1. Thesis Sentence/Statement
The main idea of an essay, report, speech, or research paper, sometimes written as a single declarative sentence. A thesis may be implied rather than stated directly.
A thesis statement presents your opinions or thoughts on a subject or an issue. You cannot write an essay without one.
A thesis statement must contain a subject + an opinion.
A thesis statement answers the topic question (the one you created or the one presented to you by the instructor).
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2. Thesis Sentence/Statement
A good thesis statement is short and simple: it should be no longer than one sentence, regardless of essay length.
Good Example: Success is a result of doing the right things consistently.
Bad Example: In a world full of success gurus and books about success, it becomes ever so more important to delineate the one trait that ultimately determines success: doing the right things consistently.
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3. Thesis Sentence/Statement
It makes a clear and specific statement.
It indicates the direction of your thoughts.
It sets a stage.
It provides structure.
It is supported by the body paragraph

4. Transition Sentences
Transition-sentences bring out the logical relation between ideas.  You want your paper to read like a continuous argument which good transitions help to facilitate.  Words like ‘however’, ‘so’, ‘additionally’ do indicate a logical relation between paragraphs, but they are weak.  A strong transition makes the relation explicit.

5. Weaker transition: However, conflicts between principle and emotion more often occur when there is a conflict between the moral values of different cultures.
Stronger transition: While conflict between morality and sympathy can occur in the context of a single cultural code, it more often arises in cross-cultural conflicts.

6. [1] summarizes the point of the previous paragraph
[1] summarizes the point of the previous paragraph. [2] summarizes the point of the current paragraph.