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Topic Sentence
In expository writing, a topic sentence is a sentence that summarizes the main idea of a paragraph. It is usually the first sentence in a paragraph. Also known as a focus sentence, it encapsulates or organizes an entire paragraph. Although topic sentences may appear anywhere in a paragraph, in academic essays they often appear at the beginning. The topic sentence acts as a kind of summary, and offers the reader an insightful view of the writer’s main ideas for the following paragraph. More than just being a mere summary, however, a topic sentence often provides a claim or an insight directly or indirectly related to the thesis. It adds cohesion to a paper and helps organize ideas both within the paragraph and the whole body of work at large. As the topic sentence encapsulates the idea of the paragraph, serving as a sub-thesis, it remains general enough to cover the support given in the body paragraph while being more direct than the thesis of the paper. Forms Complex sentenc ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Expository Writing
The rhetorical modes (also known as modes of discourse) are a long-standing attempt to broadly classify the major kinds of language-based communication, particularly writing and speaking, into narration, description, exposition, and argumentation. First attempted by Samuel P. Newman in ''A Practical System of Rhetoric'' in 1827, the modes of discourse have long influenced US writing instruction and particularly the design of mass-market writing assessments, despite critiques of these classification's explanatory power for non-school writing. Definitions Different definitions of mode apply to different types of writing. Chris Baldick defines mode as an unspecific critical term usually designating a broad but identifiable kind of literary method, mood, or manner that is not tied exclusively to a particular form or genre. Examples are the ''satiric'' mode, the ''ironic'', the ''comic'', the ''pastoral'', and the ''didactic''. Frederick Crews uses the term to mean a type of essa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Thesis Statement
A thesis statement usually appears at the conclusion of the introductory paragraph of a paper. It offers a concise summary of the main point or claim of the essay, research paper, etc. It is usually expressed in one sentence, and the statement may be reiterated elsewhere. It contains the topic and the controlling idea. There are two types of thesis statements: direct and indirect. The indirect thesis statement does not state the explicit reasons, while the direct thesis statement does. If one writes, "I love New York for 3 reasons," the fact that they love New York is the topic, and "3 reasons" are an indirect thesis statement. The essay will contain the 3 reasons. If one writes, "I love New York because of the food, the jazz clubs, and the Broadway Shows," it is a direct thesis statement that tells the reader what each section or body paragraph is going to be about. [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Complex Sentence
In grammar, sentence and clause structure, commonly known as sentence composition, is the classification of sentences based on the number and kind of clauses in their syntactic structure. Such division is an element of traditional grammar. Typology of clauses In standard English, sentences are composed of five ''clause'' patterns : # Subject + Verb (intransitive)''Example:'' She runs. # Subject + Verb (transitive) + Object''Example:'' She runs the meeting. # Subject + Verb (linking) + Subject Complement (adjective, noun, pronoun)''Example:'' Abdul is happy. Jeanne is a person. I am her. # Subject + Verb (transitive) + Indirect Object + Direct Object''Example:'' She made me a pie.This clause pattern is a derivative of S+V+O, transforming the object of a preposition into an indirect object of the verb, as the example sentence in transformational grammar is actually "She made a pie for me". # Subject + Verb (transitive) + Object + Object Complement''Example:'' They made him happy.The ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Essay
An essay is, generally, a piece of writing that gives the author's own argument, but the definition is vague, overlapping with those of a letter, a paper, an article, a pamphlet, and a short story. Essays have been sub-classified as formal and informal: formal essays are characterized by "serious purpose, dignity, logical organization, length," whereas the informal essay is characterized by "the personal element (self-revelation, individual tastes and experiences, confidential manner), humor, graceful style, rambling structure, unconventionality or novelty of theme," etc. Essays are commonly used as literary criticism, political manifestos, learned arguments, observations of daily life, recollections, and reflections of the author. Almost all modern essays are written in prose, but works in verse have been dubbed essays (e.g., Alexander Pope's ''An Essay on Criticism'' and '' An Essay on Man''). While brevity usually defines an essay, voluminous works like John Locke's ''An ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lead Paragraph
A lead paragraph (sometimes shortened to lead; in the United States sometimes spelled lede) is the opening paragraph of an article, book chapter, or other written work that summarizes its main ideas. Styles vary widely among the different types and genres of publications, from journalistic news-style leads to a more encyclopaedic variety. Types of leads * Journalistic leads emphasize grabbing the attention of the reader. In journalism, the failure to mention the most important, interesting or attention-grabbing elements of a story in the first paragraph is sometimes called "burying the lead". Most standard news leads include brief answers to the questions of who, what, why, when, where, and how the key event in the story took place. In newspaper writing, the first paragraph that summarizes or introduces the story is also called the "blurb paragraph", "teaser text" or, in the United Kingdom, the "standfirst". *Encyclopedia leads tend to define the subject matter as well as emphasi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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