format for body paragraphs: TIED

When writing body paragraphs for essays, the format should be the same.

T:           Topic sentence
I/E:        Introduce Evidence / Evidence (Examples)
D:          Discussion

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T:      The topic sentence is the first sentence in a paragraph that tells readers what    the paragraph is about. To make a topic sentence, you can transform the words of the prompt into a sentence.

I:      After the topic sentence, you should introduce any necessary context about the evidence you are about to present.  (This may not be necessary in some cases.)

E:     Present specific facts or quotations you obtained from the text/research. 

D:     Explain how/why the evidence proves your argument/claim/thesis.  It should answer the "So What?" question. 

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Each letter in TIED does not necessarily need its own sentence; it just needs to be present in the paragraph!


Sample TIED Body Paragraph
The paragraph below shows a sample TIED body paragraph for an essay about how the regions in which Native Americans lived affected their way of life.  The body paragraph is color-coded to show the different parts of TIED.  Red shows the "topic sentence," black shows the "introduce evidence/examples," and purple shows the "discussion." 


Thesis: The region in which a Native American lived greatly affected their way of life.

Body Paragraph 1:

The types of shelters that Native Americans built were based on a region’s climate and resources.  The Inuits in the Artic region, for example, built igloos as their home.  Igloos are made of blocks of ice and are very insulated and warm inside.  The Inuit chose this as their home because, in the Arctic region, there is an abundance of snow.  There are also very harsh winters, so they needed a place that would keep them warm.  The Native Americans who lived in the Great Plains, however, built tipis as their homes, which are made from sticks and buffalo skin.  This is because buffalo were plentiful in that region.  They also chose tipis as their homes because tipis are easy to put up and take down, which fits with their nomadic lifestyle.

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Notice that the TIED body paragraph is not absolutely strict - you have some flexibility in it.  For example, in the paragraph above, it has 2 different examples followed by a discussion, so it actually is in the form of TIEDED.  This is OK!  The most important thing to remember for your body paragraphs is that you remain focused on one topic and that you explain, or show, how your evidence connects back to your thesis. 

helpful sentence starters...

When introducing evidence, try some of these sentence starters:

• For example,...
• For instance,...

When discussing, try some of these sentence starters:

• This proves...
• This shows...
• This illustrates...
• This highlights the fact that...
  
• This demonstrates...
• This means...
  
• This is important because...