How to write an OPINION ESSAY - Lesson 2: Body Paragraph

Hello there this is Mr. P. On today's lesson we're going to learn how to write an opinion essay. This is lesson number two out of five lessons. I suggest watching lesson number one, number three and number four. In this lesson we're going to take a look at body paragraph. So let's get started. Let's first take a look at the essay outline. On the first lesson we talked about the introductory paragraph. Inside the introductory paragraph we have a hook that is the attention grabber, background and thesis. In this lesson we are going to talk about body paragraphs and that is the topic sentence, detail sentences and conclusion sentence. First let's review the thesis statement. It is your main idea about the topic adding one, two, three reasons or more. It is made up of the topic that is the general subject of the essay, the controlling idea, your opinion, belief, view, feeling about the topic and the subtopics, the areas you will focus on to support your idea. It will answer the question of the prompt given in just one sentence. Please avoid writing I believe, in my opinion, I think etc. Let's take a look at an example now. Technology and the global warming. So we have a thesis statement in yellow but although machinery was devised to benefit mankind it has also brought along the destruction of our environment. The blue part will be your body paragraph. As you can see we have the title technology and global warming, that's your thesis and we have indents for the three paragraph essay. The blue part I said is the body paragraph and in this lesson we're going to talk about the body paragraph. So what is the body? It consists of three parts, the topic, the detail and conclusion sentence. Its goal is to fully develop the argument outlined in the introduction. It'll be directly related to one specific subtopic of the thesis statement. So parts of body or bodies if you have more than one. We have the topic sentence, it contains one subtopic of the thesis statement and let's talk about the topic sentence first. What is a topic sentence? It is the first subtopic you have written on your thesis statement. It can be the first or second sentence in your body paragraph. The purpose of the topic sentence is the perspective that you are giving to the topic of the essay. It should answer how and why the topic is significant. So let's take a look at our example. In yellow is the thesis statement. So we have underlined destruction to our environment. This is what we're going to focus on in our body. So as you can see in green we have the topic sentence. Technological equipment was never programmed to damage nature per se. However it has backfired and it's causing harm to our environment. We have underlined the part that relates to the thesis statement. So destruction to our environment. It is the same as saying it has backfired and is causing harm to our environment. It's just using other words. So now let's take a at the second part. Detail sentences. They explain the topic sentence with facts, examples or reasons. Detail sentences. Detail or supporting sentences should be facts, statistics, examples, quotes, transitions and other sentences which support the topic sentence. To support the topic sentence Give an example of this detail and unpack this example in a sentence or two. So again let's take a look at our example and here in blue you can see that's our supporting sentence or detail sentences. Many people are careless about leaving their laptops on for long periods of time. Furthermore they don't seem aware of the fact that all this energy and electricity consumption is dangerous to not only our local environment but to the world as a whole. So in these two sentences we explained how technological equipment has caused harm to our environment. Now let's take a look at the last part and that is your conclusion sentence. It reminds us of the topic sentence. So we said again it reminds us of the topic sentence, it summarizes the subject you elaborated on in that paragraph and don't forget to think about the main point that you want to get across and be sure it is included. So again let's look at our example and you will see the conclusion sentence in lilac. Additionally it is the over usage of machinery big or small that is bringing our society ever closer to global warming and we must stop this trend. So now let's do some practice choose the best conclusion sentence for this topic sentence. Skateboarding is the best sport ever. So number one in conclusion skateboarding is the best sport ever. Number two in conclusion skateboarding is the best sport ever because it makes me happy, keeps my body in shape and improves my mood. Number three in conclusion skateboarding is the best sport ever because much like life itself is an action-packed activity. Choose among the three. Pause the video. Now that you have your answer this would be number three. Why number three? Because it provides a well substantiated answer to the so what question. Therefore when trying to come up with an effective conclusion make sure to explain to your readers what point your paragraph is trying to convey and why it's so important. Also keep in mind that a concluding sentence is not just about going back to where if you've started. Its goal is to give the original topic a whole new dimension by expanding it. So on our next video we're going to take a look at the conclusion paragraph, review the thesis statements, review topic sentences and final conclusion sentence, opinion, fact or prediction. So I hope you enjoyed the lesson. If you have please subscribe to my channel if you haven't. Hit on the like button if you liked it and share the video with your friends or your classmates. Until next time and don't forget to watch the other videos that complete this series. Take care. Bye-bye.