Thesis Statement & Topic Sentence

thesis statement guidelines

1 sentence embedded/placed in intro body paragraphs should follow order of your reasons be concise and meaningful

3C'S

Controlling Idea Commentary Coherency

thesis formula

Subject + Truism/Position + Reasons

Topic Sentence formula

Topic/Reason + controlling ideas

Controlling Idea question

Why/how does your reason/topic support/prove your truism/position in the thesis?

thesis statement

a narrow or specific claim which is supported by the rest of the essay

remember for thesis

edit and revise thesis make sure reader is not left with questions do you body paragraphs support/connect back to your thesis?

without controlling idea

lack commentary, have nothing to connect back to keep it cohesive lead paper to a failing grade

topic sentence purpose

main idea of paragraph helps you stay focused on the topic of your paragraph transitions form one idea to another, one paragraph to another allows essay to flow from topic to topic to be coherent

what to avoid in topic sentence

quote fact going straight to specific example asking a question personal pronoun words such as like and can unclear/vague including reason NOT discussed in thesis

creating unity

reason is reiterated from thesis in topic sentence

Where do your topic sentences come from?

reasons stated in your thesis

what should a thesis avoid?

slang, contraction, unclear or vague wording, uncertainty, broadness, wordiness, only stating a fact, including absolutes, personal pronouns, refer to authors by 1st name, ride the fence

Thesis Statement purpose

states overall premise details text road-map for entire paper

topic sentence

the first sentence in a body paragraph does the same thing for a body paragraph as a thesis tells and organize body paragraph

mini thesis

topic sentence

what makes a strong topic sentence?

use keywords or phrases from thesis clear and concise use transitions