Body paragraphs

In your essay, you will have four paragraphs:

1. Introduction
2. Body paragraph one
3. Body paragraph two
4. Conclusion

You've already learned how to write your introduction, so now we will move on to how to structure your body paragraphs. There are only two types of sentences you need: topic sentences and supporting sentences. You should use one topic sentence followed by three supporting sentences.

Topic sentences

The topic sentence will always be the first sentence of your body paragraph. The purpose of this sentence is to tell you what the topic of the paragraph will be. This sentence is another where you want to keep things simple to make your structure obvious to the examiner. In fact, topic sentences will often be very simple sentences using 'is' or 'are'. These should also be very specific. Don’t just say ‘there are many problems’ or ‘there are many advantages’.

Supporting sentences

These sentences are there to support the topic sentence. This is usually about persuading the reader that the topic sentence is true or giving more information about it. Supporting sentences are the best place to show off your complex grammar. Tomorrow we will learn a framework for deciding what you will write in these sentences.

Understanding coherence and cohesion

In the introduction to this course, I described how two of the IELTS writing grading criteria are related to structure. One of these is 'coherence and cohesion'. Take a look at what this coherence and cohesion looks at from level 5-7

• Band 7: Logically organises information and ideas. Presents a clear central topic within each paragraph.
• Band 6: Arranges information and ideas coherently. Uses paragraphing, but not always logically.
• Band 5: Presents information with some organisation. May not write in paragraphs, or paragraphing may be inadequate.

What we can see from this is that the examiners will be looking for your sentences to be well organised and logical with a clear topic for each one. The first way to achieve that in your body paragraphs is to pick a fairly narrow topic for each one and be specific about what it will be. Second, you should make sure there is a strong link between your topic sentences and your supporting sentences. Pay special attention to this as you get to the end of your paragraphs. It is easy to drift onto another topic.

What is a background sentence?
The background sentence is the first sentence of your essay. It has one job: to introduce the topic. Starting an essay without giving some background would sound very abrupt so it is important to include some.

How to write a background sentence
To write this sentence, we can use information from the question. Some people call this paraphrasing. This means taking the information from the question and changing how it's written. However, you need to be careful because there is a good and a bad type of paraphrasing.

Bad paraphrasing
The bad way of paraphrasing involves changing individual words in the question. This is bad because it is usually very obvious what you have done and because it ends up with quite strange sounding sentences. 

For example, how does it sound if I paraphrase this: 

A reliance on cars to get around causes issues in many cities. What are some of these problems and what are some solutions? 

To this:

A dependence on automobiles to travel around causes problems in many metropolises. 

By changing individual words, we have created quite a weird sounding sentence! Luckily, there is a better way.

Good paraphrasing
Instead of trying to change individual words, what we are going to do is keep the main idea of the sentence while writing it in our own words. There is a simple two-step process for this:

1. Read the background information in the question and gain a deep understanding of what it means. 
2. Without looking at the question, write your own version of the background information. 

During step two, you might even find it helpful to cover up the question with a piece of paper or your hand. Using this process, your sentences will be much more natural sounding. They'll sound like something written by a human being because they are!

Example paragraphs

Financially supporting parents to not work can be beneficial to their children’s development. Because many parents only work because they have a financial need, this type of subsidy can encourage many of them to give up their careers and spend time at home. If children spend more time with their parents, this can help them with their emotional and intellectual development. For example, having a parent who is always at home to talk to can help toddlers learn to speak more fluently and be more in touch with their emotions.

In this example, we can see that this body paragraph has a strong idea: giving money to parents so they can stay home is good for their children's development. I have expressed this in a simple sentence. I have then written three supporting sentences. All of these are related to my topic sentence.

One reason that people do not want to cycle in modern cities is that roads are very dangerous. As cities have become more populated, the number of cars on the road has increased, making roads more dangerous for cyclists. In addition, because of the increasing popularity of large cars, like SUVs, the consequences for cyclists of being in a car accident have become more severe. If the number and consequences of road traffic accidents becomes worse, it is only natural for cyclists to take to the road in fewer numbers.

Similarly, this body paragraph has a nice simple topic sentence with three supporting sentences. The supporting sentences all have a close link to the topic sentence. You can also see that I have added all my complex grammar into the supporting sentences.

Check your understanding: Body Paragraph Structure

These daily quizzes are here for you to check if you've understood the key points of the course. If you get anything wrong, it might be a good idea to go back and check your understanding. Of course, if you have any questions, you can let me know by leaving a comment, sending an email or heading over to the Facebook Group 

How many supporting sentences should you use? One Three Five

Which of these are the best place for showing off complex grammar? Topic and supporting sentences Topic sentences Supporting sentences

Which of these is NOT a part of coherence and cohesion? Organising your ideas well. Having a clear central topic for each body paragraph. Answering the question.

The topic sentence is always... The first sentence of a body paragraph. The last sentence of a body paragraph. introduced with 'The topic of this paragraph is...'

Exercise

If you've been keeping up with these exercises, you should have already written an introduction to this IELTS question:

Celebrities can often be found sharing their views on political issues that have nothing to do with their profession. Is this a positive or a negative development?

Instead of going sentence by sentence, we're going to be doing things slightly differently today. I want you to write a whole body paragraph. To do this, start by taking a look at your outline from yesterday. You should use what is in the outline to determine what your topic sentence is. Then write three supporting sentences to back it up.

We'll be looking in more detail about what to write in your body paragraphs tomorrow, so if you get stuck, come back after that class.

Don't forget to post your paragraph as a comment.