Topic Sentences

A topic sentence is the first sentence of a body paragraph. It tells the reader what you will be discussing in that particular paragraph. The topic sentence is a link between your thesis (in the introduction) and the support (in your body paragraphs).

For example, my thesis might be "When scrutinized carefully, the sentences for the death penalty reveal a cultural bias against people of lower economic classes." This is my argument, found in the introduction. Now I need to support it. I need to find five different topics that I can use to support this statement. Here are five topic sentences that I could use to outline my paper:

1. Criminals sentenced to the death penalty typically come from families with severe economic difficulties. 
2. These men and women do not have the same ability to afford private legal representation, often having to rely on overworked, court-appointed lawyers. 
3. Because these criminals came from lower-income families, they were not presented with the same educational opportunities as others, which has affected their ability to support themselves. 
4. Additionally, this lack of education decreases their knowledge regarding their legal rights and can affect the appeals process. 
5. Many of these criminals never had the finances to be checked for mental competency, so their economic situation has affected their ability to attain help for mental diseases which led to the crimes.

Do you see how all five of these topic sentences can be the topic of a paragraph that supports my thesis statement? They are topics that support my thesis, and which I will support with my research.

Thesis to Outline

Once you have an effective thesis statement, you can easily build an outline. Once you have an outline, writing the rest of your paper becomes a breeze because you know what you want to say, when you want to say it, and why you want to say it. Let me show you how easy this is.

Sample thesis:

Online college writing classes are the most effective way for students  to strengthen their writing skills because students get individualized evaluations, they feel more comfortable asking questions of instructors, and they build confidence in their writing skills by learning organization and research skills.

Sample Outline:

1. Introduction
1. Evolution of Online Writing Classes
2. Overview of Current Offerings
3. Thesis Statement
2. Individualized Evaluations
1. Weekly Feedback
2. Corrected Assignments
3. Comfort in Asking Questions
1. Individual Forums
2. Main Forum Discussions and Support
4. Confidence in Writing Skills Built through Organization and Research Skills
1. Organization Emphasized through Step by Step Process of Essay Writing
2. Due Dates Evenly and Logically Planned
5. Conclusion
1. Overall Success of Online College Writing Classes
2. Re-phrase Thesis Statement

See how the thesis statement fits easily into an outline? The key to a strong paper is a strong thesis. Once you have that thesis, everything else just comes together.