Learning English

After the topic sentence, good paragraphs contain one or more 'supporting sentences' which explain the topic sentence in more detail. The supporting sentences might include reasons for the reader to agree with the topic sentence, or examples that explain or develop the topic sentence.

Supporting sentences often include ‘signposting’ language, to show the relationship between the ideas in the paragraph. Examples include:

• Firstly… Secondly… Thirdly…
• The first… The second… The third…
• Furthermore, … However, … On the other hand, …

试试这个练习

To do

Read the assignment title from a course about music and culture. Then look at the paragraph from the assignment and see if you can spot the supporting sentence that SHOULDN'T be there.

Assignment title
Choose a musical instrument which has moved beyond its original geographical location. Who has adopted this instrument, how have they done so, and why?

Paragraph
The three-stringed harp has also had a role in popular protests aimed at defending the indigenous peoples’ equality. One example is the single ‘Meim Yet’tu’, released in 1993 in support of the Five Rivers land rights movement. This pushed the Five Rivers movement to the front of the international stage, dramatically raising awareness of the harp as a symbol of the indigenous peoples’ tradition, and their stance in the nation’s land-rights politics (Gardise and Warhust, 2011). It is very common for musical instruments to be adopted by different cultures, and used for different purposes. The instrument has since taken on a clear role as a symbol of the indigenous political struggle.

Next

Now that we've looked at topic and supporting sentences, it's time to end at the end with how concluding sentences work in academic paragraph writing.