The body of the essay is the part that addresses the title. It should be organised into paragraphs. Each
paragraph should deal with a different aspect of the issue, but each paragraph should also link in some
way to those that precede and follow it. (This is not an easy thing to get right, even for very experienced
academic writers. Don’t expect to be able to paragraph perfectly when you are new to academic writing!)
There are many ways to successfully structure and use paragraphs in an essay. Here’s one:
1 The first sentence might show a link to the previous paragraph (a kind of retrospective
signposting – see the handout Better essays: signposting).
2 Another sentence introduces the main theme of this paragraph (this is often called the
topic sentence). This topic sentence can also come first in the paragraph.
3 The next few sentences elaborate the point, perhaps by explaining more, giving supporting
evidence or demonstrating differences or alternatives.
4 The last sentence summarises the main point made in the paragraph.