Read this student sample and look at how the parts of the paragraph fit together. Gianna has an amazing ability to be calm in an emergency. One time her younger brother was hurt so badly in a bike accident that he had to see a doctor. Gianna managed to calm him down and make him feel better until they could go to the clinic. Another time, I was in a panic because my cat was missing. While another friend was too upset to help, Gianna calmly went to look for my cat and found her.

Which sentence is the topic sentence?

How many details support the topic sentence?

What kind of details does this paragraph use to support the topic sentence?

arah orne jewett first published "a white heron" in her 1886 collection, "a white heron and other stories." this short story tells the tale of what happens when sylvia, a 9-year-old girl living deep in the forest with her grandmother, meets a young hunter looking to capture, and kill, the white heron living in sylvia's woods. the climax occurs when sylvia must decide whether to him or protect the bird.

rising action

leading up to the climax of the story, the nameless young hunter befriends sylvia and her grandmother, mrs. tilly. he explains to mrs. tilly that he is bent on "stuffing and preserving" a little white heron that he believes lives near their cottage. mrs. tilly offers up that "[t]here ain't a foot o' ground" that sylvia doesn't know and suggests that she may be able to him find the bird.

climax

after following, but not really , the young hunter on his search for the heron, sylvia slips out of bed alone in the middle of the night to find the heron for herself. perched at the top of a gigantic pine tree, sylvia spots the heron, and its nest, in a dead hemlock tree across the way. the following morning she returns home to find her grandmother and the hunter waiting for her at the door. in the moment when she plans to tell the hunter where to find the heron, she suddenly decides to protect the heron and remain silent; even the promise of much needed money does not sway her.

explanation:

answer: this is not a good thesis statement because a thesis statement is not supposed to have questions in it. a thesis states your position on your topic. a question cannot state anything because it is not a statement. a question is a great lead in to a thesis, but it can't be the thesis.