Topic Sentence

The topic sentence is the sentence that states the main idea, or the purpose, of a paragraph.  It is usually-- not always-- the first or second sentence of the paragraph.

Click here for a quick review:  The Topic Sentence.ppt

For more sophisticated examples, here are two paragraphs from a student research paper* on Children and TV Addiction:

        One of the causes of children being TV addicts is
        anxiety and fear.  Children with low self-esteem use
        television to escape from reality and from the outside
        world.  They hide themselves from their society; they
        use television as a sanctuary.  Children who have
        difficulty making friends and interacting with their peers
        are also prone to TV addiction.  They cannot interact
        normally with their groups; hence they feel depressed
        and try to find refuge in front of their TV set.  Family
        conflict also creates anxiety and can cause TV addiction.
        Children who feel afraid of reality try to escape into
        an imaginary world in front of the TV screen.

...........................................................................................

        How does television affect children?  In a 2000 report
        on youth violence, US Surgeon General David Satcher
        stated that "violent TV programs have become a public
        health issue and repeated exposure to violent programs
        will result in aggressive behavior in children."  After
        watching violent TV programs, children become rude,
        irresponsible, and act impulsively.  In research done by
        the American Psychological Association, it is stated that
        "the more children watch violence on TV, the more
        fearful and distrustful they become."  According to a
        study done by the University of Pennsylvania, excessive
        exposure to television made children passive and un-
        responsive to their surroundings.

In each of these paragraphs, the first sentence gives the topic, or the main idea of the paragraph.  The first deals with anxiety and fear as a cause of TV addiction and mentions three causes of anxiety:  low
self-esteem, trouble interacting with peers, family conflict.  The second paragraph discusses the effects of TV on children and mentions three:  aggressive behavior, feelings of fear and distrust, passivity and unresponsiveness.

The topic sentence controls the paragraph; in other words, all the information in the paragraph must relate clearly to the idea stated in the topic sentence.  If it does not, there is a problem with unity.

This might also be a good point to review paragraph bridges, which often introduce a new topic sentence.

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*  You can see the essay from which these paragraphs were taken by clicking here:  Children and TV addiction.  Notice that this is a research paper and uses documentation.  This essay was used with student permission.