Each of the topic sentences below is poorly written. A pull-down menu after each sentence lists the following possible problems with the topic sentence: Too general: CORRECT! This topic sentence is ...

Extended "discourse," such as class presentations or essays written as school assignments, has a particular structure arising from particular expectations and standards. Such structure, expectations, ...

In the most abstract sense, the function of an introductory paragraph is to move the reader from the world of daily life into the textual and analytical space of an essay. In a more concrete sense, an ...

A paragraph is a collection of related sentences dealing with a single topic. This handout breaks the paragraph down into its conceptual and structural components. The conceptual components — ...

When writing an essay, it’s important to think about which aspects you would like to include in your paper. For example, are there definitions or background information that you’d like to explain ...