Deadline #2: Paragraphs

Questions:
1. I think that sentence one is the topic sentence of this paragraph.
2. The subject expressed in the topic sentence is that Arizona is not the desert wasteland that most people think of when they think of this hot but diversely environmental state. It is, in fact, a state full of different environments attractive to different people with different activities in mind or lifestyles.
3. The attitude expressed in the topic sentence is one of defense or even pride for the state of Arizona.
4. There are three subtopic sentences in the paragraph.
5. Sentences two, seven and twelve are the subtopic sentences in the paragraph.
6. Sentence seventeen, which reads, “Contrary to what some people believe, Arizona is not one vast and dry wasteland; it has climates and elevations that would suit almost anyone’s preferences, unless one desires a day at the seashore,” is the concluding sentence of the paragraph.
7. The concluding sentence serves to give the paragraph a sense of finality by restating the topic sentence and tying all that was said within the three other subtopics together into one final sentence.
8. There are transition words and phrases in sentences seven, eleven, twelve, sixteen and seventeen.
9. In addition, used in sentence sixteen, is a group of words used as a transition in this paragraph.
10. The first sentence of a paragraph should be indented because the beginning of a new paragraph represents the beginning of a new idea. If you’re moving on to a new idea, the way to clarify that is by beginning a new paragraph and indenting that first sentence.
Paragraph
Christmas is, without a doubt, the best holiday amongst the vast selection of holidays out there. Sure there’s Valentine’s Day to eat chocolate and receive roses from that special someone, Easter to hunt for eggs enclosing miniature goodies, Father’s Day to go golfing, Mother’s Day to spend time with that perfect soul that brought you into this great world, and Halloween to dress up like a complete idiot and collect candy from complete strangers. Then there are also those holidays that are just nonsense. Pointless to even have them listed on the calendar. Among these holidays, if they can even be called holidays, are St. Patrick’s Day, Lincoln’s Birthday, and Groundhog Day. Work generally isn’t taken off these “holidays” and no gifts are given on these days (unless you consider a pinch a gift for not wearing green, or unless your name is Lincoln). Christmas, however, is the day of celebration. Christmas is the time to give. Christmas is the time to celebrate the life of perhaps the most unique individual to ever walk the face of the earth. Christmas is the time for families to get together to provide donations to charities, give gifts to the less fortunate, and help shelter the homeless. Christmas is the time to make snow angels. Christmas is, without a doubt, the best holiday of the year.