The Topic Sentence
Définition :
Every paragraph begins with a topic sentence.[1] It gets the attention of the reader and tells what the paragraph will be about. It should be interesting and specific; the details should be saved for the later paragraphs. It is the most general statement of a paragraph. It is the key sentence because it names the subject and the controlling idea, the writer's main idea, opinion, or feeling about the topic.
Définition :
The topic sentence is a complete sentence. It has three parts : a subject, a verb, and a controlling idea. Determining the subject of a topic sentence is a process of narraowing down an idea from general to specific.
Exemple :
When your teacher suggests a very general topic, such as science, vacations, or sports, for a writing assignement, you must narrow it down to a limited topic that can be discussed in one paragraph. For example the topic of sports is too general to write about. There are many specific things about sports, such as proffetional sports, team sports, or water sports, that you can discuss. One writer might narrow the subject of sports to the more specific subject of river rafting.