It’s usually right but it’s also possible to write things out of order.
In general, if there is something like a reasonable topic sentence at the beginning, make that the root. We’re trying to model the paragraph that was written (paragraph tree), not organize the ideas in the best way (idea tree).
FYI: A topic sentence can also say the conclusion. You can open a paragraph with “I think mocking people with different political ideas is overrated.” which is both a topic (mocking people with different political ideas) and a conclusion (overrated). You can also open with “I often see people mock…” and just bring up the topic without saying any conclusion yet. The conclusion could go later in the paragraph (often the last sentence), go in a later paragraph, or never be stated.
What do you think about this tree?
