Previously, I discussed how to create a thesis statement that responds to an essay prompt. Here, I will take you take you one step further and walk through how to write topic sentences of body paragraphs that fully support your thesis. By linking the topic sentences of each of your body paragraphs to the thesis of your essay, you show your readers that you have given thought to how the claims you make, and the evidence you provide to support them, can show that your thesis is valid.
While the prompt used for the thesis statement asked you to complete a comparative analysis that takes causation into account, the prompt that iI am going to discuss here focuses solely on causation. Being able to distinguish and explain the links between immediate and distant causes is a useful skill for prompts like this one:
Explain the causes of the development of tobacco economies in the Chesapeake between 1607 and 1754
When you make an argument in response to a causation prompt, I recommend taking a few minutes to pre-write about the immediate and distant causes of the effect outlined in the prompt. Following the steps outlined in Using Comparison and Causation in Historical Arguments is one way to organize your thoughts in preparation for writing your thesis statement. For the purposes of this overview, the counterargument (alternative perspective) is not included. If the counterargument was included, it would focus on the effects to complete the package, another theme, or synthesis.
The following example shows a strong thesis that would follow from using those prewriting strategies to think about the causes of tobacco economies in the Chesapeake. [Note: for this example, the counterargument (X) is not being included.]
Tobacco economies developed in the Chesapeake due to the influence of profit motives, the environmental factors of soil and climate, and as a result of a robust Atlantic world economy in which goods and labor were traded across three continents.
You may have already noticed that this thesis contains three major claims about three distinct topics for analysis:
Claim 1 topic: The influence of profit motives
Claim 2 topic: The environmental factors
Claim 3 topic: The Atlantic economy
You can think of three as the magic number for writing essays: A three-part thesis not only creates a robust response to the prompt, it also helps you outline your essay by providing your reader with a clear preview of the historical argument you plan to make.
The topics in our example thesis are particularly strong because they directly relate to the causes of the development of tobacco economies in the Chesapeake between 1607 and 1754. Moreover, the claims about these topics offer a wealth of historical information to help convince your reader that your thesis is true. For example, you already know that John Smith, on behalf of the Virginia Company, sought settlement in Virginia to bring profitto the company's investors. Also, you know that, while gold proved elusive in Virginia, tobacco grew readily and established a growing market in Europe. Each of these topics will be one of your body paragraphs, and your topic sentence of each of these paragraphs will introduce one of these topics.
From here, the next step is to create topic sentences for the body of your essay. Each of these body paragraphs should start with a clear topic sentence that presents a part of your thesis. Remember to write a sentence that reflects your thesis by asserting a claim. It may help to think of topic sentences as a way to inform your reader which part of your thesis--and therefore which part of your answer to the prompt-- that particular paragraph will argue. A good rule of thumb is that a strong topic sentence can stand alone as one way to answer the prompt. the following example shows topic sentences proving each of the three claims in the example thesis.
Profit motives led to the tobacco economies in Virginia, Maryland, and North Carolina.
Environmental factors such as soil and climate helped cause the development of tobacco economies in Virginia, Maryland, and North Carolina.
The Atlantic world trading economy, with extensive trading of goods and labor, fostered the creation of tobacco economies in the Chesapeake and North Carolina.
All of these topic sentences present an answer to the prompt in the form of a claim that you can argue. From there, you can structure the rest of your body paragraph around providing evidence tht supports our topic sentence claim.
This system is also followed when using the thesis statement that includes the counterargument (alternative perspective). Each claim being made in the thesis becomes the foundation for each body paragraph topic sentence.