Chapter 4: From Topics to Topic Sentences

Topic – The subject matter that a paragraph MAINLY focuses on. It’s the person, place, event, thing, or idea that the paragraph most frequently talks about.

To figure out the TOPIC of a paragraph, ask this question: “Who or what does the paragraph MOSTLY talk about again and again?”

The TOPIC of a paragraph should be general enough to include everything discussed in the paragraph. It should also be specific enough to leave out anything not discussed in detail.

See Exercises 1: Determining the Topic (168) and Exercise 2 (170)

Exercise 3: Phrasing the Topic in Your Own Words (174)

Main Idea – The main idea is the central message or point that the paragraph is trying to make. Every sentence in a paragraph works together to support the main idea of the entire paragraph. Without a main idea, a paragraph would be useless and pointless.

To figure out the Main Idea of a paragraph, follow these steps:

  1. Ask: “What is the TOPIC of the paragraph?”
  2. Ask: “What does the author mainly want to say about the topic?

See Exercise 4: Identifying the Topic and Main Idea (p.180)

Topic Sentence- When the author explicitly writes out the main idea somewhere in the paragraph, we call this the topic sentence.

Things to Remember:

  1. The topic sentence is more general than most of the other sentences in the paragraph.
  2. The topic sentence answers the question, “What’s the point of this paragraph?”
  3. The topic sentence is developed or explained throughout most of the paragraph. In other words, all the other sentences in the paragraph work to support the topic sentence.
  4. The topic sentence can be used to sum up the entire paragraph.
  5. Anyone can paraphrase (put in their own words) the main idea, but only the author can write a topic sentence.
  6. The topic sentence usually appears at the beginning of a paragraph, but it can also appear ANYWHERE in the paragraph.

Exercise 5: Identifying the Topic Sentence (p. 185)

Exercise 6: (p. 188)

To Identify topic sentence, be on Lookout for Reverse Transitions:

  • Appears somewhere AFTER introductory sentence(s) & BEFORE the topic sentence
  • A word that signals change or shift from ideas presented in the paragraph so far.

Ex: But, yet, however, on the contrary (see more on p. 187)

  • Sometimes an entire sentence can function as reverse transition—this is called a Transitional Sentence. (Ex. See P. 193-195).

Further Tips on Identifying the Topic Sentence:

  • To make the topic sentence clear, sometimes writers will repeat the topic sentence at the beginning and also at the end of the paragraph
  • A question cannot be a topic sentence. If a paragraph opens with a question, the answer to that question will be given somewhere in the body of the paragraph. This is the topic sentence.

Exercise 7: Locating Topic Sentences (p. 197)

Paraphrasing Topic Sentences

  • When you paraphrase, you are expressing someone else’s ideas in your own words
  • If you can express the topic sentence in your own words, you can be sure that you’ve understood the paragraph
  • To paraphrase accurately, you need to have a clear understanding of the author’s original thought
  • Then you need to replace the author’s words with your own without changing the author’s meaning; whenever possible, use a synonym—similar words—in place of the author’s original words

Tips on Paraphrasing the Topic Sentence:

  • Stick with the topic
  • Use the question about the main idea to get started:

Ask: “What is the author saying about the Topic?”

  • Don’t get bogged down trying to paraphrase word for word. Just try to capture the idea conveyed in the author’s wording.
  • Recognize that some words and phrases can’t be paraphrased. (Ex: Earthquake, Tsunami,“18th-century men,” someone’s personal name, etc.)
  • Abbreviate without losing the message. (#1 concern should be that it makes sense to YOU)

Exercise 8: Recognizing an Accurate Reading Paraphrase (208)

Exercise 9: Recognizing the Best Reading Paraphrase (210)

Exercise 10: Recognizing the Best Paraphrase (211)