The Body Paragraph
One sentence in three is the one that scores
- The CED's statement of a body paragraph is exact and worth memorising word for word.
- The body paragraphs of a written argument make claims, support them with evidence, and provide commentary that explains the relationship of the evidence to the claim.
- Three parts, in that order, every time.
Part one: the claim
- Narrower than the thesis, still arguable, and specific enough that your evidence bears on it.
- It usually opens the paragraph, though it need not.
- If it could open any paragraph in the essay, it is too vague to direct this one.
Put the three parts of a body paragraph in the CED's order.
Three parts, in that order, in every body paragraph.
Part two: the evidence
- Embedded in your own sentence, not announced and then quoted.
- Chosen for a stated reason, not because it was available.
- Long enough to carry the point and no longer.
Which part is this sentence?
Label each sentence by its role in the body paragraph.
When an AP Language essay loses evidence-and-commentary points, it is almost always because paragraphs that have a claim and evidence have no commentary. That is the third part, it carries most of four rubric points, and it is the one students skip.
Commentary should explain...
Restating the evidence is summary; explaining the relationship is commentary.
Select all the commentary openers that force a relationship.
"The quotation says" invites a restatement; the other three demand a link.
Most lost evidence-and-commentary marks come from paragraphs with no evidence.
They come from paragraphs that have claim and evidence but no commentary.
Part three: the commentary
- Explains the relationship of the evidence to the claim — not what the evidence says.
- Begin it with a word that forces a link: because, which means, so, the effect of this is.
- This is where the marks are, and it is the part students leave out.
Read the claim, skip the evidence, read the commentary — they should still ____.
If the commentary needs the quotation in view to make sense, it is summary.
The one-minute check
- Read your claim, skip the evidence, read your commentary. Do they connect?
- If the commentary only makes sense with the quotation in view, it is summary.
- Fix it by asking: what does this evidence let me say that I could not say without it?
"The scheme's own report shows completion falling from 62% to 48%" is evidence. "Which means the scheme lost precisely the students it was funded to keep — so its own measure records the failure it was meant to prevent" is commentary. The second sentence is where the marks are.
Every body paragraph makes a claim, supports it with evidence, and provides commentary explaining the relationship between them. The claim is narrow and arguable, the evidence embedded and chosen for a reason, and the commentary begins with a word that cannot be followed by a restatement.