### 1) Topic Sentence

The goal of a topic sentence within a supporting paragraph is to tell the reader what the paragraph is about. It is not that much different than a thesis—the thesis tells the reading what you are going to argue in the essay and the topic sentence tells the reader what you are going to discuss in the paragraph. In order to write a good topic sentence, go back and look at your thesis. Pull out ideas or things you want to prove (you can even go back and look at your brainstorm— see, everything is connected). Then formulate the sentence, a single idea that this supporting paragraph will be about. It might look like a thesis with a focus on a specific idea.

### 2) Elaborate Argument

Now that you have a topic sentence, you need to elaborate your argument. This is where you explain yourself using sentences that communicate your ideas. What are you arguing? What are you trying to prove? Clarify, explain, and elaborate! Remember, this is not one sentence. Typically, a good explanation takes several sentences. You want the reader to really understand your argument and what you have to say.

### 3) Example or Quote

Once you have made your argument clear, you want to look to really prove your argument by adding outside support. Outside support is really anything that comes from someone or somewhere other than you. When doing research, you are going to encounter all kinds of things you want to use in your essay. This is the place in the paragraph where you put all that hard work to a good use. If you found a quote by an expert, put it here. If you found an article and you summarize the main idea, put it here too! See below on how to quote using MLA format.

### 4) Analyze

Many students stop at part 3. However, in order to write a strong supporting paragraph, you want to analyze your support. What does the quote mean? What do the statistics mean? How does this support connect to your argument? In the analysis section of the paragraph, you want to take the time to tell the reader exactly what the support is designed to do. In your own words, you want to make sure the reader sees the connection between your argument and the argument made in the support. Again, this usually takes a few sentences—it is quite possible you will need many sentences if you need to explain a complicated quote. This analysis and explanation will not only connect back to your topic sentence, but it will also connect to your thesis.

### 5) Conclude or Transition

When you are done presenting your argument using the above methods, you want to find a way to end the paragraph. There are two options here because it really depends on what comes after the supporting paragraph you are writing. When you offer a concluding sentence, you are ending the idea presented in the paragraph. This would mean you would begin a new idea in the next paragraph. If you transition, you are telling the reader that there is more to come—the next paragraph might continue the argument but still be related to the previous paragraph. Transitions can be very important this way because they help steer the reader through the supporting paragraphs.

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