Outlining Exercise: Owning a Horse

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Outlining Exercise: Owning a Horse

Remember:

A thesis or a topic sentence must sound more like a conclusion than like an introduction.
A topic sentence must set up one logical sub-division of the thesis.
The topic sentences must be organized around one basis of sub-division. They should not overlap.
Following are four choices for the thesis sentence for a theme about owning a horse. Pick the best choice. The other three are poor thesis sentences.

  1. Ever since I was twelve I have owned a horse of my own.
  2. Owning my horse was demanding.
  3. Owning my horse involved hard work and was expensive but it was also fun.
  4. Owning my horse literally cost a fortune.

Following are four choices for the topic sentence of the first paragraph of development. Pick the best choice. The other three are poor topic sentences or do not fit the pattern.

  1. Last year I spent a total of $4300 on my horse.
  2. The work and money I spent on my horse is unbelievable.
  3. Horse expenses include daily costs, planned preventive care costs, and unexpected costs.
  4. Without a doubt, the world’s most expensive and troublesome hobby is owning a horse.

Following are four choices for the topic sentence of the second paragraph of development. Pick the best choice. The other three are poor topic sentences or do not fit the pattern.

  1. Caring for my horse was a lot of work.
  2. The most important aspect of caring for a horse is grooming it.
  3. To groom a horse properly one must follow the following procedures.
  4. Many other factors besides money make owning a horse demanding.

Following are four choices for the topic sentence of the third paragraph of development (the last middle paragraph not the concluding paragraph). Pick the best choice. The other three are poor-topic sentences or do not fit the pattern.

  1. All things considered, owning a horse is worth the money and trouble.
  2. As I have shown, the expenses of horse ownership never stop.
  3. Even having fun with my horse involved considerable effort.
  4. Owning a horse is a big responsibility.

Answers

Following are four choices for the thesis sentence for a theme about owning a horse. Pick the best choice. The other three are poor thesis sentences.

  1. Ever since I was twelve I have owned a horse of my own. This is only a fact that introduces a topic.
  2. Owning my horse was demanding.
  3. Owning my horse involved hard work and was expensive but it was also fun. Instead of one unifying conclusion, this offers three opinions, with no point implied because fun contradicts the other opinions.
  4. Owning my horse literally cost a fortune. This could be a thesis, but no topic sentence pattern below supports it. There are no money conclusions in paragraph two.

Following are four choices for the topic sentence of the first paragraph of development. Pick the best choice. The other three are poor topic sentences or do not fit the pattern.

  1. Last year I spent a total of $4300 on my horse. A topic sentence cannot be a fact.
  2. The work and money I spent on my horse is unbelievable. Each topic sentence should offer one conclusion, not two.
  3. Horse expenses include daily costs, planned preventive care costs, and unexpected costs. This paragraph about expense announces three types of expense so that readers can process the info easily. True, this could be a pattern for a theme, but it can also be developed in one paragraph.
  4. Without a doubt, the world’s most expensive and troublesome hobby is owning a horse. This offers two conclusions in an unsupportable exaggeration.

Following are four choices for the topic sentence of the second paragraph of development. Pick the best choice. The other three are poor topic sentences or do not fit the pattern.

  1. Caring for my horse was a lot of work.
  2. The most important aspect of caring for a horse is grooming it. All the caring duties must go in the second paragraph
  3. To groom a horse properly one must follow the following procedures. This ignores the thesis.
  4. Many other factors besides money make owning a horse demanding. This is merely useless transition without telling the pint of the paragraph to come.

Following are four choices for the topic sentence of the third paragraph of development (the last middle paragraph not the concluding paragraph). Pick the best choice. The other three are poor-topic sentences or do not fit the pattern.

  1. All things considered, owning a horse is worth the money and trouble. Rather than support demanding, this changes the purpose to worth the demands.
  2. As I have shown, the expenses of horse ownership never stop. We need another demand here, not a summary.
  3. Even having fun with my horse involved considerable effort. The paragraph will not be about fun but about all the preparation and work involved with riding or competing.
  4. Owning a horse is a big responsibility. Repeats thesis instead of setting up a sub-division.

Last updated 09/24/2006