Topic Sentences

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Topic Sentences
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Three Steps to Developing a Strong Topic Sentence

• A topic sentence supports the main point directly
• First, come up with a starting topic
• Usually broad-ex. Celebrities
• Second, narrow the topic to come up with a topic
  sentence
• Limited topic-ex. People are too obsessed with
  celebrities
• Third, develop a topic sentence
• The American public is overly obsessed with
  celebrity culture.

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DONTS of Creating a Strong Topic Sentence

• DONT create a title ex. What celebrities mean
  to me.
• DONT explain what you are going to be
  discussing ex. In this paper, I will talk about
  how Americans are obsessed with celebrities
• I know this is what you will be discussing! You
  dont have to tell me that!

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Paragraph Details

• Each sentence that follows the topic sentence,
  must relate back to the main sentence.
• Ex. The American public is overly obsessed with
  celebrity culture. Too many people spend their
  time devoted to watching the actions of people
  that live in Hollywood, rather than focus on
  their own lives. Magazines and web sites exist
  for the sole purpose of divulging celebrity
  gossip. People need to spend more time concerning
  themselves with what is going on in the real
  world, rather than creating icons out of the rich
  and famous.

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Create Topic Sentences

• Limited topic how to train a cat
• 1. This paragraph is about how to train a cat.
• 2. Before a cat learns anything, it first teaches
  its owner a lesson in humility
• 3. Everything you wouldnt have thought to ask
  about training a cat.
• 4. Training a cat takes physical stamina.
• 5. Animal training is a complicated subject.

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Which could be a topic sentence?

• Limited topic scuba diving
• 1. The excitement of scuba diving.
• 2. My childhood fascination with scuba diving.
• 3. It is very interesting to experience scuba
  diving.
• 4. The sport of scuba diving has always excited
  me.
• 5. Since I was a child, Ive been fascinated by
  scuba diving.

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Paragraph Assignment

• For this assignment, you will be required to
  write a number of paragraphs revolving around the
  same topic. Each paragraph should be 5-6
  sentences in length. Start with a topic sentence
  and each following sentence should support,
  describe, or further explain the topic, depending
  on the paragraph category.