Research Papers Simplified - Laramie County Community College

Here’s an example of a topic sentence that clearly indicates the subject
of a body paragraph:
The sentences in each body paragraph should be arranged carefully and
logically to create a smooth flow of information within the paragraph.
I often use a food analogy to explain this concept. Think about the
layers of ingredients that go into a typical pan of lasagna. Depending
on the particular recipe, lasagna is made by carefully layering pasta,
cheese, meat, and tomato sauce in a baking dish. Th e same is true with
paragraph development: good paragraphs are created by a careful and
deliberate placement of sentences in a particular order.
The most common pattern of development is deductive order. This is
when you begin with a general topic sentenc e at the beginning of the
paragraph and follow it with more specific explanations and examples
in the remainder of the paragraph. Here’s an example:
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