What is the “body” of an essay?
The body, or body paragraphs, is where your essay is developed using concrete details to develop and support your purpose, or assertions. Your body should develop all the points of your thesis so that you essay covers what your thesis promises. The body paragraphs should have unity, appropriate transitions, and logically moves toward a conclusion. The body should contain at least three paragraphs that never lose focus of the essay’s topic, subject, or purpose.
Body Paragraph
The body paragraph is "the meat" of an essay. It is one of the most important components of an essay. A body paragraph expands upon and supports the thesis statement located in the first introductory paragraph. The body paragraph provides details that move the thesis forward. A body paragraph contains:
- A topic sentence that goes in-depth about the thesis
- Develops an idea that support an essay's thesis
- An ending sentence that helps transition to the next paragraph and wraps up the ideas developed in the paragraph
Thesis Statement Extensions
The body paragraph should always connect back to the thesis statement. Each body paragraph is an extension of the thesis statement that is more detailed. The following chart shows how the thesis statement and the body paragraphs are connected to one another.
Elements of a Body Paragraph
A body paragraph has unity, a topic sentence, transition, and progresses towards a conclusion. Unity in a paragraph is the single focus of the paragraph from beginning to the end. A topic sentence is what the paragraph will deal with and summarizes the general idea of the paragraph. Transition is used in an essay to show that there is another idea being discussed. Transition bridges one body paragraph to another. The body paragraphs progresses towards a conclusion by discussing all ideas related to the thesis statement.
Works Cited
Paragraphs: The body of an essay