Structure body paragraphs using topic sentences, embedded textual evidence, and commentary that explains rather than repeats the evidence.
A strong analytical body paragraph follows a reliable internal logic: a topic sentence stating the paragraph's specific piece of the thesis, textual evidence introduced and embedded smoothly rather than dropped in as a floating quotation, and commentary, the most frequently shortchanged part, explaining exactly how the evidence proves the claim. A common weakness at this level is the "quote-and-run" paragraph: a well-chosen quotation followed immediately by a new point, with no sentence actually connecting the evidence back to the argument. Evidence never speaks for itself; commentary is the essay actually doing its analytical work.
Embedding a quotation smoothly means folding it into your own sentence's grammar rather than announcing it awkwardly. Commentary should typically run at least as long as the evidence it explains, since summarizing what a quotation says is not the same as analyzing why it matters. A useful discipline: after every piece of evidence, write a sentence that could not apply to any other quotation in the essay -- if the commentary is generic enough to bolt onto a different quote unchanged, it is summary wearing analysis's clothing.
Mastery looks like: They can embed a quotation smoothly into their own sentence and write commentary specific enough to that piece of evidence that it could not be bolted onto a different quotation unchanged.
Common stumbles: Dropping a quotation into a paragraph without embedding it grammatically; writing commentary so generic it merely restates the quotation or could apply to any evidence at all.
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