A topic sentence is a complete sentence that summarizes the entire paragraph. It is debatable. The topic + how/why - It is a complete sentence (never a question or sentence fragment). - It should be specific (never use there are many, some, a lot, etc.) - It should be placed near the beginning of a paragraph. - It should not be an announcement (never say I will prove, In the following paragraph, etc.)

Minimum of 2-3 claims, evidence, warrants Claim – proves the topic sentence (more specific); usually answers a question about the topic sentence; Inference of the evidence   Evidence - examples, statistics, quotes, reasons, etc.; straight from research, life, book. Warrant – explains the significance of the claim and details; shows the connection between the claim and details; explains how you got to the inference (claim)