How to Write a Good Topic Sentence
You cannot write the topic sentence until you know what comes next.
Definition
❖A topic sentence is the sentence to tell the reader what the paragraph is mainly about.
❖American food is terrible. ❖American food is tasteless and greasy
because Americans use too many canned, frozen, and packaged foods and because everything is fried in oil or butter.
❖Better:
❖How to keep fit. ❖First, must not be gossipy and must respect
other’s privacy.
❖Thanks
Better: ❖Travelling enables me to know more about
the cultures and customs on a foreign land.
Exercise
❖We can do some push-ups and sit-ups every day to keep fit and well.
2. Controlling Idea: a key word or phrase expressing the basic point of a paragraph. (specific, to show the attitude)
eg: Smoking is can be an expensive habit.
smartphone. 4. There are two visible upsides to growing up in a
small town.
6 Features of a suitable topic sentence.
1. A good topic sentence should not be too general. 2. It should not be too specific. 3. So it should be limited. 4. And it leads itself to development; it should have
In other words
❖Topic: 主题
❖Controlling idea: 中心思想 其作用是导向和制约主题。没有导向，内容 易偏题；没有制约，内容可能超出段落可容 纳的范围
Analysis of Examples
❖Example: 1. Travelling in a group is more enjoyable. 2. Convenience food is easy to prepare and cook. 3. It is never difficult to find out the merits of a
❖Better:
Exercise
❖It is convenient for people to live in a mega city. “Convenient” is a very general word.
Better: ❖It is quite convenient for adults to land a
a sense of direction, forecasting what comes next. 5. It should mention only one topic. 6. It should be a complete sentence.
Exercise: analyze some unsuitable TS
Note: A topic sentence is for a paragraph, like a thesis statement is for an essay.
Parts of a TS
❖Two components in a topic sentence
1. Topic: tells the reader what this paragraph is about. (general, to show the subject)
job when living in a mega city.
❖We have to save money for our future. ❖Mathematics is very important.
❖Revised:
Exercise
❖Travelling abroad can widen my view.
❖Revised: We should keep fit by means of regular exercise.
Hale Waihona Puke Exercise❖First, online shopping gives consumers good discounts as well as far more choices compared with making purchases in a real shop.