Focus on a point

The topic sentence is similar to a thesis statement. It must be a complete sentence. In a short paper, the subpoints from your outline will suffice for the topic sentences of your paper. A simple sentence is easier to develop as a topic sentence in a paragraph. Otherwise, you may risk going off in several different directions. The development of your paragraph can, again, be answers to the questions either how? why? or both. Examples are very useful in making a point. If you make a statement that expresses a point of view, then if you can show your readers some examples that support that point, you have used very strong supporting material.

The topic sentence may be the first sentence in your paragraph although it can come in the middle or be the closing sentence. Just make certain that your supporting sentences do contribute to the support of your topic sentence. It iss usually best to vary the positioning of your topic sentence; however, some researchers have found that an essay with topic sentences in first position receive favourable reviews by readers.