Components of Body Paragraphs

In a typical body paragraph there is one topic sentence and one conclusion, but many reasons/details/facts accompanied by lots of explanation. Generally speaking, the topic sentence introduces the main focus of the paragraph, and RDFs + Es support the topic sentence. In more developed writing, the topic sentence may be placed within the paragraph or even at the end for effect.

1. Topic Sentence (TS) - Controls the content and direction of the paragraph, and states clearly what you aim to prove or discuss in the paragraph.
2. Reason/Detail/Fact (RDF) (a.k.a. "Evidence") - Factual data such as a direct quote from a source, a summary of part of a source, or a paraphrase from a source. This is the "evidence" that you will explain in the next step.
3. Explanation (E) (a.k.a. "Commentary") - The key sentences in your body paragraph that help the reader understand what your evidence shows or reveals. This is the "meat" of any body paragraph that shows how you interpret the data.
4. Conclusion (C) - A re-statement of the topic sentence (main point or argument of the paragraph).

There are example paragraphs below, but before you read them, a note about responsible authorship:

• Many students simply quote, summarize, and paraphrase happily, composing a paper that contains absolutely no original thinking whatsoever. Often this is because in earlier grades they were simply asked to find data and present that data without making any conclusions about what it meant.
• True research paper writing for high school and college does not simply repeat what others have said. Quality research introduces a unique position on a topic. Quality researchers look at the raw data and make conclusions and comments about it. << 2011 Spring Research Paper: In this paper, you extend the research data to make a conclusion/proposition about how the topic/issue will have relevance for the future. >>
• Expository writing - like literary analysis - avoids re-telling a story or chapter. Instead, it emphasizes the student author's interpretation of the text being studied. In early drafts, it is fine to include lots of summary from the original text, but ultimately, the discussions in body paragraphs should be heavy on the "E's" to show how the student is making sense of the text. 
• After you summarize, paraphrase, or quote directly, you ought to pause and consider what you can conclude from what you've just read. "Now that you have the facts, what do those facts seem to tell you?" What does source material tell me? Quotes from a text can:

reveal

show

explain

illustrate

demonstrate

emphasize

present

establish

exhibit

expose

indicate

make evident

prove

and even validate

We use textual quotes to help support greater arguments, usually those assertions that control a main point in our paper.

Sample Body Paragraphs - Growing in Sophistication

Here is a short sample body paragraph from a ninth-grade essay on how Odysseus from "They Odyssey" should be considered a hero:

This is a paragraph from a student writing on natural imagery in Kate Chopin's "The Story of an Hour"

     (Transition) Chopin begins to connect the emotions of Louise Mallard and the natural elements outside her bedroom window as Mallard sees the trees “aquiver with the new spring life.” (RDF) Under normal circumstances, when one receives news of the death of a loved one, sadness results, and if this is represented symbolically, dark colors and dreary images come to mind. However, Mallard does not encounter darkness nor dreariness. (TS) She sees the new growth on the trees outside, and new growth indicates a new beginning, not only for the tree branches, but for Mallard as well. (RDF) The new growth comes during spring, the season we associate with new life, and this points to Mallard’s rejuvenation, as spring is associated with new life such as blossoms and love. (E) That Mallard notices this natural indication of vibrant, new growth when she first enters the room reveals Chopin’s connection between her main character and that character’s emerging sense of freedom brought about by the death of her husband.

Here is a short sample body paragraph from a tenth-grade essay on Poe's short story "The Fall of the House of Usher":

(TS) Poe uses the dark words and images to point the reader to the evil deeds inside the house, as seen with regard to the “atmosphere” that surrounds the property. (RDF) When the narrator flees the home and looks back, the moon shines blood-red through the fissure cracking the house in two. (E) In order for the moon to show red, its white light must be filtered. (E) Because the narrator views the moon through the gap in the house, the filter that causes the crimson light is the atmosphere of the house itself. (E) The bloody deeds of Usher and his sister – Roderick’s burial of a half-dead Madeline and her subsequent escape and murder of her brother - color the atmosphere of the home in the red of bloody murder. (C) Poe uses the crimson filtering of the moonlight through the crack in the house to symbolize the evil deeds of brother and sister.

Here is a paragraph from a research paper on Chinese railroad workers. In this paragraph, the author wants to show the different types of discrimination the Chinese experienced.

(TS) The Chinese hired to work on the railroads experienced discrimination in many forms. (RDF) This discrimination was present even before the Chinese were hired to begin work, as railroad bosses were hesitant to hire Chinese workers despite a need to speed up the railroad work with more reliable workers. (RDF) As Steiner states, "So convinced were the white railroad men that these 'celestial monkeys' could not do the work of white men that when James Strobridge, the tough-minded Irish work boss of the Central Pacific, was ordered to hire Chinese men he exploded with rage: 'I will not boss Chinese. I will not be responsible for work done on the road by Chinese labor. From what I've seen of them, they're not fit laborers anyway. I don't think they can build a railroad.'" (Steiner, 1979). (E) This quote from Steiner reveals the belief that the Chinese would not be able to accomplish the work required to complete the railroad. (E) Strobridge says clearly that he will "not be responsible for the work done ... by Chinese labor," showing his worry that should he hire them, they would not do quality work. (RDF) The discrimination displayed by Strobridge was not singular. (RDF) The Irish railroad workers, who had been the target of discrimination from American managers and workers, had been looking for a group to take their pent-up rage. (RDF) The Chinese were a perfect target, and the Irish workers demonstrated their dislike in often violent ways. (RDF)One railroad surveyor reported that at one point, competing railroad workers were laying track parallel to one another. One crew was Irish, the other Chinese. (RDF) The Irish would lay charges and explode them without warning the Chinese, and as a result many Chinese were killed or severely injured. (Steiner, 1979) (E) These examples reveal discrimination in two ways. First, there was a pre-disposition to disrespect the Chinese workers, as shown through Strobridge's disbelief that the Chinese could produce quality work. (E) Second, the Irish illustrated their dislike of the Chinese by directly attacking them with their own blasting. ...(The paragraph goes on to explain how they experienced discrimination based on physical characteristics.) 

For details on how to include citations in your body paragraphs, see "In-Text Citations" 

For something completely different and daring, check out this paragraph that analyses the importance of setting in Hemingway's "Hills Like White Elephants". This student author accomplishes his task, but does so outside the strict rules of TS-RDF-E. Instead, they pose possible interpretations in order to illustrate the complexity of setting.

     When the reader first encounters Hemingway’s short story, it may be difficult to decipher exactly what the two characters discuss. There is talk of an operation, and an apparent disagreement about what the future holds. The two characters appear to discuss a decision, the man stating he does not want the woman to have the operation if she is not comfortable, and the woman responding that she wants their life to return to the way it was, that recently there have been problems. It is here that setting can help illuminate the decision the characters face. The only operation a woman would have that “lets the air in” is an abortion. The validity of this becomes apparent when the narrator describes the surrounding landscape. The landscape on the side the man and the woman sit is barren and devoid of life, yet there are hills the woman says “look like white elephants.” The ancient white elephant was a gift given that on the surface appears valuable yet later becomes a draining burden. Her dreamy observation relates that side of the railroad station with an future burden. Since they discuss a possible abortion, it may at first make sense to believe the barren side of the tracks parallels the decision to terminate the pregnancy, since the death of the unborn child could be symbolized by the lack of life on the landscape. Yet this becomes problematic when we find that the hills are round and rolling, and the woman says they look like they have “skin.” When she finds the hills later “lovely” as opposed to threatening, the reader senses a change in her view. It is now more likely that she sees the hills as a woman’s body, and the beauty of pregnancy is “lovely.” If this is the case, then this apparently barren landscape would represent a life with the child – the keeping of the baby. The reader may become confused due to the barren landscape. Why would Hemingway associate a dead landscape with keeping a child? This questions leads to the third potential interpretation of the landscape on this side of the railroad tracks: The brown, barren land has nothing to do with the child, but with the potential future of the couple. The fact that the couple and the station are situated strategically in the middle of the two tracks suggests they are in the middle of a decision; they have not made it yet. As they talk, the woman states she wants the happiness they once felt before the pregnancy. The man encourages her to have the operation, suggesting that neither desires a change in their lifestyle, which the reader is told is full of traveling and drinking. If they keep the child, then they will be “tied down” to that child, not free to move about the world “seeing things.” At this point, the full meaning of the barren landscape becomes clear: The couple’s future would lack the adventure and excitement it has now should they decide to forego the abortion. A child would be like a white elephant – eventually becoming a burden. The dead, brown land reflects how their lives would be emptied of the carefree nature they have now living simply for themselves.