Paragraph Organization
PARAGRAPH ORGANISATION A. Topic sentence
The topic sentence is the most important sentence in a paragraph because it contains the main idea of the paragraph. The topic sentence is usually the first sentence in the paragraph. It tells the topic sentence has two parts: the topic and the controlling idea.
The topic is the subject of your paragraph.
e.g. Cigarette smoking is harmful for heart and lungs. Topic: cigarette smoking
Exercise 1: Circle the topics in these sentences.
Fast food is harmful for health.
Bread is the poor man’s food.
Air pollution has several reasons.
Hawaii is famous for its touristic attractions.
The controlling idea limits and controls your topic. Generally, the topic comes first and the controlling idea comes second but sometimes the controlling idea comes first. Also, a topic can have more than one controlling idea. You can write two or three paragraphs if there is more than one controlling idea in a topic sentence.
e.g. Traditions have important roles in some regions of Turkey. Topic Controlling idea
There are several causes of violence in the family. C.I Topic
Exercise 2: Underline the controlling idea in these topic sentences.
Bread is an important part of our diet.
Potatoes are easy to grow.
French fries are popular all over the World.
Television has bad effects on small children.
Dormitory life is very difficult for university students.
Topic sentences are opinions. A simple fact cannot be a topic sentence. A person writes in order to persuade his/her readers. Everybody accepts facts and it is useless to write something about them. Paragraphs can give information about a subject, discuss or compare to different opinions. People agree or disagree only on opinions.
Example:
Potatoes are good for you in three ways.
There are four basic methods of eating French fries.
Potato-eaters fall into three groups.
A, B, and C are topic sentences. They are not
The topic sentence is the most important sentence in a paragraph because it contains the main idea of the paragraph. The topic sentence is usually the first sentence in the paragraph. It tells the topic sentence has two parts: the topic and the controlling idea.
The topic is the subject of your paragraph.
e.g. Cigarette smoking is harmful for heart and lungs. Topic: cigarette smoking
Exercise 1: Circle the topics in these sentences.
Fast food is harmful for health.
Bread is the poor man’s food.
Air pollution has several reasons.
Hawaii is famous for its touristic attractions.
The controlling idea limits and controls your topic. Generally, the topic comes first and the controlling idea comes second but sometimes the controlling idea comes first. Also, a topic can have more than one controlling idea. You can write two or three paragraphs if there is more than one controlling idea in a topic sentence.
e.g. Traditions have important roles in some regions of Turkey. Topic Controlling idea
There are several causes of violence in the family. C.I Topic
Exercise 2: Underline the controlling idea in these topic sentences.
Bread is an important part of our diet.
Potatoes are easy to grow.
French fries are popular all over the World.
Television has bad effects on small children.
Dormitory life is very difficult for university students.
Topic sentences are opinions. A simple fact cannot be a topic sentence. A person writes in order to persuade his/her readers. Everybody accepts facts and it is useless to write something about them. Paragraphs can give information about a subject, discuss or compare to different opinions. People agree or disagree only on opinions.
Example:
Potatoes are good for you in three ways.
There are four basic methods of eating French fries.
Potato-eaters fall into three groups.
A, B, and C are topic sentences. They are not