Practice

=**Writing Practice**= "The **topic sentence** is the most important sentence in your paragraph. Carefully worded and restricted, it helps you generate and control your information. An effective topic sentence also helps readers grasp your main idea quickly. As you draft your paragraphs, pay close attention to the following three guidelines:

(Philip C. Kolin, //Successful Writing at Work//, 9th ed. Wadsworth, 2010)
 * 1) Make sure you provide a topic sentence. . ..
 * 2) Put your topic sentence first. . ..
 * 3) Be sure your topic sentence is focused. If restricted, a topic sentence discusses only one central idea. A broad or unrestricted topic sentence leads to a shaky, incomplete paragraph for two reasons:
 * The paragraph will not contain enough information to support the topic sentence.
 * A broad topic sentence will not summarize or forecast specific information in the paragraph."


 * Writing the Topic Sentence**: The basic structure for writing the topic sentence is very simple. First, state the limited subject and then state the precise opinion. Here are a few examples:
 * The Godfather is the greatest movie of all time.
 * Broccoli rabe is my favorite vegetable.
 * Strunk and White's "the Elements of Style" is the very best book of its kind.
 * Learning to draw cartoons is the best way to enhance creativity.
 * Starting your own internet business is the easiest, fastest and cheapest way to ensure a lifetime of financial stability.

I could go on and on but I'm sure you get the point. I hope this will help you write powerful topic sentences in your own articles. It's pretty easy as long as you remember to stick to a limited subject and as long as you remember to clearly state your precise opinion about that subject. This will help set the level of expectation for the reader and will allow you to focus on supporting your assertion that [//insert limited subject//] is [//insert precise opinion//].


 * Writing a paragraph * Helpful links**

You don't always have to list all of your points in a topic sentence.

[|Topic Sentences]

[|Transitional Statements]