if you do not arrange them in the correct order, then the final product will not hold together very well.
Imagine that your paragraph (like your essay) is a big, juicy hamburger:
- Top bun: The topic sentence introduces the writer’s stance and main topic of the paragraph.
- Meat: The middle of the paragraph contains many sentences with cited evidence that supports the writer’s stance on the specific paragraph topic.
- Bottom bun: The concluding statement restates the topic and stance.
Developing a Topic Sentence
The foundation of a good paragraph is the topic sentence, which expresses the main idea of the paragraph. The topic sentence is the “top bun” of your paragraph.
The topic sentence relates to the thesis of the essay and guides the reader by signposting what the paragraph is about. All of the sentences in the rest of the paragraph must support the topic sentence. An effective topic sentence reminds the reader of the main topic and stance as given in the thesis statement and introduces the specific topic of that paragraph. Review the following example:
Research question: How does culture shock affect international students?
Thesis statement: Culture shock negatively affects international students psychologically, physically, and academically.
The thesis answers the research question by stating the topic (culture shock and international students), suggesting the controlling idea or point of view (culture shock is negative), and listing the supporting topics that will be discussed in the subsequent body paragraphs: body paragraph 1 = negative psychological effects; body paragraph 2 = negative physical effects; body paragraph 3 = negative academic effects.
Example topic sentence for body paragraph #1: Upon arriving in Canada, international students may experience some psychological discomfort resulting from culture shock.
This is a good topic sentence because it
- reminds of us of the specific topic as stated in the thesis: culture shock affects international students
- clearly states the stance: the writer believes culture shock is a negative experience. This idea is expressed with the word discomfort.
- clearly states the topic of this specific paragraph: this paragraph is about psychological effects of culture shock. This paragraph will NOT discuss physical or academic effects; those effects will be discussed in body paragraphs 2 and 3.
Tip: When writing a draft of an essay, allow a friend or colleague to read the opening line of your first paragraph. Ask your reader to predict what your research question was and what your body paragraph will be about. If your reader is confused, you should consider revising your topic sentence so that it clearly connects back to your thesis and properly introduces the topic of the paragraph.
Exercise 1
Using the tips on developing effective topic sentences in this section, create topic sentences for one of these thesis statements:
- Low-context managers can effectively lead high-context staff by prioritizing relationships and being more flexible with time.
- Managers should strive to hire diverse employees as diversity in the workforce contributes to greater levels of innovation and customer satisfaction.
- Studying abroad is beneficial for students who want to grow personally, academically, and professionally.
- Do you have one topic sentence for each topic listed in the thesis?
- Do your topic sentences remind the reader of the thesis topic and stance?
- Do your topic clearly state the one specific topic of the paragraph?
- Are they in your own words (not a quote or paraphrase)?
- Do they start with a transitional element?
Support in Body Paragraphs
Your topic sentence introduces the “topic” of the paragraph. You need to divide your topic into two or three subtopics or main ideas. Each main idea needs to be supported by specific evidence from your research. Consider the basic outline and body paragraph below.
Thesis: Bylaws should be changed to allow raising chickens in the city so that residents can consume an excellent source of protein, be more environmentally friendly, and enjoy a unique opportunity for companionship and education.
Outline for Body Paragraph #1:
| Topic Sentence #1 | First of all, if an urban family can raise their own chickens, they will have convenient access to a great source of food right in their backyard. |
| Main idea 1 | First of all, chickens produce free and fresh eggs. |
| Supporting Details | • “The main benefit for many is not to eat the animal itself (although people do eat chickens and goats) but consumption of the food the animals produce” (Bouvier, 2015, para. 1).
• Backyard eggs = fresh, convenient |
| Main idea 2 | Not only are the eggs from chickens fresh and free, but they are also more nutritious than what urban residents can buy in the store. |
| Supporting Details | • protein
• free range eggs have more omega-3 fatty acids, beta-carotene (Bouvier, 2015, para. 2) • Less cholesterol, less saturated fat (Bouvier, 2015, para. 2) • Backyard owners = Pampered chickens = better eggs (Bouvier, 2015, para. 2) |
| Main idea 3 | Even more importantly, these chickens are not products of large-scale chicken farming operations |
| Supporting Details | • large scale = chickens injected with hormones and antibiotics = harmful to humans (Lawrence, 2016, para. 4) |
| Concluding Statement | Clearly, owning a chicken enables families to have easy access to an excellent source of healthy protein. |
Body Paragraph Based on Outline:
First of all, if an urban family can raise their own chickens, they will have convenient access to a great source of food right in their backyard. Obviously, chickens produce food in the form of eggs. As said by Bouvier (2015), “the main benefit for many is not to eat the animal itself [. . . ] but consumption of the food the animals produce” (p. 85). By having chickens laying eggs right in the backyard, chicken owners can be sure that their eggs are absolutely fresh, and they will not have to make a special trip to the store to obtain them. Not only are the eggs from chickens fresh and free, but they are also more nutritious than what urban residents can buy in the store. From a nutritional view, eggs are good sources of protein, and the eggs from backyard chickens have more omega-3 fatty acids and beta-carotene and less cholesterol and saturated fat than eggs purchased at a grocery store (Bouvier, 2015, p. 85). The reason for the superior nutritional value from eggs laid by backyard chickens is that these chickens tend to be pampered by their owners and so are fed better quality feed (Bouvier, 2015, p. 85). Also, it is generally believed that “Keeping chickens in cruel conditions produces a poorer product” (Lawrence, 2016, para. 18). Since backyard chickens have a better diet and a happier life than factory farmed chickens, they produce better eggs. Even more importantly, these backyard chickens are not products of large-scale chicken farming operations. Large-scale chicken farms inject chickens with hormones and antibiotics which can be harmful when consumed regularly by humans (Lawrence, 2016, para. 19). In fact, ingestion of antibiotics can lead to antibiotic resistance in humans (Lawrence, 2016, para. 19). Clearly, owning a chicken enables families to have easy access to an excellent source of healthy protein.
You can see how the writer has used her outline to help her develop this supporting paragraph. In this case, the main idea statements are bolded and colour-coded so you can see how the outline and paragraph match.
Notice the following:
- Every main idea is specifically relevant to the topic of the paragraph as given in the thesis.
- Main idea statements do not contain specific, cited information.
- Transitional elements are used to introduce the main ideas.
- Specific and cited details are provided to support each main idea.
Do not include vague, unsubstantiated statements as support:
Weak supporting detail: Eggs from backyard chickens are nutritious.
Stronger supporting detail: Eggs from backyard chickens have more omega-3 fatty acids and beta-carotene and less cholesterol and saturated fat than eggs purchased at a grocery store (Bouvier, 2015, p. 85).
Concluding Statements
The concluding statement is the “bottom bun” of your paragraph.
Consider the bolded topic sentence (first sentence) and the bolded concluding statement (last sentence) in the paragraph above. Notice how the final sentence echoes the topic sentence. The first and last sentences of your paragraph are your burger “buns”. They simply state the topic of the paragraph. Neither sentence should contain any cited information. Make sure that your conclusion does not introduce any ideas not discussed in your body paragraph and that it does not preview the next paragraph.
