UNIT 3

TOPIC SENTENCE

In most academic writing, the first sentence

of each paragraph is called topic sentence. The topic

sentence is the most common and important

sentence in a paragraph. The topic sentence gives the

writer’s main idea or opinion about the topic and

helps the reader understand what the paragraph is

going to talk about.

The topic sentence essentially tells to the

readers what the rest of the paragraph is about. All

sentences after it have to give more information

about that sentence, prove it by offering facts about

it, or describe it in more detail.

The topic sentence contains controlling idea

which needs to be explained, described, and

supported by the following sentences in the

paragraph. In other words, the controlling idea is

something which the readers can ask in which the

answer will be expected to appear in the next

sentences. Notice how the topic sentence of the

example below which state both topic and the

controlling idea:
- Tasikmalaya is famous for its fantastic
handicrafts.
topic controlling idea
- My hometown is a friendly place to live.
topic controlling idea