CHAPTER 3 DETERMINING THE TOPIC IN THIS CHAPTER YOU WILL LEARN: What the topic of a paragraph is and why it is important to understand it What the four clues are for determining the topic of a paragraph

What is the topic of a paragraph? The topic of a paragraph is a word, name, or phrase that tells who or what the author is writing about. All of the sentences in a paragraph relate in some way to the topic.

Why is it important to determine and understand the topic of a paragraph? It is important because determining the topic is the first step in comprehending a paragraph. Determining the topic is a preliminary comprehension step that also helps you focus your attention on what you are reading.

How can you determine the topic of a paragraph? After reading the paragraph, determine its topic by asking yourself the comprehension monitoring question, “Who or what is this paragraph about?” If you answer this question correctly, you will have determined the topic.

College textbook paragraphs typically contain many clues to help you determine the topic. To identify the topic, look for a word, name, or phrase that: appears as a heading or title. appears in a special type, such as bold, italics, or color. appears once at the beginning and is then referred to throughout the paragraph by pronouns or other words. (Pronouns are words such as he, she, it, they, etc.)

Look for a heading or title that indicates the topic. Clue One: Look for a heading or title that indicates the topic. Pay attention to titles and headings because textbook authors often give the topic in the title or heading.

Look for a word, name, or phrase Clue Two: Look for a word, name, or phrase in the paragraph that appears in special print. A second clue to the topic of a paragraph is the author’s use of italic or bold print, or color, to emphasize a word, name, or phrase.   The topic of a paragraph sometimes consists of a combination of words, or a combination of names, or even phrases. Identify these pieces and put them together to form the complete topic. While italics often signal the topic of a paragraph, they can also be used by authors merely to show emphasis.

Look for a word, name, or phrase Clue Three: Look for a word, name, or phrase that is repeated throughout the paragraph. A third clue to the topic is the repetition of a word, name, or phrase in a paragraph. This clue is helpful when there is no heading and the paragraph does not contain any words in special print.

Look for a word, name, or phrase referred to Clue Four: Look for a word, name, or phrase referred to throughout the paragraph by pronouns or other words. A fourth clue to the topic of a paragraph is a word, name, or phrase that appears at the beginning of the paragraph and is then referred to throughout the paragraph by a pronoun (such as he, she, they, his, her, its, etc.) or by other words.

One or more of these four clues will always help you determine the topic of a paragraph. However, if the topic is still not clear to you, you may find it helpful to reread the paragraph to determine what all the sentences pertain to.   Determining the topic is the starting point in comprehending as you read.

Things to keep in mind when you determine the topic: You should use a name, word, or phrase, but never a sentence, to express the topic. This means you must know the difference between a phrase and a sentence. The topic of a paragraph not only can be expressed as a word or a name, it can be expressed as a phrase. A phrase is a group of words that does not express a complete thought. A sentence has a subject and a verb and always expresses a complete thought.   Phrases can be used to express the topic, but sentences should never be used to express a topic.

2. You must know the difference between the terms “general” and “specific.”   It is important to be precise when you determine the topic. If you choose a word that is too general or too specific, you will not be expressing the topic accurately. A topic that is too general goes beyond what is discussed in the paragraph. It is too broad. A topic that is too specific fails to describe other things discussed in the paragraph. It is too narrow.

3. A longer passage has an overall topic. Just as every paragraph has a topic, longer selections (ones that consist of many paragraphs) have topics, too. This may also be called the subject. How can you determine the overall topic of a larger selection? First, ask yourself, “Who or what is this entire selection about?”   Then use some of the clues presented in this chapter. Look at the title or heading for the entire selection or section. Look for a word, name, or phrase that appears in special print. Look for a word, name, or phrase that is repeated throughout.

AFTER READING THIS CHAPTER, YOU SHOULD KNOW: What the topic of a paragraph is and why it is important to understand it What the four clues are for determining the topic of a paragraph