Composing and Revising

Unifying paragraphs with topic sentences

C-102

A paragraph should be unified around a main point. The point should be clear to readers, and all sentences in the paragraph should relate to it.

As a rule, you should state the main point of a paragraph in a topic sentence—a one-sentence summary that tells readers what to expect as they read on.

If you have trouble writing paragraphs with topic sentences, try this:

Jot down an informal outline before you begin writing your paper.
Write a topic sentence for each major point in the outline.

Alternately, after you have written a draft, you can check for topic sentences.

Make an outline of the finished draft.
Check to be sure each paragraph has a topic sentence reflecting one main point.
If you discover that you are making more than one point in a paragraph, consider breaking the paragraph into two or more paragraphs.

Sample formal outline: Government regulation of food choices (Harba)

Exercise:

Topic sentences