1

TopicSentences

Themainpoint(claim)ofaparagraphisoftenindicatedinasinglesentencecalledthetopicsentence:

• Atopicsentenceislikeathesisinthatyoucanalsoaskyourself:CanIdisagree?Youwantto

beabletoanswerYEStoshowthatthereisanarguableclaimthatneedstobeproven.

• A strong topic sentence connects back to your overall thesis and connects forward to the

specificsupportingpointyouaremakingintheparagraphtoproveandillustrateyourthesis.

• Astrongtopicsentencefocuseseachparagrapharoundonemainpoint.

• Inpublishedwritingyou’llsometimesfindtopicsentencesinthemiddleorevenattheendof

aparagraph,butplacingyourtopicsentencesatthebeginningofeachofyourparagraphsis

useful

• Astrongtopicsentencehelpsyourreadertoseewhereyouareheadedwithyourideasina

particularparagraph;topicssentenceshelpyourreaderformamentalmapofyouressay.

• Astrongtopicsentenceoftencontainstransitionalwordsandphrasesthatlogicallymovethe

readerfromoneparagraphtothenext.

In expository prose—writing that informs, explains or analyzes—the main point (claim) of a

paragraph is often indicated in a single sentence called the topic sentence.While it is true that in

published writing you’ll sometimes find topic sentences in the middle or even at the end of a

paragraph, placing your topic sentences at the beginning of each of your paragraphs is useful

because:

• Astrongtopicsentencecanhelpyou,thewritertofocuseachparagrapharoundonemainpoint.

• Astrongtopicsentencecanhelpyourreadertoseewhereyouareheadedwithyourideasina

particularparagraph;topicssentenceshelpyourreaderformamentalmapofyouressay.

2

Whatdifferentiatesastrongtopicsentencefromaweakone?

Thechartbelowpointsoutsomeofthemaindifferencesbetweenatopicsentencethatisgenuinely

helpfultoyouandyourreaders,andonewhichisnot:

Aweaktopicsentence: Astrongtopicsentence:

• Doesn’t“fit”yourparagraph—thatis,it

misleadsyourreaderintothinkingyouwillbe

writingaboutonething,buttheparagraph

itselfisaboutsomethingelse

• “Fits”yourparagraph,accuratelyreflecting

whatyou’veactuallywritten

• Issogeneralthatyourreadercan’tforma

clearimageaboutwhatistocome

• Isspecificenoughthatyourreadercan

predictwhatyouwillcoverinthatparagraph

• Simplystatesafact,apieceofinformation

thatcanbeconfirmedwithobservationor

referencetoreputablesources.Yourreaderis

leftwondering,“Whatisthepointofthis

paragraph?Whatisthewritertryingtoprove

withthispieceofinformation?”

• Likeathesisstatement,itsetsupthe

controllingideaoftheparagraph,clearly

indicatingthepointorclaimthewriterwill

illustrate,describe,explain,analyzeinthe

bodyoftheparagraph

• Doesnotseemclearlyrelatedtoyourthesis

• Helpsyourreaderseehowthisparagraph

relatestoandadvances/supportsyourthesis

3

Someguidelinesforwritingstrongtopicsentences:

Atopicsentencemustpredictorpromisewhatfollows,soitcannotbeaquestion.Toorientthe

reader,youmayuseaquestionasthefirstsentence,withthetopicsentenceastheanswertothat

question.

Weak: Shouldschoolsprovidefreecomputersfortheirstudents?

Strong: Schoolsmustprovidefreecomputersfortheirstudentstoassistthemintheirstudies

andpreparethemfortheirfuturecareers.

Phrasessuchas“Ithink”or“inmyopinion”maymuddleorweakentopicsentences.Yourwriting

isalwaysyouropinion,soyoudon’tneedthesephrasesunlesstheyarecentraltotheideathatyou

aretryingtoconvey.

Weak: Ithinkthatitisimportantforeverywomantocarrypepperspray.

Strong: As violent criminals take over the city streets, womenmust carry pepper spray to

protectthemselves.

The topic sentence should provide clear relationships among all of its elements so that it can

provideaframeworkforunderstandingtherestoftheparagraph.

Weak: Historiansrecordonlydrystatistics;weshouldreadnovels.

Strong: Accuratehistoricalnovelsgiveusadeeperunderstandingofthepastthandothedry

collectionsoffactsandstatisticsthatpassforhistorytexts.

Atopicsentenceneedstobeclearandspecific,sothatitcanpredictandsummarizetherestofthe

paragraphforthereader.

Weak: Publictransitisterrible.

Strong: Incapable of providing reliable, comfortable service, the San Francisco Municipal

TransitSystemisfailingitsridership.

4

PRACTICE—TOPICSENTENCEORSUPPORTINGCLAIM?:

Readthesentencesbelow,anddeterminewhicharepoints/claimsthatwouldmakegoodtopic

sentencesandwhicharefactsthatwouldworkbetterassupportinginformation:

SampleSentence Thiswouldworkbetteras…

1. Preservinglocalfoodtraditionsisanimportantcomponentof

maintainingculturaldiversityevenasworldfoodproductionbecomes

moreindustrializedandstandardized.

TopicSentence

SupportingInfo.

2. The“locavores”areaSanFrancisco‐basedgroupthatchallengespeople

totryandeatfoodgrownandproducedwithina100‐mileradiusoftheir

homes.

TopicSentence

SupportingInfo.

3. Eatinglocal,seasonalproduceisbetternotonlyfortheenvironment,

butalsoforyourtastebuds.

TopicSentence

SupportingInfo.

4. AliceWalker’srestaurantChezPanissefirstopenedinBerkeley,

Californiain1971.

TopicSentence

SupportingInfo.

5. AliceWaterswritesthat“foodistheonecentralthingabouthuman

experiencewhichcanopenupbothoursensesandourconsciencesto

ourplaceintheworld.”

TopicSentence

SupportingInfo.

6. JoiningaCSA(CommunitySupportedAgriculture)programisaneasy,

cost‐effectivewaytoenjoyseasonalproducefromlocalfarms.

TopicSentence

SupportingInfo.

7. Thepopularityoforganicfoodisagoodindicationofthesignificant

changesthataretakingplaceintheAmericandiet.

TopicSentence

SupportingInfo.

5

8. Formerweedsnowconsidereddelicaciesincludedandelions,ramps

(wildleeks),andfiddleheadferns.

TopicSentence

SupportingInfo.

9. TheCSAthatIbelongto,EatwellFarms,islocatedinWinters,CAandis

renownedfortheirheirloomtomatoes.

TopicSentence

SupportingInfo.

6

PRACTICE—CHOOSINGTHEBESTTOPICSENTENCE

Thetopicsentenceoftheparagraphsbelowhasbeenremoved.Readthemcarefullyandthenchoose

thebesttopicsentenceamongthefourchoicesbelow.Bepreparedtoexplainyourchoice.

Paragraph1:

__________________________________________________________________________________________.

Thisbeliefisespeciallycommonamongweightlifterswhooftenconsumelargequantitiesofhighprotein

foodsanddietarysupplements,thinkingitwillimprovetheirathleticperformance.Likeweightlifters,football

playersconsumetoomuchprotein,expectingittoproduceadditionalmuscleenergy.Althoughitistruethat

musclescontainmoreproteinthanothertissues,thereisnoevidencethatahighproteindietactually

constructsmoremuscletissuethananormaldiet.Nutritionistspointoutthatmusclecellsgrownotfrom

excessproteinbutfromexercise:whenamuscleisused,itpullsinproteinforitsconsumption.Thisishowa

musclegrowsandstrengthens.Ifathleteswanttoincreasetheirmusclemass,thentheymustexercisein

additiontofollowingawell‐balanced,normaldiet.

1. Manyathleteshavefalseideasregardingpropernutrition.

2. Mybrother,aweightlifter,isanexampleofsomeonewhoconsumesalotofproteinbecausehethinksit

willmakehimbulky.

3. Manyathletesfalselybelievethatproteinimprovesathleticperformancebyincreasingmusclemass.

4. Thepublicisoftenconfusedbytheseeminglyconflictingadvicenutritionistsgiveusaboutourhealth.

Paragraph2:

__________________________________________________________________________________________.

Latelyparentsandcriticsacrossthecountryhavebeenmakingabiggerfussaboutthenumberandcontentof

commercialsaimedatchildren,anditseemsasthoughthemediahasbecomeascapegoatforadultswhohave

setquestionablehealthguidelinesfortheirchildren.Itisbothlogicalandfactualtostatethatparentsarethe

numberoneauthorityformosteverythingintheirchild’slife,whichofcourseincludesfoodchoices.Recent

studiesfromtheInstituteofMedicinefoundthattheeasiestandmostreliablemeasureofunderstandinga

child’shealthanddietistolookatthehealthanddietoftheparents.Itisverylikelythatachild’sobesitydid

notcomefromthemedia,butfrombehaviorswithinthefamily.Evenifadvertisementsbecamerestrictedor

morelimited,ifparentsdonotenforcehealthydietsorteachnutrition,thechildrenwillhavelearnednothing.

TimothyJ.MurisofTheWallStreetJournalrealizesthatwithoutaddressingtheissuesofparentalcontrol,the

banonchildfoodadvertisementsare“appealingonthesurface,butultimatelyuseless.”

7

1. Despiteincreasingratesofchildhoodobesity,weshouldnotbanjunkfoodadsaimedatchildren.

2. AccordingtoAndrewMartinoftheChicagoTribune,“…theratesofobesityamong6to11‐year‐oldsmore

thantriplingduringthelastthreedecades,doublingforchildrenages2to5andincreasingevenmorefor

adolescents12to19yearsold.”

3. Thestaggeringfiguresregardingchildhoodobesityalonearealarmingenoughtogenerateastir.

4. Althoughjunkfoodadvertisementsarebeingblamedforchildren’spoordietaryhabits,regulatingthese

adswouldnotaddresstherealsourceoftheproblem:lackofparentalguidance.

PRACTICE—CREATINGYOUROWNTOPICSENTENCE:

Nowtrycreatingyourowntopicsentencesforthefollowingparagraphs:

1)

__________________________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________________.

FamousinventorThomasEdison,forinstance,didsopoorlyinhisfirstyearsofschoolthathisteacherswarned

hisparentsthathe'dneverbeasuccessatanything.Similarly,HenryFord,thefatheroftheautoindustry,had

troubleinschoolwithbothreadingandwriting.ButperhapsthebestexampleisAlbertEinstein,whose

parentsandteacherssuspectedthathewasretardedbecauseherespondedtoquestionssoslowlyandina

stutteringvoice.Einstein'shighschoolrecordwaspoorineverythingbutmath,andhefailedhiscollege

entranceexamsthefirsttime.Evenoutofschoolthemanhadtroubleholdingajob‐untilheannouncedthe

theoryofrelativity.

2)EatingdisordersafflictasmanyasfivetotenmillionwomenandonemillionmenintheUnitesStates.But

why?

__________________________________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________________________________

YounggirlsnotonlyplaywithBarbiedollsthatdisplayimpossible,evencomical,proportions,buttheyarealso

bombardedwithimagesofsupermodels.Theseimagesleaveanindeliblementalimprintofwhatsociety

believesafemalebodyshouldlooklike.CarriKirby,aUniversityofNebraskamentalhealthcounselor,adds

8

thatthereisahaloeffecttobodyimageaswell:“Weimmediatelyidentifyphysicalattractivenesstomean

successandhappiness.”

3)FromDeborahBlum’s“What’stheDifferencebetweenBoysandGirls?”

__________________________________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________________________________

Boys tend to gather in large, competitive groups. They play games that have clear winners and losers and

blusterthroughthem,boastingabouttheirskill.Girls,earlyon,gatherinsmallgroups,playingtheatricalgames

that don’t feature hierarchy orwinners.One study of children aged three to four found theywere already

resolvingconflict inseparateways—boysresortingtothreats,girlsnegotiatingverballyandoftenreachinga

compromise.

9

TopicSentencesAnswerKey

PRACTICE—TOPICSENTENCEORSUPPORTINGCLAIM?:

SampleSentence Thiswouldworkbetteras…

1 TopicSentence

2 SupportingInfo.

3 TopicSentence

4 SupportingInfo.

5 SupportingInfo.

6 TopicSentence

7 TopicSentence

8 SupportingInfo.

9 SupportingInfo.

PRACTICE—CHOOSINGTHEBESTTOPICSENTENCE:

Paragraph1:Manyathletesfalselybelievethatproteinimprovesathleticperformancebyincreasingmuscle

mass(choice#3).

Paragraph2:Althoughjunkfoodadvertisementsarebeingblamedforchildren’spoordietaryhabits,

regulatingtheseadswouldnotaddresstherealsourceoftheproblem:lackofparentalguidance(choice#4).

PRACTICE—CREATINGYOUROWNTOPICSENTENCE:

Answerswillvary