Do the topic sentences string together coherently to support the thesis?
When you put the thesis and all of the topic sentences together, they should read more or less like a coherent paragraph. If they don’t, then something is wrong with the structure of the paper. Try to see what went wrong. Is one of the sentences irrelevant? Work with the writer to make it relevant, or discard that idea from the paper. Do the sentences seem to loop back on each other, going nowhere? Rework them so that they form a more linear structure. If you fix the topic sentences so that they work together to create a coherent paragraph, the paper should be coherent, too. Note: This method of underlining topic sentences can reveal two different types of writing problems: problems with structure and problems with paragraphs. Be sure you’ve correctly diagnosed the problem before you begin tutoring.
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- Do the topic sentences string together coherently to support the thesis?
