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In this lecture, we will be reviewing how to write body paragraphs and conclusions for the standard

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academic essay.

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So let's get started.

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First of all, let's review the body paragraph rules.

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Number one, there are two body paragraphs minimum.

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Normally, within a standard essay, you would write five body paragraphs.

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However, because of our time constraints that we're dealing with, we're only going to focus on writing

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two strong body paragraphs.

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Each body paragraph starts with a well written topic sentence, and in total there should be a minimum

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of 4 to 6 sentences in a standard body paragraph.

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Now, what's the purpose of a body paragraph?

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What purpose does it serve?

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Number one, it acts as a unifier.

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Body paragraphs really unify the writer's ideas under one controlling.

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Under one controlling idea.

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The worst body paragraphs are very scatterbrained, which means that the writing is all over the place

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and completely unfocused.

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No, no controlling idea.

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No focus.

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A body paragraph is supposed to help the reader really follow your argument.

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If the reader loses track of your argument because you have not structured sentences well, or you don't

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have details related to the topic sentence or your topic sentences don't relate to the thesis statement,

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then it becomes very difficult to follow your argument.

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Keep in mind that a great body paragraph will operate like an inverted pyramid.

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It works from general to specific, general to specific.

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The topic sentence is the most general.

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Then it becomes more narrow with the detail.

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And then when you explain the detail, it becomes even more narrow.

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So it's moving like an inverted pyramid.

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Some elements of a strong body paragraph include specific evidence and well explained details.

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If you can really manage that in your writing, you're on your way to obtaining a great score.

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Make sure that you really work on elaborating, evaluating your details, and also interpreting your

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examples.

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You've heard me say before that it's very possible to write a complete body paragraph with just one

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detail.

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If you're elaborating that one detail very well and interpreting the examples to explain what they mean.

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Many times you can just use one detail and it will be a very well written body paragraph.

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Make sure you work on the transitions between sentences and I've been showing you many transitions between

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paragraphs.

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Also, a strong body paragraph has unity and cohesion.

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And I've already talked before about an operating like an inverted pyramid.

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And really, when you think about it, the entire essay operates that way.

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Think about a pyramid picture in your mind what a pyramid looks like very wide at the base.

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And then a point at the top.

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So what I'm asking you to do is turn that upside down point at the bottom wide base at the top.

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That's the way that an essay works.

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The introduction is a very wide base.

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Then the body makes it more narrow.

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Right in the middle is more narrow.

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And then at the very end, at the point, you have a conclusion.

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That's the way the entire essay works.

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That's the way that the introduction works.

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And also body paragraphs.

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Everything is always in that formula of general to specific.

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Now when it comes to the body, paragraph structure is very, very straightforward.

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And here I'm just talking about one body paragraph.

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Every body paragraph follows this same pattern, but we have a topic sentence to start off with.

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Then we move to supporting detail number one.

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Then we extend or explain or illustrate detail number one.

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Then we move into supporting detail number two.

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And following that, we will extend or explain detail number two.

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Please note that it's not necessary to write a transition or conclusion sentence at the end of a paragraph.

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They're nice to do, but very often students don't write them correctly and end up hurting themselves.

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So it's not necessary.

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But I will show you in a couple of my body paragraphs exactly how to write a concluding sentence or

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a transition sentence.

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Well, you've seen the transition sentences because many times I will connect my paragraphs together

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with the language that's starting this second body paragraph.

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Now when it comes to conclusions, to essay conclusions, the sentence limitation is 2 to 3.

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Don't write more than two or three sentences.

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And point number two is really, really important.

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Don't add new information.

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Under no circumstances are you allowed to add new information to a conclusion.

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You want to restate your thesis statement in a different way.

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Remind the reader that you have proven the thesis in the paper.

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And then finally provide some argument context.

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Tell the reader what you want them to do.

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Write.

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Tell them why the topic was timely or is timely or important.

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Give them a call to action.

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That's what you want to do.

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Number 0.3 and point four is all you need to worry about when it comes to doing a proper conclusion.

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All right.

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So we're going to move into the body paragraph and conclusion portion, and we're going to start off

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with the very first one.

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And most likely, as in all the other lectures, it will be dealing with boarding schools being good

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or bad and discussing both sides.

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Now, for that one, as I've done previously, I'm going to write it and talk about the sentence structure

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as I'm writing it.

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And then in the following, in the following slides, we'll be looking at already prepared paragraphs.

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So I can really just talk to you about how to structure a body paragraph.

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It doesn't matter what question, there's no different style or there's no difference between a problem,

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solution structure and a agree disagree structure is the exact same structure.

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Topic sentence detail one expand detail one detail to expand detail to and to then give a concluding

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sentence on a body paragraph if you want to not necessary, but if you want to, and it's going to help

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you with your word count possible.