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How to write good paragraphs

Stay on one topic

Parts of a paragraph

The paragraph introduction

The topic sentence

Transition sentence

Background clarification sentences

The paragraph body

Examples

Analysis

The topic sentence

The introduction of many paragraphs includes a topic sentence. The topic sentence’s purpose is to ‘set the scene’ for the rest of the paragraph. The idea is that the rest of the paragraph will discuss the topic or idea presented in the topic sentence and support it.

The highlighted sentence in this paragraph is a good example of a topic sentence. It firmly establishes an idea or theory at the start of the paragraph. The rest of the paragraph then goes on to discuss this idea or theory.

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