Crafting Effective Topic Sentences for Academic Essays

 
Thesis and Topic Sentence
Workshop for Essay 2
 
 
Checking for Topic Sentences
 
Every single body paragraph of an academic needs
to have an effective 
topic sentence.
A 
topic sentence 
is a sentence at the beginning of a
paragraph that clearly states the point that the rest
of the paragraph will be about.
For an academic essay, a topic sentence should do
one of two things:
clearly state the 
reason your thesis is correct 
that the
paragraph will discuss
clearly state 
how the ideas/stories/explanations 
in the
paragraph relate to the thesis
 
Checking for Topic Sentences
 
Example Thesis: While princess toys are often touted as a
harmless part of growing up for little girls, their 
recent
saturation of the market is still troubling 
because
 girls have
fewer non-princess toy choices
, the 
focus
 of the toys is
undeniably 
on appearance 
and beauty, and princess toys
help to 
support rigid gender norms
.
Some 
Example Topic Sentences 
that relate to this thesis:
If princess toys were one choice among many, that would be one
thing, but the overwhelming abundance of princess products takes
that choice away from young girls. 
(The rest of this paragraph might
discuss statistics that the student has gathered about princess vs
non-princess toys for girls.  It also might compare the choices in the
“girls” section of the toy aisle to the “boys” section. This sentence
connects this paragraph to the thesis because it makes a claim
about 
why the princess craze is troubling.)
 
Checking for Topic Sentences
 
More Example Topic Sentences:
While there are certainly still toys for little girls that are not part of
the “princess craze,” some toy lines have introduced princess
elements to compete with Disney, which further diminishes girls’
choices. 
(Notice that this is the SECOND paragraph about choice.
Each one of the blue reasons in the thesis might have more than
one paragraph devoted to explaining them. The rest of this
paragraph should might give examples of several “girls” toys that
were 
changed 
to make them into a princess toys, and discuss the
specific reasons and implications that surround each change.)
Princess merchandise places a great value on outward appearance,
and there are princess products available to help little girls “feel
pretty” as well, and this encourages girls’ imaginative play to
revolve around achieving a certain standard of beauty. 
(The rest of
this paragraph should further explain how the products value
outward appearance, give examples of the toys that help girls “feel
pretty” and explain why it’s a problem for girls’ play to be centered
around achieving beauty standards. Notice how this topic sentence
relates back to the second reason in the thesis.)
 
Checking for Topic Sentences
 
 Example Topic Sentences:
The explosion of princess toys onto the shelves of toy stores
everywhere are part of a recent trend in children’s toys that
sharply divides the “girls” toys from the “boys” toys, which is
a practice that supports socially constructed gender norms
that do more harm than good. 
(The rest of this paragraph
should give more evidence of this trend and support the
statement that these gender norms can be harmful to the
girls who are not comfortable with the socially constructed
ideas of what femininity should be.)
Notice that every single one of these topic sentences:
Relates back to the thesis in some significant way.
Tells the reader what specific point in support of the thesis the
paragraph is going to prove.
 
Highlight your Thesis
 
By this point in the writing process, you should
have a thesis that:
Makes a clear claim about the issue that invites
discussion
Makes a claim that can be supported over the course of
4-5 pages
Is NOT a question
Is NOT a statement of fact
If you need to make any changes to your thesis, do
so today.
 
Highlight the Topic Sentence of
Each Paragraph
 
Does each topic sentence 
clearly and succinctly
state 
the main point of the paragraph?
Does each topic sentence 
connect the paragraph
back to the thesis?
If the answer to either of these questions is “no,”
you need to revise your topic sentence(s).
If you realize that a paragraph covers 
too many
topics 
to be covered by 
one 
topic sentence, you
need to break up that 
one 
paragraph into several,
each with its own topic sentence.
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Understanding the importance of topic sentences in academic writing is crucial for creating cohesive and well-structured essays. This workshop explores the role of topic sentences in connecting paragraphs to the thesis statement, providing examples and guidance on how to craft effective topic sentences that support the main argument of an essay.


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  1. Thesis and Topic Sentence Workshop for Essay 2

  2. Checking for Topic Sentences Every single body paragraph of an academic needs to have an effective topic sentence. A topic sentence is a sentence at the beginning of a paragraph that clearly states the point that the rest of the paragraph will be about. For an academic essay, a topic sentence should do one of two things: clearly state the reason your thesis is correct that the paragraph will discuss clearly state how the ideas/stories/explanations in the paragraph relate to the thesis

  3. Checking for Topic Sentences Example Thesis: While princess toys are often touted as a harmless part of growing up for little girls, their recent saturation of the market is still troubling because girls have fewer non-princess toy choices, the focus of the toys is undeniably on appearance and beauty, and princess toys help to support rigid gender norms. Some Example Topic Sentences that relate to this thesis: If princess toys were one choice among many, that would be one thing, but the overwhelming abundance of princess products takes that choice away from young girls. (The rest of this paragraph might discuss statistics that the student has gathered about princess vs non-princess toys for girls. It also might compare the choices in the girls section of the toy aisle to the boys section. This sentence connects this paragraph to the thesis because it makes a claim about why the princess craze is troubling.)

  4. Checking for Topic Sentences More Example Topic Sentences: While there are certainly still toys for little girls that are not part of the princess craze, some toy lines have introduced princess elements to compete with Disney, which further diminishes girls choices. (Notice that this is the SECOND paragraph about choice. Each one of the blue reasons in the thesis might have more than one paragraph devoted to explaining them. The rest of this paragraph should might give examples of several girls toys that were changed to make them into a princess toys, and discuss the specific reasons and implications that surround each change.) Princess merchandise places a great value on outward appearance, and there are princess products available to help little girls feel pretty as well, and this encourages girls imaginative play to revolve around achieving a certain standard of beauty. (The rest of this paragraph should further explain how the products value outward appearance, give examples of the toys that help girls feel pretty and explain why it s a problem for girls play to be centered around achieving beauty standards. Notice how this topic sentence relates back to the second reason in the thesis.)

  5. Checking for Topic Sentences Example Topic Sentences: The explosion of princess toys onto the shelves of toy stores everywhere are part of a recent trend in children s toys that sharply divides the girls toys from the boys toys, which is a practice that supports socially constructed gender norms that do more harm than good. (The rest of this paragraph should give more evidence of this trend and support the statement that these gender norms can be harmful to the girls who are not comfortable with the socially constructed ideas of what femininity should be.) Notice that every single one of these topic sentences: Relates back to the thesis in some significant way. Tells the reader what specific point in support of the thesis the paragraph is going to prove.

  6. Highlight your Thesis By this point in the writing process, you should have a thesis that: Makes a clear claim about the issue that invites discussion Makes a claim that can be supported over the course of 4-5 pages Is NOT a question Is NOT a statement of fact If you need to make any changes to your thesis, do so today.

  7. Highlight the Topic Sentence of Each Paragraph Does each topic sentence clearly and succinctly state the main point of the paragraph? Does each topic sentence connect the paragraph back to the thesis? If the answer to either of these questions is no, you need to revise your topic sentence(s). If you realize that a paragraph covers too many topics to be covered by one topic sentence, you need to break up that one paragraph into several, each with its own topic sentence.

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