Topic Sentence and

Paragraph
What is a Paragraph?
A paragraph is a group of sentences that convey an idea. Each sentence works
together as part of a unit to create an overall thought or impression. A paragraph is
the smallest unit or cluster of sentences in which one idea can be developed
adequately. Paragraphs can stand alone or function as part of an essay, but each
paragraph covers only one main idea.

The most important sentence in your paragraph is the topic sentence, which
clearly states the subject of the whole paragraph. The topic sentence is usually the
first sentence of the paragraph because it gives an overview of the sentences to
follow. The supporting sentences after the topic sentence help to develop the main
idea. These sentences give specific details related to the topic sentence. A final
or concluding sentence often restates or summarizes the main idea of the topic
sentence.

Effective Paragraphs
An effective parapraph contains:

 a topic sentence that states the main point of the paragraph

 supporting sentences with details and specific examples as proof of your
point
 logical, coherent thoughts that are developed in order from one sentence to
the next
 a concluding idea that wraps up the point of the paragraph

Below is a paragraph model. It contains a topic sentence with concrete details and
examples in the supporting sentences. Notice how the writer sums up the point of
the paragraph with a concluding sentence.
Also, because this is academic writing, the writer indents the first line five spaces to
mark the beginning of a paragraph. This practice is not always followed in
commercial or instructive writing, or in business letters or memos.

My First Day

My first day of college was a disaster. First, I went to the wrong classroom for

math. I was sitting in the class, surrounded by people taking notes and paying

attention to how to do equations, which would have been okay if I was supposed to

be in an algebra class. In reality, I was supposed to be in geometry, and when I

discovered my error, I had already missed the first twenty minutes of a one-hour

class. When I got to the correct class, all twenty-five students turned and looked at

me as the teacher said, "You're late." That would have been bad enough, but in my

next class my history teacher spoke so fast I could not follow most of what they

said. The only thing I did hear was that we were having a quiz tomorrow over

today’s lecture. My day seemed to be going better during botany class, that is, until

we visited the lab. I had a sneezing fit because of one of the plants in the lab and

had to leave the room. When I finally finished my classes for the day, I discovered I

had locked my keys in the car and had to wait for my brother to bring another

set. My first day of school was so bad that I know the rest will have to be better.

In the above paragraph, the topic sentence appears in bold and the concluding
sentence in italics. The sentences in between support and develop the topic
sentence by giving specific examples and details. These examples are the writer’s
“proof” of their bad first day of school.
Effective Topic Sentences
An effective topic sentence:

 informs the reader of the subject that will be discussed in the paragraph
 asserts the writer’s point of view or attitude
 intrigues the reader to continue reading
 creates a sense of action
 is not vague, rambling, too narrow or too broad

Topic Sentence and Paragraph (stlcc.edu)

Paragraphs & Topic Sentences

A paragraph is a series of sentences that are organized

and coherent, and are all related to a single topic.
Almost every piece of writing you do that is longer than
a few sentences should be organized into paragraphs.
This is because paragraphs show a reader where the
subdivisions of an essay begin and end, and thus help
the reader see the organization of the essay and grasp
its main points.

Paragraphs can contain many different kinds of

information. A paragraph could contain a series of brief
examples or a single long illustration of a general point.
It might describe a place, character, or process; narrate
a series of events; compare or contrast two or more
things; classify items into categories; or describe
causes and effects. Regardless of the kind of
information they contain, all paragraphs share certain
characteristics. One of the most important of these is a
topic sentence.

TOPIC SENTENCES

A well-organized paragraph supports or develops a

single controlling idea, which is expressed in a sentence
called the topic sentence. A topic sentence has several
important functions: it substantiates or supports an
essay’s thesis statement; it unifies the content of a
paragraph and directs the order of the sentences; and it
advises the reader of the subject to be discussed and
how the paragraph will discuss it. Readers generally
look to the first few sentences in a paragraph to
determine the subject and perspective of the paragraph.
That’s why it’s often best to put the topic sentence at
the very beginning of the paragraph. In some cases,
however, it’s more effective to place another sentence
before the topic sentence—for example, a sentence
linking the current paragraph to the previous one, or one
providing background information.

Although most paragraphs should have a topic sentence,

there are a few situations when a paragraph might not
need a topic sentence. For example, you might be able
to omit a topic sentence in a paragraph that narrates a
series of events, if a paragraph continues developing an
idea that you introduced (with a topic sentence) in the
previous paragraph, or if all the sentences and details in
a paragraph clearly refer—perhaps indirectly—to a main
point. The vast majority of your paragraphs, however,
should have a topic sentence.

PARAGRAPH STRUCTURE

Most paragraphs in an essay have a three-part structure

—introduction, body, and conclusion. You can see this
structure in paragraphs whether they are narrating,
describing, comparing, contrasting, or analyzing
information. Each part of the paragraph plays an
important role in communicating your meaning to your
reader.

Introduction: the first section of a paragraph; should

include the topic sentence and any other sentences at
the beginning of the paragraph that give background
information or provide a transition.
Body: follows the introduction; discusses the controlling
idea, using facts, arguments, analysis, examples, and
other information.

Conclusion: the final section; summarizes the connections

between the information discussed in the body of the
paragraph and the paragraph’s controlling idea.

The following paragraph illustrates this pattern of

organization. In this paragraph the topic sentence and
concluding sentence (CAPITALIZED) both help the
reader keep the paragraph’s main point in mind.

SCIENTISTS HAVE LEARNED TO SUPPLEMENT THE

SENSE OF SIGHT IN NUMEROUS WAYS. In front of the
tiny pupil of the eye they put, on Mount Palomar, a great
monocle 200 inches in diameter, and with it see 2000
times farther into the depths of space. Or they
look through a small pair of lenses arranged as a
microscope into a drop of water or blood, and magnify
by as much as 2000 diameters the living creatures
there, many of which are among man’s most dangerous
enemies. Or, if we want to see distant happenings on
earth, they use some of the previously wasted
electromagnetic waves to carry television images which
they re-create as light by whipping tiny crystals on a
screen with electrons in a vacuum. Or they can
bring happenings of long ago and far away as colored
motion pictures, by arranging silver atoms and color-
absorbing molecules to force light waves into the
patterns of original reality. Or if we want to see into the
center of a steel casting or the chest of an injured
child, they send the information on a beam of penetrating
short-wave X rays, and then convert it back into images
we can see on a screen or photograph. THUS ALMOST
EVERY TYPE OF ELECTROMAGNETIC RADIATION YET
DISCOVERED HAS BEEN USED TO EXTEND OUR SENSE
OF SIGHT IN SOME WAY.

George Harrison, “Faith and the Scientist”

COHERENCE

In a coherent paragraph, each sentence relates clearly

to the topic sentence or controlling idea, but there is
more to coherence than this. If a paragraph is coherent,
each sentence flows smoothly into the next without
obvious shifts or jumps. A coherent paragraph also
highlights the ties between old information and new
information to make the structure of ideas or arguments
clear to the reader.

Along with the smooth flow of sentences, a paragraph’s

coherence may also be related to its length. If you have
written a very long paragraph, one that fills a double-
spaced typed page, for example, you should check it
carefully to see if it should start a new paragraph where
the original paragraph wanders from its controlling idea.
On the other hand, if a paragraph is very short (only one
or two sentences, perhaps), you may need to develop its
controlling idea more thoroughly, or combine it with
another paragraph.

A number of other techniques that you can use to

establish coherence in paragraphs are described below.
Repeat key words or phrases. Particularly in paragraphs in
which you define or identify an important idea or theory,
be consistent in how you refer to it. This consistency
and repetition will bind the paragraph together and help
your reader understand your definition or description.

Create parallel structures. Parallel structures are created by

constructing two or more phrases or sentences that
have the same grammatical structure and use the same
parts of speech. By creating parallel structures you
make your sentences clearer and easier to read. In
addition, repeating a pattern in a series of consecutive
sentences helps your reader see the connections
between ideas. In the paragraph above about scientists
and the sense of sight, several sentences in the body of
the paragraph have been constructed in a parallel way.
The parallel structures (which have been emphasized)
help the reader see that the paragraph is organized as a
set of examples of a general statement.

Be consistent in point of view, verb tense, and

number. Consistency in point of view, verb tense, and
number is a subtle but important aspect of coherence. If
you shift from the more personal "you" to the impersonal
“one,” from past to present tense, or from “a man” to
“they,” for example, you make your paragraph less
coherent. Such inconsistencies can also confuse your
reader and make your argument more difficult to follow.

Use transition words or phrases between sentences and between

paragraphs. Transitional expressions emphasize the
relationships between ideas, so they help readers follow
your train of thought or see connections that they might
otherwise miss or misunderstand. The following
paragraph shows how carefully chosen transitions
(CAPITALIZED) lead the reader smoothly from the
introduction to the conclusion of the paragraph.

I don’t wish to deny that the flattened, minuscule head

of the large-bodied "stegosaurus" houses little brain
from our subjective, top-heavy perspective, BUT I do
wish to assert that we should not expect more of the
beast. FIRST OF ALL, large animals have relatively
smaller brains than related, small animals. The
correlation of brain size with body size among kindred
animals (all reptiles, all mammals, FOR EXAMPLE) is
remarkably regular. AS we move from small to large
animals, from mice to elephants or small lizards to
Komodo dragons, brain size increases, BUT not so fast
as body size. IN OTHER WORDS, bodies grow faster than
brains, AND large animals have low ratios of brain
weight to body weight. IN FACT, brains grow only about
two-thirds as fast as bodies. SINCE we have no reason
to believe that large animals are consistently stupider
than their smaller relatives, we must conclude that large
animals require relatively less brain to do as well as
smaller animals. IF we do not recognize this
relationship, we are likely to underestimate the mental
power of very large animals, dinosaurs in particular.

Stephen Jay Gould, “Were Dinosaurs Dumb?”

SOME USEFUL TRANSITIONS

(modified from Diana Hacker,A Writer’s Reference)

To show addition:
 again, and, also, besides, equally important, first
(second, etc.), further, furthermore, in addition, in
the first place, moreover, next, too
To give examples:
for example, for instance, in fact, specifically, that
is, to illustrate
To compare:
also, in the same manner, likewise, similarly
To contrast:
although, and yet, at the same time, but, despite,
even though, however, in contrast, in spite of,
nevertheless, on the contrary, on the other hand,
still, though, yet
To summarize or conclude:
all in all, in conclusion, in other words, in short, in
summary, on the whole, that is, therefore, to sum up
To show time:
after, afterward, as, as long as, as soon as, at last,
before, during, earlier, finally, formerly, immediately,
later, meanwhile, next, since, shortly, subsequently,
then, thereafter, until, when, while
To show place or direction:
 above, below, beyond, close, elsewhere, farther on,
here, nearby, opposite, to the left (north, etc.)
To indicate logical relationship:
accordingly, as a result, because, consequently, for
this reason, hence, if, otherwise, since, so, then,
therefore, thus
Produced by Writing Tutorial Services, Indiana
University, Bloomington, IN

Paragraphs & Topic Sentences: Writing Guides: Writing Tutorial Services: Indiana University
Bloomington

MAIN IDEA, TOPIC SENTENCE AND SUPPORTING SENTENCE | ENGLISH

EDUCATION (wordpress.com)

How to Write a Topic Sentence (With Examples and Tips) | Indeed.com

How to Write Topic Sentences | 4 Steps & Examples (scribbr.com)
1. In a paragraph about a summer vacation:
My summer vacation at my grandparents' farm was filled with hard work and fun.
2. In a paragraph about school uniforms:
School uniforms would help us to feel more unity as a student body.
3. In a paragraph about how to make a peanut butter and jelly sandwich:
Making a peanut butter and jelly sandwich is easy if you know the steps.
 My First Day

My first day of college was a disaster. First, I went to the wrong classroom for
math. I was sitting in the class, surrounded by people taking notes and paying
attention to how to do equations, which would have been okay if I was supposed to
be in an algebra class. In reality, I was supposed to be in geometry, and when I
discovered my error, I had already missed the first twenty minutes of a one-hour
class. When I got to the correct class, all twenty-five students turned and looked at
me as the teacher said, "You're late." That would have been bad enough, but in my
next class my history teacher spoke so fast I could not follow most of what they
said. The only thing I did hear was that we were having a quiz tomorrow over
today’s lecture. My day seemed to be going better during botany class, that is, until
we visited the lab. I had a sneezing fit because of one of the plants in the lab and
had to leave the room. When I finally finished my classes for the day, I discovered I
had locked my keys in the car and had to wait for my brother to bring another
set. My first day of school was so bad that I know the rest will have to be better.