Topic Sentences

Wikipedia tells us:
The "topic sentence" is a primarily prescriptive grammatical term to describe the sentence in an expository paragraph which summarizes the main idea of that paragraph. It is usually, but not always, the first sentence in a paragraph. The topic sentence acts as a kind of summary, and offers the reader an insightful view of the writer’s main ideas for the following paragraph. More than just being a mere summary, however, a topic sentence often provides a claim or an insight directly or indirectly related to the thesis. It adds cohesion to a paper and helps organize ideas both within the paragraph and the whole body of work at large.
Its use is considered standard in the American educational system and most venues of writing mainly because it increases reading accessibility.
A topic sentence (also known as a focus sentence) encapsulates or organizes an entire paragraph, and a writer should be careful to include one in most major paragraphs. Although topic sentences may appear anywhere in a paragraph, in academic essays they often appear at the beginning.
The sentence in bold in the first paragraph is an example of a topic sentence.


Take another look at topic sentences on eslbee.com.
Be sure to try the quiz and the exercises on page two.