Academic Writing 1 Slide 9

Academic Writing

Session 9– Writing Body Paragraphs And Conclusions

Session Overview
In this session, we shall discuss how effective body paragraphs and conclusions are written.
OBJECTIVES
By the end of this section you will be able to
•learn and practice the basics of writing body paragraphs
•write good topic sentences
•develop each controlling idea bearing in mind its contribution to the thesis
•recognize the relationship between the thesis statement in a text’s introductory paragraph and the content of body paragraphs
•note the various ways of writing conclusions

Session Outline
The key topics to be covered in the session are as follows:
•Developing the body paragraphs
•Organizing body paragraphs
•The Importance of the Concluding Paragraph
•Ways of Writing the Concluding Paragraph

Reading List
•A) Chapter 5, Buscemi (2008) A Reader For College Writers, pp. 132-154
•B) Unit 13, Jordan (1999) Academic Writing Course pp. 82-87
•C) Chapter 4, Lewis (2001) Academic Literacy pp. 98-14

Topic One
DEVELOPING THE BODY PARAGRAPHS

•Each body paragraph contains an opening sentence, the topic sentence, which relates to the thesis in the Introduction because it expresses a major piece of evidence for that thesis.
•Your task in a body paragraph is to present convincing details about the piece of evidence expressed in the topic sentence.
•The method or combination of methods you use to develop a topic sentence depends on the nature of the controlling idea it expresses as well as other factors, for example your purpose and audience.
•At your disposal to present such details are the skills you have learned concerning methods of paragraph development and organization.

Topic Two
ORGANIZING BODY PARAGRAPHS

•The organization of the body paragraphs in the passage in the reading list on word processing is very effective and well thought out.
•This is evident in paragraph 3 to 5. The writer calculates correctly that taking the basic features of word processing first (i.e. in Paragraph 3) would allow his 1989 readers, who were novices as far as computers are concerned, to appreciate the relative advantages the computers have over typewriters.
•Having done that, he takes the readers a step further (in Paragraph 4) into the world of computers, i.e. to the more complex instructions in software.
•It is only after providing such education to his readers that he deems it okay to introduce them (in Paragraph 5) to the more sophisticated programs.
•Notice that it is topic sentences that he has used, at the beginning of these paragraphs, to guide his readers.

Topic Three
THE IMPORTANCE OF CONCLUSIONS

•The essay is made up of an introductory paragraph, body paragraphs and a concluding paragraph.
•The introductory paragraph and the concluding paragraph are special paragraphs because they are written in a slightly different manner from the body paragraphs.
•One’s essay, for instance, is best remembered if the conclusion reiterates the points made in the essay. In other words, the conclusion sometimes makes our audience remember the points that are raised in the essay.
•The conclusion also brings an analysis or a discussion to a logical and timely end.

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Thank You!