Topic and Concluding Sentences Ms. Spector Room 231

Topic Sentences A topic sentence essentially tells us what the rest of the paragraph is about All sentences after it have to give more information about the topic sentence, prove it by offering facts, or describe it. Topic sentences need to relate back to the thesis of your essay It is ALWAYS the first sentence of your body paragraphs Do not write “This paragraph will be about…” or any variation of that

Topic Sentence Example Thesis  The Tell Tale Heart uses first person point of view to add the effect of horror by convincing readers the narrator is not mad, while committing a brutal crime. Topic Sentence  The narrator hears the beating of the old man’s heart, which drives him to insanity and leads to the old man’s death.

Concluding Sentences A concluding sentence comes at the end of each body paragraph It wraps up the one body paragraph and transitions into the next idea (a.k.a. next body paragraph) DO NOT write, “This paragraph was about…” or “This sums up this paragraph.” Or any variation of that!

Concluding Sentence Example Thesis  The Tell Tale Heart uses first person point of view to add the effect of horror by convincing readers the narrator is not mad, while committing a brutal crime. Topic Sentence  The narrator hears the beating of the old man’s heart, which drives him to insanity and leads to the old man’s death. Lead Up Sentence -  While the narrator is in the old man’s room, waiting to kill him, he hears the old man’s heart beating. Textual Evidence -  “ It grew quicker and quicker, and louder and louder every instant” (Poe 3). Analysis -  The narrator listening to the heart beating, drives him more mad and when he can’t take it anymore, he lunges at the old man and kills him. This frightening scene gives off the perception of that the narrator is insane because though he convinced readers he’s not crazy, he is driven by the beating of the heart to kill the old man. Concluding Sentence  The heart beating symbolizes the narrator’s insanity, but the narrator also hears it when the old man is dead, which leads him to confess to his crime.

Your Turn You have your topic, your thesis, your evidence, your analysis. Your body paragraphs are almost complete! Now I want you to write a topic and concluding sentence for each piece of evidence. What is your paragraph mainly about? Why did you choose that quote/paraphrase? Once you have your sentences, you need to see Ms. Spector for approval! Remember without a signature, it doesn’t count!