Hey! Professor Hitch here, and today, I want to talk to you about the topic
sentence, A.K.A. "starting paragraphs". So, a topic sentence is a sentence in a paragraph
that expresses the subject of that paragraph while also linking back to the thesis statement.
I suspect most students know that first part about linking to the paragraph, I mean,
that's what a topic sentence is, it's the topic of the paragraph, but you'll also want to keep
in mind that second part about linking back to the thesis statement. How do you do that? Well,
you can link your topic sentence back to your thesis statement by repeating a word
or a phrase from the thesis statement in your topic sentence. Repetition is key.
There are a couple qualities of an ideal topic sentence! So, generally, the topic sentence
appears at the body paragraph's very first sentence, like 9.9 times out of 10. Ideally,
it should include a word or a phrase from the thesis statement. Although,
sometimes repeating an idea from the thesis statement is okay. That's a case-by-case basis
issue. It should be specific enough to make the topic clear, but general enough to leave you room
to explain the following sentences. This can be a tricky point to follow. What you're looking for,
essentially, is clarity... Um, it should be clear when reading your topic sentence what it is about
but also leaving room to say more, not giving away everything in the very first sentence.
And um, it should not be a quote or any other outside source. So,
a topic sentence plays a really important role in a paragraph. It announces the topic! That's got to
be direct, straightforward, it's got to be clear, as I said only moments ago. A quote, however,
or any other sort of outside source is open to interpretation. It's somebody else's words. Um,
it's just sort of like the antithesis of what you would want to start a paragraph with, so
pretty much all the time avoid having quotes or outside sources as a topic sentence.
Okay, I want to take you guys through a topic sentence exercise. Read along as I read out loud:
During the 1990s, I really enjoyed watching Friends on television every Thursday night.
I really wanted Rachel's haircut. I think every girl wanted Rachel's haircut back then.
Rachel's haircut went really well with the Guess jeans that were so popular in the 1990s.
I remember all the advertisements for Guess and Calvin Klein jeans that were in each month's Sassy
magazine. I don't think Sassy magazine exists anymore, but it was one of the
most popular magazines for young women in the 1990s... Okay, stop for a moment!
This paragraph is all over the place! Um, it's talking about a TV show, it's talking about
haircuts, it's talking about fashion, um, it's referencing the 1990s pretty clearly. That maybe
is the one thing that is consistently happening in the entire paragraph. It's all over the place.
The first sentence here doesn't really announce the topic. It just announces the first thought,
and then, everything after that is a new additional thought. So, what we need here
is one sentence at the beginning of this paragraph
that announces the whole topic and not just the next thought. What is that sentence? Well:
"Thinking about the 1990s brings back a lot of memories for me about fashion and popular
culture." Popular culture covers Friends, fashion covers haircuts, Calvin Klein jeans,
Sassy magazine and throw the 1990s in there for good measure. That is a strong topic sentence!
Okay, that's all for now. I hope this was
helpful!
you