topic sentence
(noun)
A statement of the main idea of the paragraph in which it occurs.
(noun)
An arguable statement summarizing a claim that supports the thesis.
Examples of topic sentence in the following topics:
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Topic Sentences
- Supporting sentences: examples, details, and explanations that support the topic sentence (and claim).
- Concluding sentence: gives the paragraph closure by relating the claim back to the topic sentence and thesis statement.
- Topic sentences should always connect back to and support your thesis statement.
- (Stylistically speaking, if you wanted to include "Cooking is difficult," you could make it the first sentence, followed by the topic sentence.
- It just shouldn't be the topic sentence.)
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Approaches to Your Body Paragraphs
- Each body paragraph will be organized around a claim, which you'll form into a topic sentence.
- Like your thesis, each topic sentence is an arguable statement, not a fact.
- Check, too, to see whether the topic sentence is arguable and clear.
- Instead, write your topic sentence and look over the evidence you've gathered for that claim.
- Your concluding sentence will often have an echo of the topic sentence in it while moving the reader forward to the next topic.
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Building a Speech: Starting with an Outline
- Other outlines are very detailed, filling in a skeleton of topic headings with topic sentences, pieces of evidence, and transitions.
- A topic outline is a hierarchical list of a speech's main points.
- Topic outlines tend to use keywords and short phrases rather than complete sentences.
- A sentence outline expresses the central ideas of a speech in complete sentences.
- Sentence outlines are more detailed than topic outlines, but less detailed than first drafts.
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Varying Your Sentence Structure and Vocabulary
- So, introduction, conclusion, body paragraphs with topic sentences and transitions—yes to all of these.
- Length: Longer sentences are better suited for expressing complex thoughts.
- Here's the rewritten version, with attention paid to sentence variation:
- Vary the types of sentences you use to keep your paper interesting.
- Variation is a tool that will help you engage your readers in the topic, so they don't end up slack-jawed and numb.
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The Preparation Outline
- As its name suggests, a preparation outline helps you lay out the main topics and sub-points of your speech.
- Common outline styles include sentence outlines, topics outlines, chronological outlines, and alphanumeric outlines.
- While sentence outlines follow a hierarchical structure composed of sentences and headings around the subject of the speech, topics outlines are comprised of topics and subtopics.
- If, for example, you have separate visual aids for the introduction, main points in the body of your speech, and your conclusion, than using a sentence style for your preparation outline may be more appropriate.
- Sub-topics should be added underneath each main topic covered in the body of the preparation outline
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Turning Your Topic Into a Question
- Once you've found a topic that you're interested in — Humbert Humbert's unreliable narration and its effects on the moral classification of his character — and you've read up on other scholars' views on that topic, you're ready to develop a question about your topic to investigate.
- These are all possible topics.
- You cannot introduce your paper by declaring that "Hamlet explores the question of revenge" or "Monet uses purple in many ways in his Water Lilies. " Those sentences are topics, not problem statements, because they offer nothing to argue against.
- It is a summary of what you hope to find out about your topic.
- To rephrase your topic as a question, think what you want to say about your topic.
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Structure of a Sentence
- Structural classifications for sentences include simple sentences, compound sentences, complex sentences, and compound-complex sentences.
- Simple sentences are often used to introduce a topic or present a new thought in an argument—for example, "Juries are charged with rendering impartial verdicts," or "Income taxes are high in Scandinavian countries."
- You may notice that with both these examples, the reader is likely to start formulating objections or opinions about the topic right away.
- A declarative sentence, or declaration, is the most common type of sentence.
- Helping the reader formulate questions about the topic early can engage readers by accessing their curiosity.
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Introducing the Topic, Thesis, and Main Points
- Explain the topic at a level that is appropriate for your audience,
- Remember: the thesis statement should summarize your argument in one to three sentences.
- Translate that list into complete sentences, and voila!
- Vitamin D deficiency may be the hottest topic in nutrition today.
- Identify your topic, thesis, and main points early in your speech
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Introduction to Commas
- The first phrase could not stand on its own as a sentence, but when joined to the independent clause by the comma, the sentence is complete.
- In these situations, say the sentence to yourself.
- Some modifiers are nonrestrictive, meaning that the sentence would still have essentially the same meaning, topic, and structure without them.
- In this sentence, "new" and "weird" are nonrestrictive.
- In other words, if you dropped a restrictive modifier from a sentence, the meaning of the sentence would change.
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Practice 2: Contingency Tables
- Copy the data provided in Probability Topics Practice 1: Contingency Tables into the table below.
- State the decision and conclusion (in a complete sentence) for the following preconceived levels of α .