Dr. Matt Kuefler

3. ORGANIZATION PARAGRAPHS
AND INCLUDING TOPIC SENTENCES

How should I organize my ideas?

Once you have decided upon the four or five main reasons why you hold your thesis to be true (see Writing Tip #2), you can organize these reasons properly. Order them from most convincing (in your estimation) to least convincing. In that order, you will provide your reader with the most compelling reasons to agree with your point of view from the start, then give additional supporting reasons.

How should my paragraphs be organized?

Each of the main paragraphs of your essay -- that is, all but the introduction and the conclusion -- should have an opening or topic sentence. This topic sentence tells the reader what the main point to each paragraph is, and how it strengthens the thesis of the whole essay. The best and easiest way of making this link is by repeating words or phrases from the thesis statement in each of the topic sentences.

Where should the topic sentences be located in the essay?

The topic sentence should always be the first sentence in each of the main paragraphs. In that way, the reader knows how the information or examples in each paragraph relate to the overall thesis. By this convention, the reader does not have to pause to consider what the main point to each paragraph is, because you have stated it clearly at the start of that paragraph.

Example:

Suppose that your thesis is: For changing public attitudes toward contraception, Margaret Sanger deserves a place in U.S. history.

You have decided to talk about her career in general, then her clinical work, then her writings, then her public lectures, as your main reasons holding this thesis. Your topic sentences, developed from your main points, could include the following:

Margaret Sanger's long career was dedicated first and foremost to the public acceptance of contraception. (In this paragraph, you'll be talking in general terms about her career.)

The birth control clinics that Sanger opened across America were only the most obvious sign of her commitment to changing public attitudes toward contraception. (In this paragraph, you'll move from general statements about her career to specifics, in this case, her clinical work.)

In addition to her role in the opening of clinics, Sanger also wrote extensively on the subject of birth control, advocating its use and acceptance. (In this paragraph, you'll talk about her writings.)

Sanger also traveled widely and spoke frequently on the subject of contraception. (In this paragraph, you'll talk about her public lectures.)

Note that each of the topic sentences includes words or phrases from the thesis, so that it is clear how the information that will be provided in each of the paragraphs relates to and will strengthen the overall thesis.

Note also, though, that I have forgotten to relate the last of the sample topic sentences above to the overall thesis. So I should reword it, such as what follows: Sanger also traveled widely and spoke frequently on the subject of contraception, reaching countless Americans and changing their perceptions of its use.

Note also that to avoid a series of repetitions of these key words and phrases, I have used synonyms: birth control for contraception, use and acceptance for changing public attitudes, Americans for U.S. Thus I can repeat the same ideas without seeming too repetitive.