Many students struggle with differentiating between the topic sentence and the main idea of an essay. An easy way to identify the difference is by focusing on the role each plays in developing the thesis of the essay. The main idea of a paragraph represents the specific point being made in the paragraph.
Finding Topic and Controlling Idea in the Main Sentence. In the main sentence, the Topic section is usually at the beginning of the sentence, then followed by the Controlling Idea section. However, it doesn’t rule out the possibility to put the Controlling Idea in the beginning of a sentence. Take a look at a few examples below.
The main idea of the essay is stated in a single sentence called the thesis statement. You must limit your entire essay to the topic you have introduced in your thesis statement. 2. Provide some background information about your topic. You can use interesting facts, quotations, or definitions of important terms you will use later in the essay.
Topic Sentence A sentence in the introduction that tells the reader what your paper will be all about. Main Idea A sentence that supports your topic. This sentence begins a body paragraph, and tells the reader what the paragraph will be all about, not the entire paper! Main Idea VS Topic Sentence by Mrs. Garner.
Identifying Topics, Main Ideas, and Supporting Details. Understanding the topic, the gist, or the larger conceptual framework of a textbook chapter, an article, a paragraph, a sentence or a passage is a sophisticated reading task.Being able to draw conclusions, evaluate, and critically interpret articles or chapters is important for overall comprehension in college reading.
It takes a lot of time and hard work for a writer to understand short essay basics. Just like other essays, it contains an introductory paragraph, body, and conclusion. Look for useful examples to get a clear idea of how to choose interesting topics and structure all parts. They will submit a good piece of writing.
If you have two main points in a thesis, you will have two body paragraphs. If you have a three-point thesis (this is the most typical number), you will have three body paragraphs, and so on. The statement of a point at the beginning of a body paragraph is called the topic sentence. A paragraph develops this one point. One paragraph means one idea.
Supporting sentences develop the topic sentence. They are more specific than the topic sentence, giving reasons, examples, facts, statistics, and citations in support of the main idea of the paragraph. Below is the whole paragraph for the second topic sentence above. The supporting sentences are in bold.
An example of a main idea would be: summer is the best time of year. The main idea is the subject or topic of a piece of writing or a story. To find the main idea, first read the paragraph or story and ask what the selection is about. While each piece of writing contains multiple details, it also contains one main topic that all of those.
The topic sentence of this paragraph explains to a reader what a topic sentence does, fulfilling the first function. It also tells you that this paragraph is going to talk about one particular aspect of the previous paragraph’s main idea: we are now moving from the general structure of the paragraph to the particular role of the topic sentence.
The very first sentence in your supporting paragraph should be the topic sentence. Each paragraph should have one main idea only and the topic sentence tells the reader what this idea is. This makes your paragraph and the whole essay clearer and easier to read. You will gain marks for coherence in the IELTS writing test if you do this. Think of.
A topic sentence is a general statement that announces what the paragraph is about. By starting a paragraph with a topic sentence, your audience can immediately identify your topic. This construction also helps you, the writer, stay focused on your subject. Consider the following example of an essay introduction: The first sentence is the topic.