THESIS STATEMENT

Topic Sentence vs. Thesis Statement Racquet sports go back many centuries. The first ball game to be played with rackets is thought to have been a Persian game called tchigan. Modern tennis, however likely originated from a 12th century French game called paume (meaning palm). It was a court game where the ball was struck with the hand. Paume evolved into jeu de paume, in which rackets were used. The game spread and evolved in Europe. In 1874, Major Walter Clopton Wingfield defined the rules of the modern game of tennis, which he named sphairistike, (Greek for "playing ball”). This was considered too difficult to pronounce so people began calling it lawn tennis. Other racket sports developed independently over the years as well. What is the topic sentence of this paragraph?

Topic Sentence Topic sentences should be used in the body paragraphs of an essay or paper. They come at the beginning of each paragraph and introduce the key idea that you will discuss later in the paragraph. Topic sentences are very specific.

Thesis Statement A thesis statement is a single sentence that comes at the end of the introduction paragraph of your essay. A thesis statement connects all of your later topic sentences under one idea. It is an argument that you make about a topic, or what your paper is going to prove. Thesis statements are big ideas that leave plenty of room to say more in the following paragraphs.

T.A.R. A thesis statement has three parts, known as TAR: T: the overall topic of a paper A: the attitude the writer holds about a topic R: the reason(s) for their position

Finding the TAR Using microchips to monitor recycling should be banned because it is an invasion of privacy. All parents need to vaccinate their children to prevent disease from spreading. Students should have to volunteer their time so they will develop a sense of citizenship and humility.