Every good paragraph has a topic sentence, which clearly states the topic and the controlling idea of the paragraph. It is a complete sentence, usually (but not always) the first sentence in the paragraph.
A topic sentence is the most important sentence in a paragraph. It briefly indicates what the paragraph is going to discuss. For this reason, the topic sentence is a helpful guide to both the writer and the reader. The writer can see what information to include (and what information to exclude). The reader can see what the paragraph is going to be about and is, therefore, better prepared to understand it.
1. Important elements of a topic sentence
There are three important points about a topic sentence.
A topic sentence is a complete sentence: that is, it contains a subject, a verb, and (usually) a complement. The following are not complete sentences:
Driving on freeways.The importance of gold.How to register for college classes.
2. A topic sentence contains both a topic and a controlling idea. It names the topic and then limits the topic to a specific area to be discussed in the space of a single paragraph. The following examples show how a topic sentence states both the topic and the controlling idea in a complete sentence:
Driving on freeways requires skill and alertness.
Registering for college classes can be a frustrating experience for new students.
3. A topic sentence is the most general statement in the paragraph because it gives only the main idea. It does not give any specific details.
The following is an example of a general statement that could serve as a topic sentence: The Arabic origin of many English words is not always obvious.
The following sentence, on the other hand, is too specific:
The slang expression so long (meaning “goodbye”) is probably a corruption of the Arabic salaam.
Sentences such as the following may be too general: English is a difficult language to learn.
Two parts of a topic sentence
A topic sentence has two essential parts: the topic and the controlling idea. The topic names the subject, or main idea, of the paragraph. The controlling idea makes a specific comment about the topic, which indicates what the rest of the paragraph will say about the topic.
Many commercials on television today imply insulting to women’s dignity.
The first blackened part (many commercials on television) shows the field that the writer is in while that latter part (insulting to women’s dignity) limits what to be discussed in the following sentences. Commercials on television may be discussed from many aspects such as the types of TV commercials, commercials impact on women, commercials for kids, etc., while in the paragraph, the author confines his discussion on insulting to women’s dignity only — this is what controlling ideas function.
The native foods of America’s immigrant population are reflected in American cooking.
In this example, the topic is American cooking. The controlling idea of this topic sentence is that Americans eat many foods from other countries. Therefore, the reader should expect the paragraph to give examples of popular ethnic foods such as fried rice (Chinese), tacos (Mexican), sauerbraten (German), sukiyaki (Japanese), spaghetti (Italian), and so on.
3. How to write a topic sentence
A topic sentence should be neither too general nor too specific. If it is too general, the reader cannot tell exactly what the paragraph is going to discuss. If it is too specific, the writer may not have anything left to write about in the rest of the paragraph.
Think of a topic sentence as being like the name of a particular course on a restaurant menu.
When you order food in a restaurant, you want to know more about a particular course than just “meat” or “soup” or “salad”. You want to know generally what kind of salad it is. Potato salad? Mixed green salad? Fruit salad? However, you do not necessarily want to know all of its ingredients.
Similarly, the reader of a paragraph wants to know generally what to expect in a paragraph, but he/ she does not want to learn all of the specific details in the first sentence.
Too general: American food is terrible.
Too specific: American food is tasteless and greasy because Americans use too many canned, frozen, and prepackaged foods and because everything is fried in oil or butter.
Good: American food is tasteless and greasy.
Do not include too many unrelated ideas in your topic sentence; if you do, your paragraph will not be unified.
Too many ideas: San Francisco is famous for its temperate climate, its many tourist attractions, and its cosmopolitan atmosphere.
The three parts of this controlling ides are too unrelated for a single paragraph. They would require three separate paragraphs.
Good: San Francisco is famous for its cosmopolitan atmosphere.
Write good topic sentences for the following paragraphs in the spaces provided. Remember to include both a topic and a controlling idea.
Paragraph 1
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Americans relaxing at home, for example, may put on Kimonos, which is a Japanese word. Americans who live in a warm climate may take an afternoon siesta on an outdoor patio without even realizing that these are Spanish words. In their gardens, they may enjoy the fragrance of jasmine flowers, a word that came into English from Persian. They may even relax on a chaise longue while sipping a drink made with vodka, words of French and Russian origin, respectively.
Paragraph 2
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In European universities, students are not required to attend classes. In fact, professors in Germany generally do not know the names of the students enrolled in their courses. In the United States, however, students are required to attend all classes and may be penalized if they don’t. Furthermore, in the European system, there is usually just one comprehensive examination at the end of the students’ entire four or five years of study. In the American system, on the other hand, there are usually numerous quizzes, tests, and homework assignments, and there is almost always a final examination in each course at the end of the semester.
Paragraph 3
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For example, the Eskimos, living in a treeless region of snow and ice, sometimes build temporary homes out of thick blocks of ice. People who live in deserts, on the other hand, use the most available material, mud or clay, which provides good insulation from the heat. In Northern Europe, Russia, and other areas of the world where forests are plentiful, people usually construct their homes out of wood. In the islands of the South Pacific, where there is a plentiful supply of bamboo and palm, people use these tough, fibrous plants to build their homes.
4. Position of topic sentences
The topic sentence may be the first or last sentence in a paragraph. The topic sentence may also be the first and last sentence of the paragraph — “sandwich-style”, which is especially helpful to your readers if the paragraph is very long. The second topic sentence in the sandwich-style paragraph also serves as a concluding sentence.
Study the following three paragraphs. Notice the different positions for the topic sentence in each. The topic sentences are underlined.
Hurricanes
Hurricanes, which are also called cyclones, exert tremendous power. These violent storms are often a hundred miles in diameter, and their winds can reach velocities of seventy-five miles per hour or more. Furthermore, the strong winds and heavy rainfall that accompany them can completely destroy a small town in a couple of hours. The energy that is released by a hurricane in one day exceeds the total energy consumed by humankind throughout the world in one year.
Medical Miracles to Come
By the year 2009, a vaccine against the common cold will have been developed. By the same year, the first human will have been successfully cloned. By the year 2014, parents will be able to create designer children. Genetic therapy will be able to manipulate genes for abilities, intelligence, and hair, eyes, and skin color. By 2020, most diseases will be able to be diagnosed and treated at home, and by 2030, cancer and heart disease will have been wiped out. These are just a few examples of medical miracles that are expected in the next few decades.
Synonyms
Synonyms, words that have the same basic meaning, do not always have the same emotional meaning. For example, the words stingy and frugal both mean “careful with money”. However, to call a person stingy is an insult, while the word frugal has a much more positive connotation. Similarly, a person wants to be slender but not skinny, and aggressive but not pushy. Therefore, you should be careful in choosing words because many so-called synonyms aren't really synonymous at all.
