Topic Sentences

Posted by qpen on July 23, 2009

Topic Sentences can be broken down into three distinct uses.

At the beginning of a paragraph
At the end of a paragraph
Topic sentence implied

1.Topic sentence at the beginning of a paragraph
Most informative and persuasive paragraphs place the topic sentence (shown in italics) first so that a reader knows immediately what to expect.

To travel the streets of Los Angeles is to glimpse America’s ethnic future. At the bustling playground at McDonald’s in Koreatown, a dozen shades of kids squirt down the slides and burrow through tunnels and race down the catwalks, not much minding that no two of them speak the same language. Parents of grade-school children say they rarely know the color of their youngsters’ best friends until they meet them; it never seems to occur to the children to say, since they have not yet been taught to care.

Nancy Gibbs, “Shades of Difference”

2. Topic sentence at the end of a paragraph
Some informative and persuasive paragraphs reveal the supporting details before the main idea. The topic sentence, therefore, comes at the end of a paragraph. This approach is particularly effective for building suspense and for dramatic effect. This arrangement forces readers to move through all the details before encountering the organizing effect of a main idea.

The following paragraph uses the topic sentence at the end of the paragraph:

Most people do not lose ten dollars or one hundred dollars when they trade cars. They lose many hundreds or even a thousand. They buy used cars that will not provide them service through the first payment. They overbuy new cars and jeopardize their credit, only to find themselves “hung” unable even to sell their shiny new toys. The car business is one of the last roundups in America, the great slaughterhouse of wheeling and dealing, where millions of people each year willingly submit to being taken.

Remar Sutton, “Don’t Get Taken Every Time”

3. Topic Sentence Implied

Some paragraphs make a unified statement without the use of a topic sentence. Writers must construct such paragraphs carefully so that a reader can easily discern the main idea.
The Romans were entertained by puppets, as were the rulers of the Ottoman Empire with their favorite shadow puppet, Karaghoiz, teller of a thousand tales. In the Middle Ages, puppets were cast as devil and angel in religious mystery and morality plays until cast out entirely by the church. For centuries, there has been a rich puppetry heritage in India that matches that country’s multi layered culture. The grace of Bali is reflected in its stylized, ceremonial rod and shadow puppets. The Bunraku puppets of Japan, unequaled for technique anywhere in the world, require a puppet master and two assistants to create on dramatic character on stage.

What Mr. Cody uses is many examples to communicate the main idea that puppets have been popular in many cultures over time. A reader does not expect to puzzle over material, so implied topic sentences must be very clear, even though they are silent.

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