Topic Sentence

TOPIC SENTENCE

A well-organized paragraph supports or develops a single controlling idea, which is expressed in a sentence called the topic sentence. A topic sentence has several important functions: it substantiates or supports an essay’s thesis statement; it unifies the content of a paragraph and directs the order of the sentences; and it advises the reader of the subject to be discussed and how the paragraph will discuss it. Readers generally look to the first few sentences in a paragraph to determine the subject and perspective of the paragraph. That’s why it’s often best to put the topic sentence at the very beginning of the paragraph. In some cases, however, it’s more effective to place another sentence before the topic sentence—for example, a sentence linking the current paragraph to the previous one, or one providing background information.

Although most paragraphs should have a topic sentence, there are a few situations when a paragraph might not need a topic sentence. For example, you might be able to omit a topic sentence in a paragraph that narrates a series of events, if a paragraph continues developing an idea that you introduced (with a topic sentence) in the previous paragraph, or if all the sentences and details in a paragraph clearly refer—perhaps indirectly—to a main point. The vast majority of your paragraphs, however, should have a topic sentence.

Topic sentences map out the direction of a paper and allow the reader to see where each paragraph is heading. They show the reader how the paragraph will relate to the thesis and specifically what topic within the thesis will be detailed, argued or explained.

Where can I find topic sentences?

Topic sentences are generally the first or second sentence in a paragraph. If the topic sentence is the second sentence, the first sentence will be a transitional sentence, a statement that bridges the previous paragraph’s idea to the idea in the paragraph at hand. Occasionally the topic sentence is at the end of the paragraph, when a paragraph moves from a specific to a general conclusion.

What do topic sentences do?

Topic sentences announce to the reader what part of the argument posed in your thesis will be discussed in the paragraph and limit the scope of the paragraph to that part of the argument. It is important to stay within these boundaries because they control the content and the main idea of the paragraph.

What is the structure of a topic sentence?

A topic sentence can be broken into two parts: the topic and the limiting idea. The topic lets the readers know the general domain of the paragraph. While the limiting idea narrows the domain to the specific idea, the paragraph will fully develop and discuss. The following sentence is an example of a topic sentence without a limiting idea: “Chocolate ice cream is the best!” This sentence, by contrast, contains a limiting idea: “Chocolate ice cream sparks hormones in the human brain which make people feel content.” The second sentence explains more fully the paragraph’s direction.

How do I know if I have written a good topic sentence?

Here are some key indicators that may help:
1. summarizes the entirety of the subject discussed in the paragraph
formed as one sentence
2. has a clear, direct relationship to the thesis
3. contains a specific limiting idea, a part of the thesis argument
4.does not introduce a subject that is too complex or too simple to be covered
in a paragraph
5. remaining sentences are subordinate to, and support, the topic sentence
6.the reader can distinguish the topic sentence from the rest of the paragraph.

Example of topics with related topic sentences:

• I had a wonderful summer
• I had a wonderful summer. First, I started sleeping in every day. I would then go swimming with my friends. I stayed up late watching TV a lot, and I went to camp for a week. I wished my summer would never end!


• Why it is rude to talk on a cell phone in public
• Talking on a cell phone in public is rude because it is inconsiderate of others.
  

• How to cut a rabbit's toenails
• Cutting your rabbit's toenails yourself is simple and can save you a lot of money.

• The Egyptian civilization was one of the most important cultures of the ancient world
• The Egyptian civilization was one of the most important cultures of the ancient world.This civilization flourished along the rich banks and delta of the Nile River for many centuries, from 3200 B.C. until the Roman conquest in 30 B.C. ...

• The corresponding contrasting type is the suppliant, the character, often female, who presents a picture of unmitigated helplessness and destitution
• We found in comedy that the term bomolochos or buffoon need not be restricted to farce, but could be extended to cover comic characters who are primarily entertainers, with the function of increasing or focusing the comic mood. The corresponding contrasting type is the suppliant, the character, often female, who presents a picture of unmitigated helplessness and destitution. Such a figure is pathetic, and pathos, though it seems a gentler and more relaxed mood than tragedy, is even more terrifying. Its basis is the exclusion of an individual from the group; hence it attacks the deepest fear in ourselves that we possess--a fear much deeper than the relatively cosy and sociable bogey of hell. In the suppliant pity and terror are brought to the highest possible pitch of intensity, and the awful consequences of rejecting the suppliant for all concerned is a central theme of Greek tragedy.

• The tragic hero is typically on top of the wheel of fortune, half-way between human society on the ground and the something greater in the sky
• The tragic hero is typically on top of the wheel of fortune, half-way between human society on the ground and the something greater in the sky. Prometheus, Adam, and Christ hang between heaven and earth, between a world of paradisal freedom and a world of bondage. Tragic heroes are so much the highest points in their human landscape that they seem the inevitable conductors of the power about them, great trees more likely to be struck by lightning than a clump of grass. Conductors may of course be instruments as well as victims of the divine lightning: Milton's Samson destroys the Philistine temple with himself, and Hamlet nearly exterminates the Danish court in his own fall.