Writing Your Paper 2: Drafting

A paragraph is a block of sentences that all focus on the same topic. After the introduction, your paper will be made up of multiple body paragraphs.

If you can, think of a body paragraph as being like a hamburger. 

• The top bun of that hamburger is your topic sentence. A topic sentence provides a mini summary of your paragraph’s main idea and looks back to your thesis and forward to the paragraph. 
• Then, the meat of the paragraph is your evidence to support the main idea. Along with the meat, you’ve got commentary by you unpacking the quoted material for readers. 
• Lastly, the bottom bun of the hamburger is your closing. The closing sentence(s) provides the paragraph with a finished feeling and connects to the thesis again. The bottom bun usually does NOT lead into the next paragraph. Instead, the closing deepens the significance of the paragraph’s main point and connects, again, to the thesis. 

Topic sentences are mini summaries of the paragraph to follow and, at the same time, relate to your thesis to help focus your paper.

Here are some examples of strong topic sentences: Topic Sentences (sjsu.edu)

To move smoothly from one topic to the next, a topic sentence often includes a transition from the previous topic. Our page on transitions goes into more depth about how to create effective transitions.

Most of the paragraph will be made up of content that supports your topic sentence. This might include

• Summarizing, paraphrasing, or quoting from sources
• Examples
• Analysis
• Information or explanation
• Comparing and contrasting

The "meat" of the paragraph needs to be unified and focused. In other words, each sentence should relate to the sentence before and after it, and everything should relate to the main idea introduced by the topic sentence.

Fast-fashion not only exploits workers, but is also environmentally damaging. [topic sentence with transition] It takes about 400 gallons of water to produce cotton for a T-shirt, and 2,700 gallons of water for jeans. These numbers do not include the water needed for making and dying fabric. In a CNN article, Helen Regan reports how during the fabric production process in India, China, or Bangladesh, many of the chemicals used are released into rivers without much filtering. As a result, nearby rivers routinely turn red, blue, or green depending on what the color of production of the day is. [evidence and explanation] While colors might be visible, the dangerous chemicals remain invisible, yet dangerous for local residents. [final sentence emphasizing the significance of the paragraph's topic]

From "How Clothes Harm the Environment," Tala Tabishat, Contexts, Vol.21 (1), p.54-56