Body Paragraph Structure

What not to do

Take a look at this example paragraph:

There are many good reasons to fund bicycle ownership. First, bicycles help to make people healthy by offering a good daily workout. Also, bicycles can help reduce traffic congestion because they take up less room on the road. Finally, as one of the cheapest vehicles around, they can help people save money on their transport costs.

This is an example of what not to do in your body paragraphs. I often call this type of paragraph a 'shopping list' paragraph. If you imagine a shopping list, it might say 'milk, eggs, bread and tomatoes'. This paragraph works in a similar way, it's just a list of things that are good about bicycles. As a result, it is not detailed enough to get a high score. This type of paragraph is very common among students who are new to the IELTS.

Avoiding a shopping list paragraph

The way you can avoid a shopping list paragraph is to focus in on one specific point. It is important to be specific because if your point is too broad, you won't be able to give enough detail on it. For example, on the last slide, the topic sentence was 'There are many reasons to fund bicycle ownership'. This is far too broad a topic of a paragraph. It would be very difficult to go into enough detail about it. Instead, we should pick something narrower. In fact, all of our supporting sentences could be good topic sentences for a paragraph of their own. For instance, 'Bicycles help to make people healthy by offering a good daily workout.' is actually a great topic sentence.

Three types of supporting sentence

To help you write your supporting sentences, I want to introduce the 'explanation, argument, example' framework. This describes the three types of supporting sentences you can use. They are:

Explanation:

say what something means.

Argument:

explain why something is true or important.

Example:

tell about a time when something was true.

These three types of supporting sentence do not need to all be used in every paragraph. Similarly, you do not have use them in this order. In your essay you might write:

1. Example
2. Explanation
3. Argument

Or:

1. Explanation
2. Argument
3. Argument

However, the 'explanation, argument example' order is the most common order to use these in. If you're ever stuck, it is a safe option.

Examples

The explanation, argument, example format is easiest to understand by looking at some examples. Take a look at these topic sentences that I have broken down sentence by sentence

Topic sentence:

Music is meaningful to people because it is highly emotive.

Explanation:

This means that people can use music to mirror their feelings.

Argument:

Although music can’t solve all of people’s problems, it can show them that other people have felt the same way, both through lyrics and melody.

Example:

For example, if you are feeling upset, you can listen to sad songs and this might be cathartic for you.

Topic sentence:

First, travelling to other countries can be a culturally enriching experience.

Explanation:

When travelling abroad, travellers can discover new styles of music, art and food.

Argument:

If people have this type of experience, it can teach them to learn more about the world and appreciate their own and other cultures, something that can enrich their lives long term.

Example:

For example, if someone travels to Japan, they might gain a deeper understanding of areas of Japanese culture, such as sumo, sushi and communal eating.

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.

Exercise

Yesterday, you wrote your first body paragraph focusing on the structure. Today I want you to write the second body paragraph. Focus on using the 'explanation, argument example' structure. Don't forget to make sure your topic sentence matches what you said it will be in the outline. Just to remind you, the question was:

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?

I'd love to take a look at your paragraph, so post it as a comment below.