Topic Sentences and Thesis Statements

Every good piece of writing has a main point — what the writer wants to get across to the readers about the topic or the writer’s position on that topic. A topic sentence (for a paragraph) and a thesis statement (for an essay) express the writer’s main point. To see the relationship between the thesis statement of an essay and the topic sentences of paragraphs that support a thesis statement, see “The Writing Process” in Chapter 2.

In many paragraphs, the main point is expressed in either the first or last sentence. In essays, the thesis statement is usually one sentence (often the first or last) in an introductory paragraph that contains several other sentences related to the main point.

One way to write a topic sentence for a paragraph or a thesis statement for an essay is to use this basic formula as a start:

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A good topic sentence or thesis statement has several basic features.

BASICS OF A GOOD TOPIC SENTENCE OR THESIS STATEMENT

The explanations and practices in the following five sections, organized according to the “basics” described above, will help you write good topic sentences and thesis statements.