#PARAGRAPHS FULL#

#PARAGRAPHS FULL#

On the other hand, every sentence in this paragraph is 'covered' under the statement that the farm was active and full of life, including wildlife.Ĭheck to see if your own paragraphs have topic sentences most paragraphs should. In examples two and three above, the first sentence is not the topic sentence because it is not broad enough to 'cover' (think of the topic sentence as an umbrella) all the sentences that follow–the visits of wild animals are not 'covered' under the statement about growing fruits and flowers and raising animals. My family's property was an active place, full of life. In Guatemala we had a small vivid farm where we grew all sorts of fruit trees and flowers and raised animals. Or, the author could have placed the topic sentence somewhere in the middle: He liked being close to them, helping and feeding them. My dad loved taking care of the animals, especially when they were young. As a family we were all active taking care of our responsibilities. However, it might easily have been placed at the end: The underlined topic sentence above occurs as the first sentence of the paragraph. To identify the topic of the paragraph above, ask the question, 'What is the paragraph about?' The answer: 'her family's farm in Guatemala.' Then, to identify the topic sentence (or to determine if one exists), ask, 'What about the farm in Guatemala?' The answer: 'The farm was active and full of life.' We had a small vivid farm where we grew all sorts of fruit trees and flowers and raised animals. My family's property in Guatemala was an active place, full of life. The topic sentence is a sort of summary of the contents of a paragraph:

The sentence that states the main idea or central point is the topic sentence. While the topic of a paragraph may be expressed in a word or phrase, the main idea must be expressed in a sentence. Take a critical look at your own paragraphs using the following tips on unity, coherence, order, and length to determine how best to improve your own work.Ī paragraph has unity that is, it makes one point about a single main idea. Conversely, as much as sentence-level errors, paragraph-level errors drag down the quality and clarity of writing. Paragraphs are not particularly glamorous, but strong paragraphs are the backbones of strong essays and research papers. That is, one paragraph is about one thing. A paragraph is a cohesive bundle of specific ideas that are all clearly related to one general idea.