Occasionally in certain types of writing, a topic sentence is not needed: if a paragraph continues developing an idea clearly introduced in an earlier paragraph, if the details of the paragraph unmistakably suggest its main point, or if the paragraph appears in a narrative of events where generalizations might interrupt the flow of the story.

The following paragraph from a business report is composed of purely descriptive details. The author does not want to make any generalizations but rather wants to state facts. Because the author is simply characterizing the company’s compensation practices, there is no need for a topic sentence.

PARAGRAPH WITHOUT TOPIC SENTENCE

All employees not in the sales department receive a yearly salary and profit sharing at the end of the year. The formula for profit sharing is not known by the employees, and specific information about profits is infrequently communicated. When profitability is discussed, it is only in general terms. Key employees, as determined by the management, are given stock option grants periodically. This process is informal and very confidential.

—Brian Spencer, student