Writing Skill - Thesis Statement & Topic Sentence

1. ELC080
ENGLISH FOR
FOUNDATION
STUDIES 1
WRITING SKILL

2. STRUCTURE OF A PARAGRAPH
Topic Sentence: __________________________________
Supporting Details: (1) ___________________________
(2) ___________________________
(3) ___________________________
Concluding sentence: ____________________________

3. TOPIC SENTENCE
 It is the main idea of the entire
paragraph.
 It is generally the first sentence of the
paragraph.
 Consists of one controlling idea.
 It is made up of a subject (narrow topic)
and an attitude.
 Must be one complete sentence.

4. HOW TO CONSTRUCT A TOPIC
SENTENCE?
Topic Narrow Topic Attitude
Learning a skill Playing a musical instrument challenging
Cooking beneficial
Dancing good pastime
Foreign language demanding
Speed reading
Topic Sentence: Learning to play a musical instrument requires a great
amount of concentration.
OR
Learning to play the violin requires a great amount of concentration.

5. EXERCISES
Narrow each topic, choose a controlling idea and write a
topic sentence focused enough to write a good paragraph.
1. Diets
Narrowed topic: _______________________________________
Controlling idea: ______________________________________
Topic sentence: ________________________________________
2. Internet
3. Modern medicine
4. Movies

6. EXAMPLE
Topic Narrow Topic Attitude
Movies Watching movies at the cinema expensive
Topic Sentence: Watching movies at the cinema can be a rather
expensive affair.
Supporting details: (1) The price of the tickets is unreasonable.
(2) There is a tendency to snack.
(3) There is a cost incurred to get to the destination.
Concluding statement: Therefore, a trip to the movies can be costly.

7. STRUCTURING THE ESSAY
The following are the essential parts of an
essay:
oIntroduction
oBody
oConclusion
Before an essay can be structured, it is
necessary to have a Thesis Statement.

8. THESIS STATEMENT
 It is the main idea of the entire essay.
 It is normally the last sentence of the introductory
paragraph.
 It must be one complete sentence.
 The 3 points of the essay will be included in this
sentence.
 Tells the reader what the body paragraphs will
consist of.

9. EXAMPLE
Topic: Reading
Thesis statement: It is important for children to
cultivate the reading habit because it broadens
knowledge, enhances imagination and improves
vocabulary.
Topic: Learning to play an instrument
Thesis statement: Learning to play an instrument is
time consuming, tedious and expensive.

10. OUTLINING AN ESSAY
Thesis statement: ________________________________________________
__________________________________________________
Topic sentence 1: _________________________________________________
Supporting details: (1) ____________________________________________
(2) ____________________________________________
(3) ____________________________________________
Topic sentence 2: _________________________________________________
Supporting details: (1) ____________________________________________
(2) ____________________________________________
(3) ____________________________________________
Topic sentence 3: _________________________________________________
Supporting details: (1) ____________________________________________
(2) ____________________________________________
(3) ____________________________________________
Concluding Statement: ____________________________________________

11. COMPLETE THE FOLLOWING
OUTLINE
Title: It is important for children to cultivate the reading habit.
Thesis statement: ________________________________________
Topic sentence 1: It is important for children to cultivate the
reading habit because it broadens knowledge.
Supporting details: (1) __________________________________
(2) __________________________________
(3) __________________________________
Topic sentence 2: _______________________________________
Supporting details: (1) It encourages imagination.
(2) __________________________________
(3) __________________________________
Topic sentence 3: _______________________________________
Supporting details: (1) __________________________________
(2) __________________________________
(3) It can help develop communication skills.
Concluding statement: _________________________________________

12. Questions?
Let’s practice!

13. Thank you for listening,
concentrating and trying.