Practice in Supporting a Topic Sentence with Specific Details

Practice in Supporting a Topic Sentence with Specific Details AÂ  topic sentence contains the main idea upon which a paragraph is developed. Often it appears at (or near) the beginning of a paragraph, introducing the main idea and suggesting the direction that the paragraph will take. What follows a topic sentence are a number of supporting sentences that develop the main idea with specific details. Practice Excercise Here is an effective topic sentence for a descriptive paragraph: My most valuable possession is an old, slightly warped, blond guitar- the first instrument that I ever taught myself how to play. This sentence not only identifies the prized belonging (an old, slightly warped, blond guitar) but also suggests why the writer values it (the first instrument that I ever taught myself how to play). Some of the sentences below support this topic sentence with specific descriptive details. Others, however, offer information that would be inappropriate in a unified descriptive paragraph. Read the sentences carefully, and then pick out only those that support the topic sentence with precise descriptive details. When youre done, compare your responses with the suggested answers below: It is a Madeira folk guitar, all scuffed and scratched and finger-printed.My grandparents gave it to me on my thirteenth birthday.I think they bought it at the Music Lovers Shop in Rochester where they used to live.At the top is a bramble of copper-wound strings, each one hooked through the eye of a silver tuning key.Although copper strings are much harder on the fingers than nylon strings, they sound much better than the nylon ones.The strings are stretched down a long slim neck.The frets on the neck are tarnished, and the wood has been worn down by years of fingers pressing chords.It was three months before I could even tune the guitar properly, and another few months before I could manage the basic chords.You have to be very patient when first learning how to play the guitar.You should set aside a certain time each day for practice.The body of the Madeira is shaped like an enormous yellow pear, one that has been slightly damaged in shipping.A guitar can be awkward to hold, particu larly if it seems bigger than you are, but you need to learn how to hold it properly if youre ever going to play it right. I usually play sitting down because its more comfortable that way.The blond wood has been chipped and gouged to gray, particularly where the pick guard fell off years ago.I have a Gibson now and hardly ever play the Madeira any more. Suggested Answers The following sentences support the topic sentence with precise descriptive details: 1. It is a Madeira folk guitar, all scuffed and scratched and finger-printed. 4. At the top is a bramble of copper-wound strings, each one hooked through the eye of a silver tuning key. 6. The strings are stretched down a long slim neck. 7. The frets on the neck are tarnished, and the wood has been worn down by years of fingers pressing chords. 11. The body of the Madeira is shaped like an enormous yellow pear, one that has been slightly damaged in shipping. 14. The blond wood has been chipped and gouged to gray, particularly where the pick guard fell off years ago.

Quotes to Help You Celebrate Everyday Life

Quotes to Help You Celebrate Everyday Life You wake up every morning, wondering what the day has in store for you. It could be a fun day full of happy surprises, new friendships, and accomplishment, or it could be a lousy day with the boss yelling at you, your car breaking down, or your cat running off. Some days are good; some not so good. However, life is always good. Albert Einstein said, In the middle of difficulty lies opportunity. If you look at life positively, you may find that a hurdle is a stepping stone to success. Instead of making excuses, you find reasons to succeed. Each failure teaches us important lessons in life. Successes and failures are part of life. Recharge your soul with positive thinking. Start your day by affirming that life is good. Quotes that build positive energy are great stress busters. Quotes Helen Keller: So long as the memory of certain beloved friends lives in my heart, I shall say that life is good.Dan Brookoff: Pain does not have a moral value. Drugs do not have a moral value. Life is good; to be cherished, promoted and supported. We, as physicians, should not be moralizing about pain or its treatments.Euripides: There is just one life for each of us: our own.Boris Pasternak: The great majority of us are required to live a life of constant duplicity. Your health is bound to be affected if, day after day, you say the opposite of what you feel,  if you grovel before what you dislike, and rejoice at what brings you nothing but misfortune.Doug Horton: Life is good when we think its good. Life is bad when we dont think.Samuel Johnson: Almost every man wastes part of his life in attempts to display qualities which he does not possess  and to gain applause which he cannot keep.Bertrand Russell: The good life is one inspired by love and guided by knowledge.Jason Zebehazy : Three things are needed for a good life: good friends, good food, and good song. Winston Churchill: We make a living by what we get; we make a life by what we give.Ann Landers: Nobody gets to live life backward. Look ahead. That is where your future lies.Steven Coallier: Attack life; its going to kill you anyway.Claude Pepper: Life is like riding a bicycle. You dont fall off unless you plan to stop peddling.Ralph Waldo Emerson: It is not the length of life but the depth of life.Samuel Butler: All of the animals except for man know that the principle business of life is to enjoy it.Josh Billings: Life consists not in holding good cards but in playing those you hold well.Albert Schweitzer: A great secret of success is to go through life as a man who never gets used up.Abraham Lincoln: And in the end, its not the years in your life that count. Its the life in your years.Isak Dinesen: Difficult times have helped me to understand better than before, how infinitely rich and beautiful life is in every way, and that so many things that one goes worrying about are of no i mportance whatsoever. Albert Einstein: There are only two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle.Karl Wallenda: Being on the tightrope is living; everything else is waiting.Buddha: On lifes journey, faith is nourishment, virtuous deeds are a shelter, wisdom is the light by day, and right mindfulness is the protection by night. If a man lives a pure life, nothing can destroy him.Sid Caesar: In between goals is a thing called life that has to be lived and enjoyed.Lou Holtz: Never tell your problems to anyone. 20 percent dont care and the other 80 percent are glad you have them.Dr. Seuss: Be who you are and say what you feel because those who mind dont matter and those who matter dont mind.Alexander Graham Bell: When one door closes, another opens, but we often look so long and so regretfully upon the closed door that we do not see the one that has opened for us.