THE NORTON SAMPLER: CHAPTER 3
TOPIC SENTENCES
SUPPORTING YOUR MAIN POINT
OTHER WAYS OF DEVELOPING A PARAGRAPH
- When writing your paragraph, you want all the sentences to work together to support the main point.
- Don't go off on a tangent, no matter how interesting it might be.
- State your main point in your topic sentence.
- Put it at beginning of paragraph, every other sentence should follow from it.
- You can put it at the end, but every sentence should lead up to it.
- Sometimes, your main point will be implied, and you wont need to state it in the topic sentence.
- Should have parallel structures
- Description
- Narrating
- Giving Examples
- Classifying
- Analyzing a Process
- Comparing
- Defining
- Analyzing Cause and Effects
TRANSITIONS
- When describing place or direction
- When narrating events in time
- When giving examples
- When comparing/contrasting
- When analyzing cause and effect
- When using logical reasoning
- When tracing sequence or continuation
- When summarazing
INTRODUCTORY PARAGRAPHS
WATCH
- Tells your reader what your essay is about.
- Tell a story to lead in
- Start with a quotation
- Ask a question, or questions.
CONCLUDING PARAGRAPHS
- Last chance to drive home point
- Restate your main point
- Show the broader significance of your subject
- End with a recommendation