Definition:
The sentence, sometimes at the beginning of a paragraph, that states or suggests the main idea. See also:
- Supporting a Topic Sentence with Specific Details
- Practice in Composing Topic Sentences
- Draft a Descriptive Paragraph
Examples and Observations:
- "Teachers and textbook writers should exercise caution in making statements about the frequency with which contemporary professional writers use simple or even explicit topic sentences in expository paragraphs. It is abundantly clear that students should not be told that professional writers usually begin their paragraphs with topic sentences."
(Richard Braddock, "The Frequency and Placement of Topic Sentences in Expository Prose," Research in the Teaching of English, Winter 1974) - "It is a lucky thing for the American moralist that our country has always existed in a kind of time-vacuum: we have no public memory of anything that happened before last Tuesday. No one in Washington today recalls what happened during the years alcohol was forbidden to the people by a Congress that thought it had a divine mission to stamp out Demon Rum and so launched the greatest crime wave in the country's history, caused thousands of deaths from bad alcohol, and created a general (and persisting) contempt for the laws of the United States. . . ."
(Gore Vidal, "Drugs," The New York Times, September 26, 1970) - "If you want readers to see your point immediately, open with the topic sentence. This strategy can be particularly useful in letters of application or in argumentative writing. . . .
"When specific details lead up to a generalization, putting the topic sentence at the end of the paragraph makes sense. . . .
"Occasionally a paragraph's main idea is so obvious that it does not need to be stated explicitly in a topic sentence."
(Andrea Lunsford, The St. Martin's Handbook, Bedford/St. Martin's, 2008)
