Writing Academic English 4th Edition

TheTWoParts
oraTopic
Sentence

TooMANYIDEAS

GOOD

PRA.Cl'ICE'.

Identifyingthe

PartsofaTopic

Sentence

Chapter 1 IParagraphStructure 9

Asnotedearliera topicsentencehastwoessentialparts:thetopicandthecontrol-

lingidea.Thetopicnamesthesubjectoftheparagraph.Thecontrollingidealimits

orcontrolsthetopictoa specificareathatyoucandiscussinthespaceofa single

paragraph.

TOPIC CONTROLLINGIDEA

Enience~areeasytoprepare.

Thereaderimmediatelylmowsthatthisparagraphwilldiscusshoweasyit isto

prepareconveniencefoodsandperhapsgivesomeexamples(cannedsoup,frozen

dinners,andsoon).

CONTROLLINGIDEA TOPIC

Immigrantshavecontributedmanydeliciousfoodsto€CUi~

Thereaderoftinstopicsentenceexpectstoreadaboutvariousethnicfoodspopular

intheUnitedStates:tacos,eggrolls,sushi,baklava,pizza,andsoon.

Atopicsentenceshouldnothavecontrollingideasthatareunrelated.Thethree

partsofthefollowingcontrollingideaaretoounrelatedfora singleparagraph.They

requirethreeseparateparagraphs(andperhapsmore)toexplainfully.

Indiefilmsarecharacterizedbyexperimentaltechniques,lowproductioncosts,

andprovocativethemes.

Independentfilmsarecharacterizedbyexperimentaltechniques.

Circlethetopicandunderlinethecontrollingideaineachofthefollowing

sentences.Thefirstonehasbeendoneforyouasanexample.

1. Fiv-ing-on-freew.~ys requiresskillandalertness.
   2.~v-ing-orr-'fe€~~requiresstrongnerves.
   3'\9()1Q!f~s~~ggressiveattitude.
   4<-~aribbeanislandofTrinida~Vattractstouristsb~
   llll.lSic.----. -- ~
   5.~~~liO~Ricoa tourist,QaradisL


2. NJ;~vi!!Kayfr?c.@bea stressfulexperiencefor~o~~
   7.Wanyreligiousrulesarosefromthehealthneeds-oLancienLtimes.
   8.~rit~b~Jiof~~;i-~l;~ is thehighcostof~lli!i(2I!J:l!ldbooks.
   9.(particip1l.tingi~classcliscussio;s.-isaproble~'fo~ie~aldiffere;g~;ps
   9.!~!.':l..d.~B!§.,=:-:-=........=c~.=~--===:~----·-._...--"'---'

1 O.lnmyopinion,~~l~~i~ioncommercialsforcosmeti~sli~!?_~2!ll~!L

11.'Q\?Inil1K(1n,__,__,_ -'-" automobiTe~iS-ane~~;sitY19ijJie.-···".",,",.... "_'•.,_e'<'•. ,,':"":.:,'".::;.:;:".___c."'_~_"_"..; ..;;....,:.,,""".0__·.." _••~-"~--'-~'~.---_. __

12. Itj.§~.al1.J012~n§.~Y:.e.Juxlrrytp'ownanautomobileina largecity-:-'
    13.(r;-d:><:;--.,,-.,..•...,~.~.»._-"appearan~e'lar;..... "••,-,.",,--........,-,,-' b-;th-importantln'Japanese..- '