How to writing a topic sentences

Thesis Statements A thesis statement defines the scope and purpose of the paper. It needs to meet three criteria: It must be arguable rather than a statement of fact.

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Vince's Writing Tips: How to write strong topic sentences

A topic sentence states the main point of a paragraph: You might think of it as a signpost for your readers—or a headline—something that alerts them to the most important, interpretive points in your essay. Thus topics sentences help protect your readers from confusion by guiding them through the argument.

But topic sentences can also help you to improve your essay by making it easier for you to recognize gaps or weaknesses in your argument.

Where do topic sentences go? Topic sentences usually appear at the very beginning of paragraphs. In the following example from Anatomy of Criticism, Northrop Frye establishes the figure of the tragic hero as someone more than human, but less than divine.

Sixth grade Lesson in main idea Narrative Writing: Writing Topic Sentences

He backs up his claim with examples of characters from literature, religion and mythology whose tragic stature is a function of their ability to mediate between their fellow human beings and a power that transcends the merely human: The tragic hero is typically on top of the wheel of fortune, half-way between human society on the ground and the something greater in the sky.

Prometheus, Adam, and Christ hang between heaven and earth, between a world of paradisal freedom and a world of bondage. Tragic heroes are so much the highest points in their human landscape that they seem the inevitable conductors of the power about them, great trees more likely to be struck by lightning than a clump of grass.

Conductors may of course be instruments as well as victims of the divine lightning: Does a topic sentence have to be at the beginning of a paragraph? No, though this is usually the most logical place for it. Sometimes a transitional sentence or two will come before a topic sentence: We found in comedy that the term bomolochos or buffoon need not be restricted to farce, but could be extended to cover comic characters who are primarily entertainers, with the function of increasing or focusing the comic mood.

The corresponding contrasting type is the suppliant, the character, often female, who presents a picture of unmitigated helplessness and destitution.

Such a figure is pathetic, and pathos, though it seems a gentler and more relaxed mood than tragedy, is even more terrifying. Its basis is the exclusion of an individual from the group; hence it attacks the deepest fear in ourselves that we possess—a fear much deeper than the relatively cosy and sociable bogey of hell.

In the suppliant pity and terror are brought to the highest possible pitch of intensity, and the awful consequences of rejecting the suppliant for all concerned is a central theme of Greek tragedy. The context for this passage is an extended discussion of the characteristics of tragedy.

In this paragraph, Frye begins by drawing a parallel between the figure of the buffoon in comedy and that of the suppliant in tragedy.

His discussion of the buffoon occurred in a earlier section of the chapter, a section devoted to comedy. The first sentence of the current paragraph is transitional: In essays, the connection is usually between the last paragraph and the current one.

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Sometimes writers save a topic sentence for the end of a paragraph. You may, for example, occasionally find that giving away your point at the beginning of a paragraph does not allow you to build your argument toward an effective climax.

How do I come up with a topic sentence? And what makes a good one? Why have you chosen to include the information you have? Why is the paragraph important in the context of your argument? What point are you trying to make? Relating your topic sentences to your thesis can help strengthen the coherence of your essay.As students read the supporting details and concluding sentence for a specific topic, they will learn how to write an appropriate topic sentence.

Reinforce paragraph structure with this resource, as well. Opinion Writing ~ Hook and Topic Sentence By Sally Camden Following a lightning quick writer’s craft mini-lesson (see yesterday’s post for more details), the writers in Room dive right into a graphic organizer for our opinion writing essays.

Sep 30,  · Topic Sentence vs. Thesis. A Thesis Statement could be called the topic Sentence of your whole essay. Usually, you will want to write your thesis statement before writing your topic sentences.

When you've written both, you have the outline. So after doing all 9 steps, you should find writing the paper benjaminpohle.coms: The three main steps in writing a process paragraph are as follows: write a topic sentence, write the body that includes the steps to complete the process, and write a conclusion.

The process paragraph should be six or more sentences. The first sentence of the current paragraph is transitional: it prepares the way for the topic sentence.

The delayed topic sentence contributes to the coherence of Frye's discussion by drawing an explicit connection between key ideas in the book. In essays, the connection is usually between the last paragraph and the current one.

Sometimes writers save a topic sentence for the end of a paragraph. Overall, writing a topic sentence can be considered as a tough process, but such opinion is wrong. If you follow the steps mentioned above, you will be able to develop your topic sentences very fast.

It is important to remember that a topic sentence is a part of the thesis statement, which should reflect the main ideas discussed there.