Read the paragraph and identify its topic sentence. The ancient Chinese had remarkably advanced ways of writing that had a long-lasting effect on the language. Chinese is one of the oldest written languages, dating to the Shang period (1600 to 1046 BC). Chinese scholars have uncovered written documents from this period that show an early form of present-day Chinese characters. The writing looked more like pictures than the standard characters of today. It consisted of phonetic signs, or signs that mimic human speech. During the Shang period, more than 3,000 characters were in use. Scholars have deciphered about 1,000 of those characters. Considering that modern Chinese uses about 3,500 characters consistently, the ancient Chinese created a written language that has remained relevant and evolved over time.

"The ancient Chinese had remarkably advanced ways of writing that had a long-lasting effect on the language."

Explanation:

Topic sentences are usually the first sentence, and the rest of the paragraph goes into details about the styles of writing, which aligns with the meaning of the first sentence.

"the monkey's paw" is a rare story in that the theme is actually stated in the story. sgt. maj. morris tells the whites that the old fakir who put the spell on the paw said, "fate rules people's lives and those who interfere with fate do so to their sorrow." the message is a warning, but mr. white doesn't believe it. even though sgt. maj. morris makes it clear that he tried wishing with unfortunate results and he tries to throw the paw on the fire,   mr. white makes a wish for 200 pounds only to find that he receives the money when herbert dies in a factory accident. according to the fakir, then, because mr. white had wished for something he should not have had, his son lost his life.

the second wish that mrs. white encourages him to make is for herbert's return--one week after his death. when the strange knocking begins at the door during the windy night, mr. white panicks, believing that the previously dead but still mangled herbert could have walked home from the cemetary and is now at the door. because he fears what his wife will find if she opens the door, mr. white makes his third wish--for the noise to stop.

therefore, he uses his three wishes and to his sorrow, loses his son and disappoints his wife, who fervently believed that their son was at the door. she wanted him back, regardless of his condition.

explanation: