{"id":208,"date":"2016-05-12T20:16:12","date_gmt":"2016-05-12T20:16:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/waymaker-level2-english\/?post_type=chapter&p=208"},"modified":"2016-07-26T15:32:18","modified_gmt":"2016-07-26T15:32:18","slug":"text-thesis-and-topic-sentences","status":"publish","type":"chapter","link":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/waymaker-level2-english\/chapter\/text-thesis-and-topic-sentences\/","title":{"raw":"Text: Thesis and Topic Sentences","rendered":"Text: Thesis and Topic Sentences"},"content":{"raw":"

You'll remember that the first step of the reading process,\u00a0previewing,<\/strong>\u00a0allows you to get a big-picture view of the document you're reading. \u00a0This way,\u00a0you can begin to understand the structure of the overall text.<\/p>\r\n

A later step in the reading process, summarizing<\/strong>, allows you to encapsulate what a paragraph, section, or the whole document is about. \u00a0When summarizing individual paragraphs, it's likely that your summary ends up looking like a paraphrase of that paragraph's topic sentence<\/strong>.<\/p>\r\n

\"DrawingA paragraph is composed\u00a0of multiple sentences focused on a single, clearly-defined\u00a0topic. There should be exactly\u00a0one main idea per paragraph, so whenever an author\u00a0moves on to a new idea, he or she will\u00a0start a new paragraph. \u00a0For example, this paragraph defines what a paragraph is, and now we will\u00a0start a new paragraph\u00a0to deal with a new idea: how a paragraph is structured.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Paragraphs are actually organized\u00a0much like persuasive papers are. Just like a paper has a thesis statement<\/span><\/strong>\u00a0followed by a body of supportive evidence, paragraphs have a topic sentence followed by several\u00a0sentences of support or explanation. \u00a0If you look at this paragraph, for example, you will see that it starts with a clear topic sentence letting you know that paragraphs follow a structure similar to that of papers. The next sentence explains how a paragraph is like a paper, and then two more sentences show\u00a0how this paragraph follows that structure. \u00a0All of these sentences are clearly connected to the main idea.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

The topic sentence of a\u00a0paragraph serves two purposes: first, it\u00a0lets readers know what the paragraph is going to be about; second, it\u00a0highlights the connection between the present\u00a0paragraph and the one that came before. The topic sentence of this paragraph explains to a\u00a0reader what a topic sentence does, fulfilling the first function. It also tells you that this paragraph is going to talk about one particular aspect of the previous paragraph\u2019s main idea: we are now moving from the general structure of the paragraph to the particular role of the topic sentence.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

After the topic\u00a0sentence introduces the main idea, the\u00a0remainder of the sentences in a\u00a0paragraph should support or explain this\u00a0topic. These additional sentences might\u00a0detail the author's\u00a0position on the topic. \u00a0They might also provide examples, statistics, or other evidence to support that position. \u00a0At the end of the paragraph, the author\u00a0may include some sort of conclusion or a transition that sets up the next idea he or she\u00a0will be discussing (for example, you can see this clearly in the last sentence of the third\u00a0paragraph). \u00a0<\/span><\/p>","rendered":"

You’ll remember that the first step of the reading process,\u00a0previewing,<\/strong>\u00a0allows you to get a big-picture view of the document you’re reading. \u00a0This way,\u00a0you can begin to understand the structure of the overall text.<\/p>\n

A later step in the reading process, summarizing<\/strong>, allows you to encapsulate what a paragraph, section, or the whole document is about. \u00a0When summarizing individual paragraphs, it’s likely that your summary ends up looking like a paraphrase of that paragraph’s topic sentence<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

\"DrawingA paragraph is composed\u00a0of multiple sentences focused on a single, clearly-defined\u00a0topic. There should be exactly\u00a0one main idea per paragraph, so whenever an author\u00a0moves on to a new idea, he or she will\u00a0start a new paragraph. \u00a0For example, this paragraph defines what a paragraph is, and now we will\u00a0start a new paragraph\u00a0to deal with a new idea: how a paragraph is structured.<\/span><\/p>\n

Paragraphs are actually organized\u00a0much like persuasive papers are. Just like a paper has a thesis statement<\/span><\/strong>\u00a0followed by a body of supportive evidence, paragraphs have a topic sentence followed by several\u00a0sentences of support or explanation. \u00a0If you look at this paragraph, for example, you will see that it starts with a clear topic sentence letting you know that paragraphs follow a structure similar to that of papers. The next sentence explains how a paragraph is like a paper, and then two more sentences show\u00a0how this paragraph follows that structure. \u00a0All of these sentences are clearly connected to the main idea.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The topic sentence of a\u00a0paragraph serves two purposes: first, it\u00a0lets readers know what the paragraph is going to be about; second, it\u00a0highlights the connection between the present\u00a0paragraph and the one that came before. The topic sentence of this paragraph explains to a\u00a0reader what a topic sentence does, fulfilling the first function. It also tells you that this paragraph is going to talk about one particular aspect of the previous paragraph\u2019s main idea: we are now moving from the general structure of the paragraph to the particular role of the topic sentence.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

After the topic\u00a0sentence introduces the main idea, the\u00a0remainder of the sentences in a\u00a0paragraph should support or explain this\u00a0topic. These additional sentences might\u00a0detail the author’s\u00a0position on the topic. \u00a0They might also provide examples, statistics, or other evidence to support that position. \u00a0At the end of the paragraph, the author\u00a0may include some sort of conclusion or a transition that sets up the next idea he or she\u00a0will be discussing (for example, you can see this clearly in the last sentence of the third\u00a0paragraph). \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n\n\t\t\t

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