Paragraph Unity
&Topic Sentence
Teaching Objectives
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The Structure of a Paragraph
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Characteristics of a Good Paragraph
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Paragraph Unity
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Topic Sentence
The Structure of a Paragraph
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The topic sentence
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Supporting sentences
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Concluding sentence
A sample paragraph for structure
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There are three reasons why John is not going to
university. In the first place, his family is quite poor and,
since he has four young brothers and sisters still at school,
he feels he should help his family financially as soon as
possible. Secondly, if he went to university, his mother
would be left alone to look after the young children.
Finally, he has been offered a good job with excellent
chances of promotion. Consequently, although he wants to
go to university very much, John is going to take the job
instead.
Characteristics of a Good Paragraph
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Unity — (Detailed discussion later)
Coherence—The sentences should be arranged in a
logical way and follow each other smoothly. (logical order
and connection of sentences)
Full development—Every idea discussed in the
paragraph should be adequately explained and supported
through evidence and details that work together to explain
the paragraph’s controlling idea in the topic sentence.
Example --- Paragraph Coherence
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I like reading novels because they tell
interesting and moving stories. Moreover,
some stories are instructive. By describing
good and evil people, and the bright side
and the dark side of life, such stories help
me to distinguish between right and wrong,
and understand people and life. As a result,
reading them has perhaps made me wiser.
Example --- Full Development
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Taking part in sports can also help improve study
efficiency. One study shows that people who take
regular exercise suffer less from anxiety and are
able to work harder. According to a medical
report, 83 percent of the freshmen who had
trouble with studies were in bad physical shape.
And when they were put into a physical fitness
program, their grades picked up more or less.
Paragraph Unity
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By unity we mean that a paragraph should
state only one central idea, and all the
developing sentences should explain or
illustrate the idea. All that is not related to
the idea should be excluded.
How to achieve paragraph unity
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To achieve unity you must make all
sentences in a paragraph relate to and
support the central idea.
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1. give each paragraph a controlling idea.
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2. make all sentences in a paragraph
support the main idea.
Discuss the unity in the following paragraphs.
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Example One
I want to talk about my father. He is strict with his children,
especially with me. He won’t let me out of the house unless I’ve done
all my homework. He is a tall and rather skinny man. Some people
say he is good-looking. He has a nice streak of grey in his hair. He
laughs a lot and enjoys life. My father is interesting. My father’s face
is rough. His complexion is leathery and wrinkled. There are large
pores in the skin that covers his nose and cheeks. His nose, broken
twice in his life, makes him look like a boxer who has lost many
fights. His mouth, unless he smiles, looks hard and threatening. His
chin is massive and angular. Shaved or not, my father’s face is rugged.
Example Two
Television has many harms. Since the television was
invented, it has played an important part in people’s life.
It has turned the big world to a small one. People can see
the same program at the same time around the world. But,
as soon as television comes into common families, it also
has many harms, especially for the children. For example,
children spend too much time watching television. As a
result, they cannot concentrate on their studies. What is
worse, their eyesight becomes poorer. And they are often
exposed to violence, which is harmful to their mental
growth.
Topic Sentence
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A paragraph should have only one central
idea. In an English article, the central idea
is called topic and usually clearly stated in
a sentence, which is called topic sentence.
Find out the topic sentence and pay attention to the
relationship between it and the other part of the paragraph
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Taking part in sports can also help improve study
efficiency. For example, whenever I feel a little
tired from studies, I will have a 15-minute walk
on campus. After a brief walk I always feel
entirely refreshed and relaxed. I can continue to
study and memorize things better. My personal
experience shows that half an hour’s exercise
after a supper will help you maintain
concentration for a whole night.
Characteristics of a Topic Sentence
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1) Complete: A good topic sentence includes a topic and a controlling
idea
e.g. There are three reasons why John is not going to university.
2) Limited: A good topic sentence is limited or not too general.
e.g. From an economic perspective, earning a college degree is a sound
investment.
×Modern technology brings great convenience to education
× Computers are important.
3) Allowing full development : A good topic sentence should not be too
specific. It tells the readers where the paragraph will go and allows the
main idea to develop fully in one paragraph.
e.g. Different types of students have different ways of spending their
spare time.
A topic sentence: topic ＋ controlling idea
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1) To use an affirmative statement.
e.g. There are three reasons why John is not going to university.
2) To introduce the topic sentence with a question and answer
e.g. What is the main cause of generation gap? It is lack of
communication.
3) To use a subject-complement sentence structure
e.g. A problem that keeps Luoyang from becoming a clean civilized
city is the serious pollution of the city.
4) to introduce the topic sentence with a general statement and a
more particular one.
e.g. While many members of the animal kingdom communicate,
humans communicate in the most sophisticated way.
Position of Topic Sentence
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A topic sentence may appear anywhere in
the paragraph, at the very beginning, in the
middle or at the end. It may even be
implied --- in that case the controlling idea
is obvious.
Topic sentence at or near the beginning
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Sometimes we lie to our good friends only for fun.
The April Fool’s Day is a typical example. On
that day, we usually try all our efforts to think out
lies to fool our friends. The more believable these
lies seem to be, the easier they will be taken in.
When we see them do get in the trap we set for
them, we feel very satisfied and get a lot of fun
from it.
Topic Sentence in the Middle
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My parents have gone out for the evening. Just as I settle
down to read or watch TV, my little brother demands that
I play with him. If I get a telephone call, he screams or
knocks something over. I always have to hang up to find
out what’s wrong with him. Baby sitting my brother is no
fun. He refuses to let me eat a snack in peace. Usually he
wants half of whatever I have to eat. Then when he finally
grows tired, it takes about an hour for him to fall asleep.
Topic Sentence at the End
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The Amazon River is the widest river in the
world, with one-fifth of all the fresh water on
earth moving through its mouth. In length it is
second only to the Nile, and if stretched across
the United States, it would reach from New York
to Los Angeles. In addition, the Amazon covers
the largest area of any river. Therefore, it can be
argued that the Amazon is the mightiest river on
earth.
Task: Identify the topic sentence
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The biggest problem in ancient DNA research is getting the DNA in
the first place. The favorite material to work with is bone, and a small
chunk of it is best. Cells can lie inside the hard bone structure waiting
to be liberated after the calcium has been dissolved away. That’s the
easy bit. Getting the DNA out, what little of it that remains is
horrendously difficult and many teams have succumbed to pitfalls in
the past. The rule is that it has to be done in a clean room better than
used to assemble spacecraft to go into deep space, and it has to be
done away from any other source of potentially contaminating DNA.
Task: Identify the topic sentence
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As human beings, we are constantly in the stage
of change. Our bodies change everyday. Our
attitudes are constantly evolving. Something we
swore by five years ago is now almost impossible
for us to imagine ourselves believing The clothes
we wore a few years ago now look strange to us
in old photographs. Everything is changing. This
is a prediction I can make with absolute certainty.
Assignment
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Write an essay of 400 words or so:
Traveling is Kind of Education
Special attention should be paid to the topic
sentences and unity in each paragraph.
Thank you for your Attention!