The UVic Writer's Guide
The Topic Sentence
To make the significance of each paragraph clear, you must include
a topic sentence. The topic sentence of this paragraph is the previous one because
it includes the crucial words "You must include a topic sentence."
Most often the topic sentence comes first, and the point made
in the topic sentence is developed and supported by the rest of the paragraph. Without some kind
of topic sentence, the paragraph is rudderless and the reader
is lost.
Undeveloped essays may contain entire paragraphs of topic sentences,
combining several expandable ideas into one block of unsupported
assertions. If an idea is important enough to mention it is important
enough to develop; if a general statement is worth making, it
is worth supporting in detail.
Topics About Paragraphs
Table of Contents
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Index
Copyright, The Department of English, University of Victoria,
1995
This page updated May 12, 1995