CEDA | planning

Body Paragraphs -CEDA

The first stage of writing a research paper is to outline and develop the body paragraphs. Since the last part of the introduction is a thesis statement, readers will look for specific reasons why your argument is correct. You are essentially attempting to persuade the reader that your view is right and all others are faulty. To do this efficiently, you must present your thoughts in a logical manner that presents the reader with 3 core elements. These are:

a specific argument or reason why you're right
indisputable evidence and lucid details to back it up
a logical explanation of how or why the things you wrote prove your thesis

Regardless of the topic or length of your paragraph or paper, these are the only elements you need in a body paragraph, no more/no less. The format to ensure this for your body paragraphs is CEDA. You "plug in" thoughts and ideas in specific order.

As stated earlier, the last thing written in the introduction was the thesis statement, which was "The actions of the Presidential office, its cabinet, and other government officials in the initial years to various foreign and domestic challenges would set the precedence for how the nation would deal with later parallel problems." The remainder of the essay will be charged with proving this statement to be true.

Since you are not an expert on this topic, your thesis must be backed with quality research. The better the research, the harder to disprove your thesis. Quality research includes things such as facts, statistics, real life examples, and opinions of noteworthy experts, etc.

The first part of writing a body paragraph is to develop a valid claim. A claim is one reason why you believe your thesis statement is true. A valid claim is one that can be backed up with evidence (proof), yet is debatable as well. A claim is to a paragraph what a thesis is to a research paper.

Before you begin this next stage you need to brainstorm a list of reasons (these will be your claims) why you think your thesis is correct. Next, develop a list of questions you still have about the topic, including questions that may produce evidence contrary to your argument, and use these questions as a starting point for your initial research.

For example, some questions that people typically have might include:

What are powers and responsibilities of the President?
When did the United States government go into operation under the Constitution?
What is the source of the philosophy found in the Constitution?
Are there original ideas of government in the Constitution?
In what respect had the Articles of the Confederation failed?
What is meant by the word veto, in the President's powers?
What constitutes the supreme law of the land?
What is Federalism?
What is separation of Powers?

Essentially you are turning each question you deemed relevant into a claim that supports your thesis. In order to conduct your research, you can start with a simple Google search of your question(s), or you can use key words from your questions as a basis for research on a library database or to look up other print materials concerning those topics. After, learning a bit about your specific claims and counter claims you begin to outline the organization of your paper, i.e., in what order are you going to present your claims/counter claims. It is also important to note that you do not need to complete all your research at this point in order to begin writing your paper. Finally, now that we have a good understanding of how to get started, we can now begin to construct the claim in step 2, which is writing the claim.

Claim

Let's assume you've done the research and have outlined how you want the paper organized and the first claim will be about the power and responsibilities of the President. Don't forget the main point of the paper (thesis-claim) is to prove how the "The actions of the Presidential Office, its cabinet, and other government officials in the initial years to various foreign and domestic challenges would set the precedence for how the nation would deal with later parallel problems." Therefore, every claim should relate directly back to the thesis and remind the reader of your main point.

Note how the thesis-claim used "Presidential Office", where the claim used "executive branch". When possible, vary vocabulary to keep readers engaged and the writing interesting. Repeating the same phrase again and again is tiresome and causes readers to stop listening to your argument. The same principle can be used when starting sentences within a paragraph. For instance, many writers don't even notice that they may have used the word "The" to start off half of the sentences in their essay.

Since the Constitution provides a mere outline of how the executive branch is to function, George Washington’s actions as the first president established many of the formal and informal measures of the office.

Evidence

After a claim is established, you introduce specific evidence in support of the claim and ultimately the thesis. Without evidence, a claim is mere opinion. As stated earlier, unless you are an expert on the Constitution or US history, opinion alone carries no weight. In this case, the evidence is a quote from an expert's source, the Mount Vernon Ladies’ Association, a private, non-profit organization founded in 1853, who manages George Washington's estate to preserve his legacy. It elaborates on the initial claim, but is evidence since it is from a respected peer-reviewed piece of literature. In other words, when published other experts had opportunity to discredit these claims, thereby giving it credibility.

Finally, after the quote you see (mountvernon.org). Whenever you introduce an idea that is not your own, facts, or a direct quote, you must cite the source where you found that information. Citing your source not only proves that you didn't plagiarize, but provides the reader with valuable information.

Since the Constitution provides a mere outline of how the executive branch is to function, George Washington’s actions as the first president established many of the formal and informal measures of the office. Washington's "...first term (1789-1793) was occupied primarily with organizing the executive branch of the new government and establishing administrative procedures that would make it possible for the government to operate with the energy and efficiency he believed was essential to the republic's future" (mountvernon.org).

Details

Once you've included evidence it is time to provide the details of that evidence. This might include additional facts or statistics, or could mean explaining the facts of a case, etc.

For example, the evidence provided in our essay is a quote that stated many experts and professionals recognized that Washington was focused on formalizing the operations of his elected position. In this case, the details would be to list and explain what those operations are exactly. The reader should never be left wondering what something is or means, you need to explicitly tell them. Again, my evidence stated "George Washington’s actions as the first president would establish many of the formal and informal measures of the office" therefore I needed details, or in this case examples, of what those actions and precedents were. So far, this body paragraph contains only one piece of evidence with supporting details expanding and supporting the evidence. A typical body paragraph should include at least 1 piece of evidence with at least 2-3 corresponding details.

Finally, notice that after my details, I again cited my source. Since my information came from a source that contained page numbers, it is necessary to include the page number(s) where the information originated. When inserting multiple pieces of evidence into a single paragraph, you would simply put the source at the end of your last piece of evidence.

Since the Constitution provides a mere outline of how the executive branch is to function, George Washington’s actions as the first president established many of the formal and informal measures of the office. Washington's "...first term (1789-1793) was occupied primarily with organizing the executive branch of the new government and establishing administrative procedures that would make it possible for the government to operate with the energy and efficiency he believed was essential to the republic's future" (mountvernon.org). Although the Constitution established parameters for the Presidential office, there were many formalities left blurred. Washington's actions, both intentional and unintentional, created precedence for later presidents. For example, though there were no term limits set for the executive office, Washington decided to retire following his second term, which had such a profound impact that not until the 1940s, when Franklin D. Roosevelt served four terms, was an amendment was passed to legally limit presidents to two terms (Dargo). Additionally, aware he was unable to singlehandedly govern a fledgling nation, Washington created permanent advisers as part of the executive branch, called the “cabinet” due to meeting often in the kitchen. Although the final responsibility rested on his shoulders, he relied on these men for counsel to advocate the spirit of democracy and avoid gaining too much power appearing to be a king (Whitehouse.gov; ipl.org). Such issues may appear as mere formalities; yet, Washington’s use of force to stifle the Whiskey Rebellion demonstrated the nation would not tolerate armed revolt. Washington attempted to resolve the issue serenely, but knew "if the government were to survive, it would have to show itself capable of keeping control" (pbs). In a show of force, Washington ordered troops to quell the uprising, which quickly dispersed upon learning of the impending force, but not before the rebellion's orchestrators were caught (earlyamerica.com). However, Washington pardoned them indicating the nation was potent enough to disband the insurgence, yet generous enough to forgive (History of Our Nation, 119-125).

Analysis

The final component of a body paragraph is your own analysis of the importance of the evidence and details you presented, as well as how all this information ultimately proves your thesis statement.

Imagine a trial lawyer presenting a case in front of a jury. If the lawyer was trying to prove that his client was not guilty of murder (his thesis), he would first begin by presenting a reason why he believed his client was not guilty (a claim). The lawyer would lay a claim that his client has an alibi. However, simply stating that there is an alibi isn't enough. His next step is to show proof supporting his claim, such as explaining his client was at work at the time the murder took place (evidence). The jury would still need some further information in order to be convinced, so the lawyer would then show the jury where his client worked, his time card proving he was there, as well as testimony from co-workers that he was present that day (details). Finally, the lawyer would need to connect all the dots and lead the jury to a logical conclusion, that first his alibi was true, and next that this proves he was in fact not guilty (analysis).

Analysis is often the most difficult part of the body paragraph because in your own words, you must skillfully lead the reader back to your thesis.So, what is your analysis? You just supported your argument with sound evidence and details, so what does it mean…why is it important? If you cannot tell me why, then your claim is irrelevant! Notice that the first few sentences did more than simply summarize the evidence and details. They were leading the reader in the direction of understanding the "big picture" regarding this issue. Finally, the last two sentences were aimed at relating this information back to the thesis (as a lawyer would do in a courtroom).

Again, when you are constructing a body paragraph you will want to have multiple pieces of evidence to back your claim with corresponding details. Depending on the nature and extent of the evidence you collect, it may be necessary to break your body paragraph into multiple paragraphs to make the information flow logically and coherently.

Lastly, another writing strategy is to present counter claims - claims that represent an opposing argument. If you choose to present counter claims (which is recommended), your task would be to collect evidence and details which disprove the counter claim. Where you choose to incorporate counter claims depends on your writing style and how you choose to format the paper (i.e. you could present all of your claims, then "theirs", or present your claim with the counter claim immediately after, etc.).

Since the Constitution provides a mere outline of how the executive branch is to function, George Washington’s actions as the first president established many of the formal and informal measures of the office. Washington's "...first term (1789-1793) was occupied primarily with organizing the executive branch of the new government and establishing administrative procedures that would make it possible for the government to operate with the energy and efficiency he believed was essential to the republic's future" (mountvernon.org). Although the Constitution established parameters for the Presidential office, there were many formalities left blurred. Washington's actions, both intentional and unintentional, created precedence for later presidents. For example, though there were no term limits set for the executive office, Washington decided to retire following his second term, which had such a profound impact that not until the 1940s, when Franklin D. Roosevelt served four terms, was an amendment was passed to legally limit presidents to two terms (Dargo). Additionally, aware he was unable to singlehandedly govern a fledgling nation, Washington created permanent advisers as part of the executive branch, called the “cabinet” due to meeting often in the kitchen. Although the final responsibility rested on his shoulders, he relied on these men for counsel to advocate the spirit of democracy and avoid gaining too much power appearing to be a king (Whitehouse.gov; ipl.org). Such issues may appear as mere formalities; yet, Washington’s use of force to stifle the Whiskey Rebellion demonstrated the nation would not tolerate armed revolt. Washington attempted to resolve the issue serenely, but knew "if the government were to survive, it would have to show itself capable of keeping control" (pbs). In a show of force, Washington ordered troops to quell the uprising, which quickly dispersed upon learning of the impending force, but not before the rebellion's orchestrators were caught (earlyamerica.com). However, Washington pardoned them indicating the nation was potent enough to disband the insurgence, yet generous enough to forgive (History of Our Nation, 119-125). Given Washington's penchant for modesty it seems ironic that even his most inadvertent actions of serving only two terms or establishing his cabinet, would later lead to Constitutional amendments and permanent functions within the federal government or even that his use of the militia to stop the Whiskey Rebellion was used as justification of military violence on domestic soil by other presidents. In the end Washington was merely striving to do his best in an unsure experiment of democratic government. Nevertheless, as the first president of the new nation, George Washington’s measures set the course for the new nation and provided many of the precedents followed by future presidents.