Paragraphs and topic sentences

The Topic Sentence Paragraph

Any essay must have several good Topic Sentence Paragraphs; it is these paragraphs that allow you, the writer, to focus and define the reader's attention to the particular message or unit of information that you want the reader to think about. In addition, the Topic Sentence Paragraph provides your reader with that all important sense of value . This comes from the substance of that particular message you are communicating. To do this effectively, it is important that one be aware of certain guiding principles with respect to exactly where the Topic Sentence can or should be placed in a Topic Sentence Paragraph.

The Topic Sentence can go in any one of three (3) places in a paragraph:

1.     At the beginning (a form of Deductive Order , that is, going from the General or Main Idea to the Specific Support Sentences of that Main Idea in your organizing the paragraph);

2.     At the end (a form of Inductive Order , that is, going from Specific Supporting Sentences that provides examples, details, illurations, statistics, and other forms of information to the General or Main Idea); or

3.     Nowhere -- it's just "understood" (this is only done when you believe that the reader will know the main idea in the paragraph without being told and doing so renders your paragraph artificial and stiff. But please understand the difference between a paragraph with an implied or understood topic sentence and a paragraph that is simply a collection of unconnected, unrelated sentences!).

In writing Topic Sentence Paragraphs, you want to always make certain that (1) you tell the reader clearly what the paragraph is about; (2) you make certain that every sentence in the Topic Sentence Paragraph is related to the Topic Sentence, even if it is "implied;" and (3) that you always give your reader enough information to cognate your message. This final admonition is especially important given that the Topic Sentence Paragraph is the smallest unit of writing in which one can disseminate a complete message.

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Methods for Adding Information to Topic Sentence Paragraphs

There are several ways by which one can insure that your Topic Sentence Paragraphs are, in fact, giving the reader enough information to understand your message.

1.     Illustrations, Examples, and Details. Your textbooks are excellent references for this type of writing. You may choose virtually any section of a textbook to find where the author, following an overview or Introduction to the subject matter, then follows with illustrations and examples for the readers to follow.

2.     Description. This particular method for adding information is certain to get the reader directly involved as it appeals to the five senses. When one uses description, it is usually to answer questions for the reader such as "What did it sound like?" "What did it smell like?" In describing, the writer works to develop word pictures, to image the scene for the reader whether it be an object, person, or event.

Taken from: http://www.csun.edu/~hcpas003/topic.html