Paragraphs: Topic Sentences/Main Ideas
The topic sentence is the one sentence that is general enough to include all the ideas in the paragraph. Therefore, a topic sentence that begins a paragraph signals a move from general ideas to specific ideas. The topic sentence can appear in other places in a paragraph, but we will be placing topic sentences at the beginning of paragraphs in this class. We will be following the paragraph diagram below:
Example 1:Read the paragraph and identify its topic sentence. Remember to ask, “Does this sentence cover all the ideas in the passage?”
Cancer
Cancer is a far-reaching malady. Statistics tell us that it affects three out of four families. About a third of all Americans living today will contract cancer in their lifetime. Also, cancer kills more children between ages three and fourteen yearns than any other disease. Someone dies from cancer in the United States approximately every minute.
Where is the main idea?
Topic sentences do not always appear at the very beginning of a paragraph. Sometimes the main idea is located elsewhere.
Example 2:Read the paragraph and identify its topic sentence. Remember to ask, “Does this sentence cover all the ideas in the passage?”
Making Our Money Secure
In 1793, Benjamin Franklin’s Philadelphia printing firm used distinctive raised impressions of patterns made from actual leaves on colonial notes to thwart counterfeiters. In 2003, the United States Treasury Department redesigned the $20 note to include three new security features. The first new feature is a plastic strip, or security thread, that runs up one side of the bill; this strip glows green when held under an ultraviolet light. The second security feature is a watermark, a faint image, resembling the portrait on the bill; this watermark is actually part of the paper and can be seen from both sides of the bill. The final security feature is the addition of color-changing ink. The number “20” in the lower right corner on the face of the note changes color from copper to green to copper again when the bill is tilted up and down.
Example 3:Read the paragraph and identify its topic sentence. Remember to ask, “Does this sentence cover all the ideas in the passage?”
Racial Profiling
America has a moral duty to outlaw racial profiling. Racial profiling occurs when a police officer uses race or ethnicity as a factor in deciding which motorists to pull over. Race-based beliefs in law enforcement bring about negative racial stereotypes, and these stereotypes are harmful to our diverse democracy. Racial profiling greatly impairs our efforts to maintain a fair and just society. When law enforcement practices are seen as biased or unfair, the general public, and especially minority communities, are less willing to trust and confide in officers, report crimes, be witnesses at trials, or serve on juries. As Attorney General John Ashcroft said, racial profiling creates a “lose-lose” situation because it destroys the potential for underlying trust, and trust “should support the administration of justice as a societal objective, not just as a law just as a law enforcement objective.” America must end the immoral practice of racial profiling once and for all.
Example 4:Read the paragraph and identify its topic sentence. Remember to ask, “Does this sentence cover all the ideas in the passage?”
Adolescence
John and Jorge are two 16-year-old neighbors and friends of different ethnic backgrounds. At the same time, they are so much alike. They both wear adult-size clothes, both have a shadow of a mustache on their upper lips, both play computer games for many hours a day, both contemplate getting a summer job, and both think of attending a local college in two years. As adolescents, they both have reached sexual maturity but have not yet taken on the rights and responsibilities of the adult status. Adolescence is viewed not only as a developmental stage but also as a cultural phenomenon. For instance, extended schooling in many developed countries stretches the period from childhood to adulthood. On the contrary, many non-industrialized cultures encourage their members to take on adult roles as early as possible. Thus, the adolescent stage becomes almost indistinguishable. In some countries, such as Brazil, many children begin to work full time and take care of other family members as early as 12 and sometimes even earlier. In other societies such as India, a girl can marry in her early teens and move to her husband’s home to accept the roles of wife and mother.