Body Paragraphs

Topic Sentences, Supporting Evidence, Clincher/Transition Sentences

Topic Sentences

Topic Sentences Should:1. State specific point directly supporting the

thesis;2. Be worded directly and clearly;3. Be placed at the start of the body paragraph;

Topic Sentences Should Not:1. Simply be informational;2. Contain vague language—state a specific

point;3. Be grammatically incorrect.

Topic Sentences

Which are good and which are not?

1. 17,000 Americans died from illicit drug use in 2000.

2. Illegal drugs cause a lot of problems.

3. Drugs is used by people who choosed bad.

4. The current system of dealing with drug users must be changed because we are losing the “war on drugs.”

5. It is a serious problem that must be addressed.

Supporting Details

Supporting Details Should:1. Provide direct supporting evidence for the

topic sentence;

2. Give sources of outside information;

3. Be relevant to the topic.

Supporting Details Should Not:1. Be based on emotional language or bad

sources of evidence;

2. Be merely theoretical in most cases.

Supporting Details

Topic Sentence: The current system of dealing with drug users must be changed because we are losing the “war on drugs.” 17,000 Americans died in from illicit drug use

(Mokdad et al. “Actual Causes of Death in the United States 2000.” CSDP)

1,583,813 were arrested for drug violations in 2002 (“Total Estimated Arrests, 2002.” World Almanac)

Over 46% of Americans have used illegal drugs at least once (“Drug Use in the General U.S. Population, 2003.” World Almanac)

Clincher/Transition Sentence

Clincher/Transition Sentences Should:1. Drive the point of the paragraph home;

2. Provide connections to surrounding paragraphs;

3. Provide connection to the thesis.

Clincher/Transition Sentences Should Not:1. Peter out;

2. Bring up new evidence;

3. Be ungrammatical.

Clincher/Transition Sentence

Besides being ineffectual, imprisoning drug abusers is also costly.

Next topic sentence: Sending drug abusers to treatment programs rather than prison would both save taxpayer money and alleviate the chronic overcrowding of our prisons.

Completed Paragraph

The current system of jailing many drug users must be changed because we are losing the “war on drugs.” Casualties in this war include around 17,000 deaths a year (Mokdad et al. “Actual Causes of Death in the United States 2000.” CSDP) and over a million and a half arrests (“Total Estimated Arrests, 2002.” World Almanac). The fact that nearly 46% of Americans have tried illegal drugs at least once (“Drug Use in the General U.S. Population, 2003.” World Almanac) is an indication that the threat of prison is not working at all. Besides being ineffectual, imprisoning drug abusers is also costly.