Topic Sentences and Supporting Sentences in Paragraphs

Topic Sentences

Every good paragraph has a topic sentence which names the topic and then limits it to a
specific area to be discussed in the space of a single paragraph.

Driving on freeways.

This is not a topic sentence as it contains no controlling idea that limits the area of the topic,
unlike the following sentence, which does:

Driving on freeways requires skill and alertness.

A topic sentence has two essential parts: the topic and the controlling idea.
The topic names the subject or the 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 it.

TOPIC : convenience foods

CONTROLLING IDEA : are easy to prepare

Task A
1. Circle the topic and underline the controlling idea in the following sentences.

 The spread of AIDS can be slowed by educating the public.

 Many television commercials lie to women.
 Living in a dormitory can be a stressful experience for students.
 Driving on motorways in England requires care and attention.

Remember a topic sentence should not be too general:

English food is terrible.

Or too specific

English food is terrible because they boil everything until there is no taste or colour
left and it makes you feel sick just to look at it.

And it must be a complete sentence.

Task B
2. Read the sentences in each group and decide which sentence is the best topic
sentence. Write best TS next to it
Decide what is wrong with the other sentences: are they too general, too specific, or
incomplete.
Example
Too specific a. A lunar eclipse is an omen of a coming disaster
Too general b. Superstitions have been around forever
Best TS c. People hold many superstitious beliefs about the moon.
Incomplete d. Is made of green cheese

Group 1
a.The history of astronomy is interesting.
b.Ice age people recorded the appearance of new moons by making
scratches in animal bones.
c. For example Stonehenge in Britain, built 3500 years ago to track
the movement of the sun.
d. Ancient people observed and recorded lunar and solar events in
different ways.

Group 2
a. It is hard to know which foods are safe to eat nowadays.
b. In some large ocean fish, there are high levels of mercury.
c. Undercooked chicken and hamburger may carry E.coli bacteria.
d. Not to mention mad cow disease.
e. Food safety is an important issue.

Group 3
a. Hybrid automobiles more economical to operate than gasoline
powered cars.
b. The new hybrid automobiles are very popular.
c. Hybrid cars have good fuel economy because a computer under the
hood decides to run the electric motor, the small gasoline engine, or
the two together.
d. The new hybrid automobiles are popular because of their fuel
economy.

Using the criteria mentioned above try to create appropriate topic sentence for
the following paragraphs.
a) ............................................................................................................
...............................................................................................................
English speakers relaxing at home, for example, may put on kimonos, which is a Japanese
word. English speakers who live in a warm climate may take an afternoon siesta on an
outdoor patio, without even realising that these are Spanish words. In their gardens they
may enjoy the fragrance of jasmine flowers, a word that cam into English from Persian. They
may even relax on a chaise while eating a yogurt, words of French and Turkish origin,
respectively. At night, they may shampoo their hair and put on pyjamas, words from the
Hindi language.
b) ............................................................................................................
...............................................................................................................
In European Universities, students are not required to attend classes. In fact, professors in
Germany generally do not know the names of students enrolled on their courses. In the
United States, however, students are required to attend all classes and may be penalized if
they do not. Furthermore, in the European system, students usually take just one
comprehensive examination at the end of their entire four or five years of study. In the
North American system, on the other hand, students usually have numerous quizzes, tests
10and homework assignments, and they almost always have to take a final examination n each
course at the end of each semester.

c) ............................................................................................................
...............................................................................................................
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 the 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 an abundant supply of bamboo and palm, people use these tough, fibrous plants to
build their homes.

Providing Support in Paragraphs

1. Giving examples
Every argument which you put into an essay will require support to some extent. The simplest form
of this is the example; however, as with all forms of academic writing, there are a number of ways
of doing this:

For instance, / for example,

such as / e.g.
particularly / especially
A case in point / a good example of this is

2. Restating the case

Support for an idea or an argument can also be offered by restating it in a different way. As with
providing examples, this kind of support can be written using a variety of different forms. The
following phrases may be useful in doing so:
In other words,
That is to say,
To put this another way,
Namely,
i.e.
3. Adding to what has been said
In many cases support needs to be given in the form of additional information. There are two main
ways of doing this. The first is simply to add to what has already been said. In such a case the
following language may be useful:

In the first place, / To begin with, / Firstly, / First and foremost, .....
Second, / Secondly,
Moreover, / In addition, / Next, / and ...

4. Expanding on the information

However, in many situations it is not enough simply to add information. The argument that you are
presenting needs to be expanded to examine other areas which are related to the one which you
are discussing. In these situations the language which follows will be more relevant:

The main factor / The chief factor / The main issue is....
One way / One area in which ....
Another way / Another area in which .....
... is yet another way / ...is yet another area in which ...
Equally, / More importantly, / Most importantly, .......
Moving onto the question of / Turning to the subject of .....

5. Reasons and Explanations

Another common form that additional information can take is that of reason or explanation. The
language used to present such information is frequently the same, as can be seen below.

This may be because

That might be because of
It could be due to
This would seem to be owing to
This appears to be on account of
One reason for this might be that...
A reason that can be given for this is that...
A possible explanation for this is that...
One way of explaining this is to say that...

6. Concluding sentences
In an essay with many paragraphs it is not customary for every paragraph to end with a conclusion.
However it may be useful, especially when the paragraph is long, to remind the reader of the main
points that have been made. In this case one of the following phrases may be useful.

Note: some of these need a comma after them and some do not!

Finally,
In conclusion,
In summary,
Therefore,
Thus,
As a result,
In brief,
In short,
These examples show that
We can see that
It is clear that
There is no doubt that
The evidence suggests that

A concluding sentence may be used for a number of purposes:

(1) To paraphrase the topic sentence
(2) To summarise the main points of the paragraph
(3) To draw a conclusion from information in the paragraph
(4) To comment on the information in the paragraph
(5) To predict the future
(6) To suggest possible solutions
(7) To link ideas to the next paragraph

REMEMBER, your sentences in each paragraph are there to support your topic and must be
logically and clear so your reader can follow your line of thinking each step of the way.