Preview

How to write a topic sentence

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
657 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
How to write a topic sentence
A thesis statement is a statement in an essay that you plan to support, discuss or prove. Not all thesis statements can be empirically proven, but many of them represent an argument. A thesis statement should also stand out as an indicator of the clear direction in which you will take your essay. It should be strongly worded, impossible to miss, and in shorter essays of a few pages, it should show up in the first paragraph or introduction of your paper.
Most essays live or die by the strength of their thesis statements, and by their ability to keep focused on their thesis. If you haven’t clearly indicated your focus or your argument, it’s difficult to stay focused on the issue you plan to discuss, argue or explain. Even if your essay is about how to build the perfect peanut butter sandwich, you significantly improve the quality of your essay by letting your readers know that this is what your subject is.
Though some people strive for an eloquently worded thesis statement, there’s nothing wrong in most cases with being perfectly direct. If using first person is permissible in your essay, you can easily turn a thesis statement into something like the following:
In this essay, I will discuss how to make the best peanut butter sandwich in the world, with emphasis on bread choice, jam choice and variants of the basic recipe.
If first person is not allowed in the essay, you can choose to say This essay will discuss instead of I will discuss.
To create a good thesis statement, you can ask yourself a single question: What is the main focus of my essay? Sometimes, when you must write assigned essays, the answer is already provided for you. If an assignment tells you exactly what you need to write about, you have your focus readymade. If a writing prompt is in the form of a question, simply restate the question into a statement, then set about creating a body of paragraphs that support that statement.
When you conclude your essay, you may want to briefly restate your

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    The New England, Middle, and Southern Colonies are all different in many ways. They have many differences that differentiate those of the other colonies.…

    • 270 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    You must create a thesis statement for every academic paper you write. Often appearing at the end of the introduction, the thesis statement informs readers in a concise manner of your intention in writing the paper. The thesis consists of one declarative sentence that summarizes the main idea of your essay in 25 words or fewer.…

    • 603 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Thesis : Write a direct and concise thesis statement, which will become the point or perspective you will argue or prove in the Final Research Paper. Refer to the Ashford Online Writing Center for information on how to develop a solid thesis statement.…

    • 670 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Chemical Changes Lab

    • 611 Words
    • 3 Pages

    One way to test a material for the presence of sodium bicarbonate is to take a sample and add HCl (Hydrochloric Acid) and see if a chemical reaction (bubbling, releasing Carbon Dioxide) occurs. If this chemical reaction does occur, then the material does in fact contain Sodium Bicarbonate.…

    • 611 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Lc 6.01

    • 1971 Words
    • 8 Pages

    Thesis Statement /Last Sentence (a statement that will be the driving opinion throughout your essay. Your thesis should explain what you are trying to convince your readers to do or believe):…

    • 1971 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    Victoria's

    • 554 Words
    • 3 Pages

    3. Thesis statement – This sentence is typically the last sentence of the introduction. It responds to the prompt and provides the main idea of the entire essay. The thesis statement should NOT include 3 supporting reasons. Sample thesis statement for the prompt “What is your favorite time of the year?”: “Without a doubt, Thanksgiving is my absolute favorite time of the year.”…

    • 554 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Essays are written to explain a process, examine something, or argue for or against a point. The opening paragraph of your essay should contain a thesis statement, as well as capture your reader’s attention and interest. Remember the adage, “You’ll never get another chance to make a good first impression.”…

    • 269 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Essaye 2 Eng 100

    • 630 Words
    • 3 Pages

    The introduction of the essay must clearly focus on a thesis (an “I say”), and the body of the essay must have clear and specific examples to develop supporting points. Try to conclude the essay by connecting the issues your essay discusses with your readers in some way (remember, your readers include the portfolio committee, your instructor, and the other students in the course). See the English 100 essay rubric on Pipeline for more ideas on how to develop and self-assess your writing.…

    • 630 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Japanese Internment Camps

    • 614 Words
    • 3 Pages

    A thesis statement should sum up the main idea of your paper. For this paper, your thesis…

    • 614 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Hoover

    • 1905 Words
    • 8 Pages

    Many good essay-writers will then sketch out a brief outline of their essay before actually writing it. Feel free to do this. Start with your thesis (which will be stated clearly in your introduction), then proceed to sketch out main points, with specific pieces of evidence to support each main point. Lets say that you have decided that both parts of the statement are…

    • 1905 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Introduction: Thesis statements: Three or four sentences that answer the question. Your thesis statement MUST have BOTH similarities and differences. Please do not write “in this essay, I am going to talk about.” Don’t tell me what you are going to tell me. Just tell me.…

    • 321 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Music Censorship

    • 331 Words
    • 2 Pages

    · Develop an introductory paragraph for your essay. Include your thesis statement in this paragraph.…

    • 331 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Essay writing cheat sheet

    • 2124 Words
    • 9 Pages

    makes a claim or argument which you will then prove or support throughout the essay with evidence and analysis.…

    • 2124 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    self evaliation

    • 679 Words
    • 3 Pages

    In September when I was assigned my first essay it was a mess. I found myself just typing words that didnt seem to all come together and make sense. Most of my issues, however, were in the first introductory paragraph. I did not know how to develop an introduction that grabbed the readers attention and let the reader understan what exactly I was going to discuss in my essay. I found that the best way to do this was with a strong thesis statement at the end of the paragraph. A useful technique of writing a thesis that I had come to understand was that writing the essay first, and then reflecting on the essay, often leads me to develop a much stronger thesis statement. It is much easier to write a thesis that introduces what you're going to write about after you write the essay. This is a method that I learned after a few essays in september. I slowly watched my essay grades improve dramatically due partly to a stronger thesis.…

    • 679 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Lastly, it’s wise to think outside the box. Be creative. Some subjects are used to frequently that the essay is getting unattractive to read. Let’s take as an example the death penalty, when you type the words death penalty and essay on Google you get about 8 million hits. If you type toothpaste and essay you only get 600.000…

    • 456 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays