WRITING IN THE DISCIPLINE

WORDS
make up

2
PHRASES
make up

3
SENTENCES
make up

4
PARAGRAPHS
By Mr. Ranulfo T. Bacus

5
 PARAGRAPH
A paragraph is a group of related
sentences that present and develop one
main idea.

has a three-part structure:

The Introduction
The Body
The Conclusion
What is the relation of these shapes for today’s topic?
 Dark clouds blocked the sun as it
peeked over the farthest mountain.
The clouds moved forward and played
hide-and-seek with beams of sunlight
and slowly overtook them. The clouds
began to release large drops of rain.
With the clouds a wind made its
entrance, and it swirled across the
hillsides. A storm was brewing.
The
TOPIC
SENTENCE
What is a
TOPIC
SENTENCE ?
 THE TOPIC SENTENCE
The topic sentence states the main or
the general idea of the paragraph.
The topic sentence states the subject
and the purpose of the paragraph.
The topic sentence in a paragraph
summarizes what the entire paragraph
is all about.
In most academic essays, though, the
topic sentence is at the beginning.
 Features of a topic sentence:
it states the main idea
it addresses one aspect of the
subject that can be adequately
covered in one paragraph;
it controls the other sentences in
the paragraph;
it is more general than the
sentences that develop it
 Two Types of Topic Sentence:
1. STATED OR OBVIOUS TOPIC
SENTENCE – this is the type of
topic sentence that is correctly
expressed in the paragraph

1. IMPLIED TOPIC SENTENCE – this is

the type of topic sentence that is
not stated in the paragraph
EXAMPLE OF STATED TOPIC SENTENCE:
Trees are very essential in our
lives. The newspaper you read
everyday and the books you study
were trees once. Your home, your
furniture, your clothes come from
trees. In addition, forests provide a
wonderful place where we can hold
picnics and have a good time.
EXAMPLE OF IMPLIED TOPIC SENTENCE:
Sometimes in the evenings, Bruno Mars
would sit out in front of the ranch house
near the cattle guards and play music. He
would gather across the ditch and listen
attentively. He liked to hear songs by Hank
Williams, to which he would attempt to sing
along by making little gurgling sounds deep
in his throat. Occasionally, he would click his
teeth if he played something with a beat to
it.
TOPIC
Going back
SENTENCE
to these
POSITIONS
shapes!
Positions of
TOPIC
SENTENCE
 AT THE BEGINNING...
TOPIC SENTENCE

Topic sentence is usually found at the

beginning of a paragraph, where it gives
a preview of and direction to the
sentences that come after it.
 EXAMPLE:
A brownout for students
would be a horrendous disaster.
The students will not be able to
check their mail. They cannot
receive their e-mails either.
They cannot use the fax
machine too.
 ANOTHER EXAMPLE:
Student life today is not what it
was then. Students log on to web
sites instead of going to libraries.
Computers look for grammatical
and typographical errors in their
papers unlike before when students
reviewed, reread, and reedited
their work for hours.
 AT THE END...

TOPIC SENTENCE
Sometimes, however, topic sentence
comes at the end of the paragraph,
where it draws a conclusion or functions
as a summary.
 EXAMPLE:
The mountain air around a lake
invigorates and pleases me. I like a lake’s
underwater life, such as minnows and
trout, and I enjoy observing the plant
life around me. Most important, a lake
usually has no chemicals because lake
water is clean, natural, and more
refreshing for swimming. I prefer
swimming in a mountain lake.
 ANOTHER EXAMPLE:
I cannot cut and paste excerpts
without my computer. I need my
CD-ROM to check the spelling and
change fonts of my paper. I do all
these on my computer at my own
leisure. I really don’t know how to
write a paper without doing it
directly on the computer.
 AT THE MIDDLE...

TOPIC SENTENCE

Less frequently, topic sentence comes

in the middle of the paragraph,
especially when the paragraph is part of
a longer piece of writing.
 EXAMPLE:
The bird next to me was immature. He
still had brown and tawny plumage instead
of the predominantly black color of the
adult. For one thing, he may never have seen
another human being. But there is a better
explanation; in remote Galapagos Islands,
there are hardly any land mammals, and the
hawk is very nearly the sole predator. With
no enemies and almost no competitors, it
has nothing to fear and plenty to eat.
 ANOTHER EXAMPLE:
Dancing and chanting, Polynesian
students give visitors to the Polynesian Culture
Center a glimpse of Hawaii’s post. Through its
exhibitions, the Polynesian Culture Center
shows visitors the many elements of Hawaiian
culture brought to Hawaii by Polynesians. For
example, the Center shows the similarities
between the Polynesian and Hawaiian villages
with life-size models. In addition, the Center
dramatizes Hawaiian legends of ancestors
journeying across oceans.
AT BOTH BEGINNING AND END...
TOPIC SENTENCE

TOPIC SENTENCE
In this type, if the paragraph is meant as a
freestanding unit of discourse and not part of a larger
whole, the topic sentence, or rather the ideas it
contains, are frequently restated at the end of the
paragraph.
 EXAMPLE:
Throwing a clay pot, requires many steps. The
first step is by wedging the clay. The potter kneads the
clay to prepare it for throwing. Once wedged and
formed into a ball, the clay is thrown onto the center of
a potter's wheel. The clay must be coerced into a
perfectly symmetrical shape, dead center on the
spinning wheel. When correctly centered, the clay is
ready to be opened. After that, the clay can now be
shaped and the potter should correctly reach its desired
height. Finally, the pot is ready to be dried, fired, and
glazed. Thus, even though a clay pot may appear simple
to make, fashioning one by hand takes a long process.
 ANOTHER EXAMPLE:
Energy simply makes our daily lives more
comfortable and convenient. Suppose you wanted
to stop – and reverse – the economic progress of
this nation, what would be the surest and quickest
way to do it? Find a way to cut off the nation’s oil
resources! Industrial plants would shut down,
public utilities would stand idle, and all firms of
transportation will halt. The country would be
paralyzed, and our economy would plummet into
the abyss of national economic ruin. In short,
energy is one of the reason why we have an
adequate life nowadays.
 IMPLIED TOPIC SENTENCE...
TOPIC SENTENCE

Some paragraphs doesn’t state there

topic sentences. This does not mean that
there is no topic sentence on it. Instead, it
means that you have to figure it out by
yourself.
 EXAMPLE 1:
College and university sports team have
nicknames. Most are common, such as the
Bears, Lions, and Tigers. However, some are
unusual. For instance, the University of
California at Irvine is nicknamed “Anteaters”.
The University of Washburn’s sports team
are called “Thunderducks”. And perhaps the
strangest of all belongs to the University of
California at Santa Cruz. Their nickname is
the “Banana Slugs”.
 EXAMPLE 1:
The suggested implied topic
sentence for example 1 is:

Some College and University

sport teams have unusual College
nicknames.
 EXAMPLE 2:
Yellow is a bright cheery color; it is
often associated with spring and
hopefulness. Green, since it is a color that
appears frequently in nature (trees, grass,
plants), has come to suggest growth and
rebirth. Blue, the color of the sky may
suggest eternity, or endless beauty. Red, the
color of both blood and fire, is often
connected with strong feelings such as
courage, lust and rage.
 EXAMPLE 2:
The suggested implied topic
sentence for example 2 is:

Different colors may bring

different meanings or symbolic
representations.