Structure of an academic text

Paragraph

A series of related sentences creating a topic or idea.

Topic sentence

The sentence that contains the main idea of the paragraph

Supporting sentence

The sentence that develops or supports the thesis of the topic sentence with evidence

Concluding sentence

The sentence that reiterates or summarizes the thesis or main idea of the paragraph

Features of a topic sentence

• States the main idea

• Provides direction

• Specific and focused

• Controlling idea

Deductive paragraph pattern

The general idea is presented first, then the specific topic is drawn out from that principle.

Inductive paragraph pattern

The topic begins generally, and then ends with the paragraph's main point. The thesis sentence/ main topic sentence is at the end.

Deductive-Inductive paragraph pattern

Starts and ends with a topic sentence

Inductive-deductive paragraph pattern

Topic sentence is located in the middle of the paragraph.

Hinted/implied paragraph pattern

When the paragraph does not specifically imply the topic, but a conclusion can be drawn out from the evidence in the paragraph.