1 / 8

Topic Sentence

Topic Sentence. What’s a topic sentence?. the ‘focus’ sentence of a paragraph. Example. Some people think …. You must begin each paragraph with a topic sentence BUT: no writing in the real world sounds like this. Rules about topic sentences?. In real-world writing, topic sentences are

hila
Download Presentation

Topic Sentence

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript


  1. Topic Sentence

  2. What’s a topic sentence? • the ‘focus’ sentence of a paragraph

  3. Example

  4. Some people think … • You must begin each paragraph with a topic sentence • BUT: no writing in the real world sounds like this.

  5. Rules about topic sentences? • In real-world writing, topic sentences are • often implied • rarely found at the beginning of a paragraph. • What you want to say in a paragraph should determine order and how it’s said (not the other way around)

  6. Real topic sentences • In 1974, Richard Braddock studied topic sentences in real-world writing • Here’s what he found: • Only 45% of topic sentences were traditional, simple topic sentences (others were assembled in multiple sentences). • Only 55% explicitly stated the topic of the paragraph (others did so implicitly). • Only 13% of paragraphs of contemporary writers begin with a topic sentence • 3% of paragraphs end with a topic sentence.

  7. Practice • http://motherjones.com/media/2012/01/politicians-kissing-babies-brief-history • In the first paragraph, what’s the topic sentence? • Why do you think it is located where it is?

  8. References • http://writing.markfullmer.com/topic-sentence-linking-what-introductory-sentences-really-do

More Related