The ability to write a successful essay begins with the ability to write a strong paragraph. So I want to talk about basic paragraph structure and a little bit about what makes an effective paragraph. Okay, so every paragraph has the same three basic components.
You have your topic sentence, your supporting sentences, and your concluding sentence. Now the topic sentence is important because it's the main idea of the entire paragraph. The supporting sentences have one job.
which is to develop the main idea or to support the topic sentence with examples, detail, explanation. The concluding sentence is there to give the paragraph closure and to touch upon the main idea, to give the reader the idea that the topic is now finished and that you're moving on to something else. Okay, so the entire paragraph stems from the topic sentence, so it's really important to have a strong topic sentence. Let's look at an example of a good one.
Taking too many university courses at once can have potentially serious consequences. Okay, so this is a strong topic sentence for a couple reasons. One, it has a clear topic.
In this case, taking too many university courses at once. Also, it has a main idea. In this case, potentially serious consequences.
It's also effective because it gives the reader an idea of what kind of paragraph they're going to be reading. Whether it's... descriptive, narrative, opinion-based, comparison.
Now, in this case, it's clearly going to be a paragraph discussing the effects of taking too many courses. All right, now let's look at four example topic sentences. You can even pause the video for a minute and look at these four sentences and decide which do you think is the strongest topic sentence here. Alright, that was actually a bit of a trick question because none of these four sentences are strong topic sentences. Each of them is problematic in one way or another.
So let's look at them. Number one, four to five teenagers in Canada have cell phones. Now the problem with that is that it's a fact and therefore it's too specific, it's too narrow to be a topic sentence.
There's no idea to develop in your supporting sentences. Number two. Driving is very stressful.
That's also problematic, but for the opposite reason. It's too broad. It's too big of an idea.
You have to be more specific, less generalized. Driving where or when? Stressful for whom? Number three, how I learned to be more patient. Now this is a good topic, but it's not a topic sentence because it's incomplete.
Make sure that your topic sentence has a clear subject, verb. and is a completed idea. Okay? Number four.
In this paragraph, I would like to discuss the importance of food in Italian culture. Now, this is a common mistake in topic sentences. Don't announce your topic.
Don't tell the reader what you're going to discuss. Simply state your opinion or your main idea. Now, let's look at some revised versions of those sentences to see some improvements. Okay? Number one.
Cell phones should be banned from classrooms for several reasons. Now this is good because there's now an opinion. It's no longer a fact and the writer has taken a clear position.
Number two, driving on the highway in heavy traffic is stressful for many motorists. Again, this is better because now it's more specific. Three, having a child taught me the importance of being patient. An improvement because you now have a clear subject, verb, and a complete thought. And number four, food is an essential part of Italian culture.
You're no longer announcing what you're going to discuss, so that's much better. Okay. Why don't you follow the link at the end of this video if you're interested in trying an exercise that's connected to this lesson.