AcDv B80 Another Boring PPT by Jessica Wojtysiak Bakersfield College Topic Sentences AcDv B80 Another Boring PPT by Jessica Wojtysiak Bakersfield College

Basic Outline of a Paragraph Topic Sentence Evidence or reasoning Explanation

Topic Sentences Control the entire paragraph. Every sentence in a paragraph exists to support the topic sentence.

Writing Topic Sentences To write the topic sentence, ask yourself what sentence is broad enough to describe all of the sentences in the paragraph. Topic sentences are broad. Supporting details are more specific but all share a common link to the topic sentence.

Revising Topic Sentences If a sentence does not support the topic sentence, something is wrong. Options: Remove the sentence from the paragraph Rewrite the topic sentence to incorporate the sentence

Where do they go? Most often the first sentence of the paragraph. The author starts with a broad idea and then offers specific examples or evidence to support that broad idea. The reader knows exactly what the paragraph will be about just by reading the first sentence.

But… Topic sentences can be the last sentence of a paragraph. They can be in the middle of a paragraph. A paragraph can contain 2 topic sentences. A paragraph may even be missing a topic sentence. (Don’t do this!)

How do we check for topic sentences? The Reverse Outline

What is it? Bullet point structure of your paper Removes the details and focuses upon the topic sentences (if you have them)

The reverse outline helps you to… Why? The reverse outline helps you to… Figure out if the paper meets its goal Discover areas needing topic sentences Discover areas needing more analysis or evidence See where readers may be confused

How Start with your rough draft List the main idea of each paragraph Copy/paste the topic sentence of each paragraph into the outline Number the list

Example Let’s construct together a reverse outline based upon a hypothetical paper

Homework Using the paper you uploaded to Turnitin.com, construct a reverse outline Bring the reverse outline to class on Monday, October 31, 2016