Writing+Topic+Sentences+&+Thesis+Statements

UnderstandWhataTopicSentenceandaThesisStatementAreEverygoodpieceofwritinghasamainidea—whatthewriterwantstogetacrosstothereadersaboutthetopic,orthewriter’spositiononthattopic.Ifyouhavenarrowedandexploredyourtopic,asdiscussedinChapter2,youmayalreadyhaveasenseofyourmainidea.Clearlyanddefinitelycon-veyingyourmainideatoyourreadersisfundamentaltothesuccessofanypieceofwriting.Ifyourreadersdon’tknowfromthestartwhatyourmainideais,theywillnotreadtherestofwhatyouhavewrittenwithanyclearthoughtinmind.Atopicsentence(foraparagraph)andathesisstatement(foranessay)expressthewriter’smainideaandincludeboththetopicandthemainpointthewriterwantstomakeaboutthattopic.Toseetherelation-shipbetweenthethesisstatementofanessayandthetopicsentencesofparagraphsthatsupportthisthesisstatement,seethediagramonpage34.Inmanyparagraphs,themainideaisexpressedineitherthefirstorlastsentence.Inessays,thethesisstatementisusuallyonesentence(oftenfirstorlast)inanintroductoryparagraphthatcontainsseveralothersentencesrelatedtothemainidea.(InChapter6,youwilllearnmoreaboutwritingintroductionsforessays.)Onewaytowriteatopicsentenceforaparagraphorathesisstatementforanessayistousethisbasicformulaasastart:+=Oralpresentationsmakemeverynervous.TopicsentenceThesisstatementMainpoint/positionNarrowedtopic313WritingYourTopicSentenceorThesisStatementMakingYourPointUnderstandWhataTopicSentenceandaThesisStatementAre31PracticeDevelopingaGoodTopicSentenceorThesisStatement34WriteYourOwnTopicSentenceorThesisStatement42YouKnowThisYoualreadyhaveexperi-enceinmakingyourpoint:•Youexplainthepointofamovietosomeonewhohasn’tseenit.•Whenafriendasksyou,“What’syourpoint?”youexplainit.•Whenyoupersuadesomeonetodosome-thingyouwant,youmakeyourpointaboutwhytheyshould.■IDEAJOURNALWhatareyourstrongestcommunicationskills?Whatotherskillsortal-entsdoyouhave?■TIPFormoreinformationonwhatacompletesentenceis,seeChapter19,TheBasicSentence:AnOverview.031-045_CH.03_616139/4/036:59PMPage31PRACTICE1FINDTHETOPICSENTENCEANDMAINPOINTReadtheparagraphthatfollowsandunderlinethetopicsentence.Inthespacesbelowtheparagraph,identifythenarrowedtopicandthemainpoint.Arecentsurveyreportedthatemployersconsidercommunicationskillsmorecriticaltosuccessthantechnicalskills.Employeescanlearntechnicalskillsonthejobandpracticethemeveryday.Buttheyneedtobringwell-developedcommunicationskillstothejob.Theyneedtobeabletomakethemselvesunderstoodtocolleagues,bothinspeechandinwriting.Theyneedtobeabletoworkcooperativelyaspartofateam.Employerscan’ttaketimetoteachcommunicationskills,butwithoutthemanemployeewillhaveahardtime.NARROWEDTOPIC:communicationskillsMAINPOINT:Employersconsidercommunicationskillsmorecriticaltosuccessthantechnicalskills.PRACTICE2IDENTIFYINGTOPICSANDMAINPOINTSIneachofthefollowingsentences,underlinethetopicanddouble-underlinethemainpointaboutthetopic.EXAMPLE:.1.The.2.The.3..4..5..6..modelsarethebestvaluecanhelpyoudecidewhichbrandsorThemagazineConsumerReportsshouldbeillegalDinnertimetelephonesalescallsenjoyspracticaljokesThecity’snewmayordesignedaresometimespoorlyGadgetscreatedforleft-handedpeopleambitiouschildisoftenthemostindependentandoldestchildinthefamilyiskepthighbythetobaccoindustrylevelofnicotineincigarettescrasheshaveincreasedthelikelihoodofplaneAgingairplanesHOWTOWRITEPARAGRAPHSANDESSAYS32Chapter3•WritingYourTopicSentenceorThesisStatement■TEACHINGTIPAskstudentstobringinnewspaperormaga-zinearticlesinwhichthey’vehighlightedthesisstatementsortopicsentences.Theyshouldalsolabelthetopicandmainpointorpositionaboutthattopic.Readanddiscusssomeoftheseexamplesinclass.031-045_CH.03_616139/4/036:59PMPage32HOWTOWRITEPARAGRAPHSANDESSAYSUnderstandWhataTopicSentenceandaThesisStatementAre337.Ofallthefast-foodburgers,.8.At5:00everyafternoon,.9..10..Yourfirsttryatyourtopicsentenceorthesisstatementwillprobablyneedsometweakingtomakeitbetter.Beforeyouwritesentencestosup-portyourtopicsentence,orparagraphstosupportyourthesisstatement,youmaywanttochangesomewordstomakesurethatthetopicsentenceorthesisstatementisclear,specific,andforceful.Asyougetfurtheralonginyourwriting,youmaygobackseveraltimestorevisethetopicsentenceorthesisstatement,basedonwhatyoulearnasyoudevelopyourideas.Lookathowonestudentrevisedtheexamplesentenceabovetomakeitmoredetailed:+=Planningavacationcarefullycanbetime-consuming.Whendevelopingatopicsentenceorthesisstatement,makesureithasthefollowingfivefeatures.BASICSOFAGOODTOPICSENTENCEORTHESISSTATEMENT•Itfitsthesizeoftheassignment.•Itstatesasinglemainpointorpositionaboutthenarrowedtopic.•Itisspecific.•Itissomethingyoucanshow,explain,orprove.•Itisaforcefulstatementwrittenwithconfidence.Althoughatopicsentenceorthesisstatementstatesasinglemainpointorposition,thismainpointorpositionmayincludemorethanoneidea;how-ever,theideasshouldbecloselyrelated.Forexample:+=Planningacanbebutitiswellvacationcarefullytime-consuming,worthdoing.(idea2)(idea1)TopicsentenceThesisstatementMainpoint/positionNarrowedtopicTopicsentenceThesisstatementMainpoint/positionNarrowedtopicwatchingisagreatplaceforpeople-Thebeachonahotmidsummerdayhaveseriousmessagesabouti