Here is the topic sentence of my first body paragraph:

A topic sentence should give a general overview of the entire paragraph. It parallels a thesis in that it contains a position and rationale. In my topic sentence, my position is effective because it reveals something specific that ultimately has an effect. I state that detective Marlowe's narration in "Red Wind" displays "the underlying philosophy of noir." My "so what" for this statement is that it establishes "that the world is a sinful, corrupt place." By accident, I put the wrong date for "Red Wind", which could potentially limit my credibility. The content, however, of my topic sentence is effective because it provides the viewer with an overview of the paragraph and it relates to my thesis.