Created by Yang Ying

The biggest change in job-hunting these days is the use of the Internet. A
job seeker can reply to a Help Wanted notice on a companys Website.
This person can also post his or her resume (page with information about
education and work experience) on one or many of the online job
boards. If a company is interested, the person still has to take the next
step the old-fashioned way actually go to the job interview and perhaps
take a skills test. However, even this might soon change. In the near
future, companies will be able to give the person a skills test and check
his or her background (job history and education) online. But what about
the interview? Companies will soon be able to interview the person by
video link, so people can interview for jobs in other cities or even other
countries without leaving home. Clearly, job hunting is not what it used
to be.


Topic sentence

Support

Concluding sentence (optional)

What is a topic sentence?
The main idea sentence
The most general and most important sentence of the paragraph

What does a topic sentence contain?
the topic: what the paragraph is about
the controlling idea: the writers attitude or idea about the topic

Why is a topic sentence important?

The recent improvement in the American
economy can be seen in the revival of the
housing industries.

One way to cope with stress is to engage
yourself in new activities.

After a large star cools and collapses,
a black hole is formed in space.



Shows an opinion rather than a fact

You can get a McDonalds Cheeseburger
for only S$2. (This is a fact)

One factor that contributes to the
success of McDonalds is low price.


Indicates the focus of the body paragraph

Dogs are better than cats. (Too broad)
Dogs make better pets than cats.
Better: Dogs make better pets than cats
because of their well-known quality of
loyalty to their owners.


Gives one main idea

Successful entrepreneurs are passionate
and resourceful. (Two ideas)

Successful entrepreneurs are passionate.
Successful entrepreneurs are
resourceful.


States the writers opinion in an objective way

I think smoking causes cancer. (I
think/ I like is difficult to develop)

Smoking should be banned because it is
hazardous to human health.

Identify the topic and controlling ideas in the
following topic sentences
1) Parents can help their children be
successful in school by encouraging them.
2) The Internet is a very useful tool for
college students.
3) Using a cell phone while driving is
dangerous.
4) Watching TV is a good way to learn spoken
English.
The importance of using support
Types of support
Personal experiences
Examples
Facts & details
Research results
Quotations
Numbers and figures

Going to college can be expensive. Everyone knows that tuition and room and
board can cost anywhere from $3,000 to $15,000 per term, but there are other
expenses that make going to college even more expensive. For instance, books
typically cost between $200 and $400 each term. Supplies, too, are not cheap,
for as any student knows, paper, notebooks, writing utensils, and the many other
supplies needed usually cost more at the college bookstore than at a local
discount department store. For instance, a package of notepaper costing $1 at a
discount store might cost $2 at a college bookstore. In addition, there are all
kinds of special fees tacked onto the bill at registration time. A student might
have to pay a $30 insurance fee, a $15 activity fee, a $10 fee to the student
government association, and anywhere from $20 to $100 for parking. If a
student decides to add or drop a course after registration, this is yet another
fee. The fees never seem to end.

Taken from: Ruetten, M.K. (2003). Developing Composition Skills: Rhetoric and Grammar (2
nd

Ed.)Thomson & Heinle.
The Internet is a very useful tool for college
students. For example, students can learn about
different cultures. They can have a friend in
China and compare cultures using email. As a
result, they can understand and appreciate other
cultures better. If they have a math problem,
they can easily find a tutor or help on the
Internet. Students who want to learn a different
language can find websites where they can listen
to tapes to simulate a teacher. If they have to do
a research paper on a specific topic, all they
have to do is go to the Internet and they will
find the information instantly. The Internet is
useful to college students in many ways.

Adapted from Ruetten, M.K. (2003). Developing Composition Skills: Rhetoric and Grammar (2
nd

Ed.)Thomson & Heinle.
Write two-three sentences of possible
support for each of the following topic
sentences:
1) Parents can help their children be
successful in school by encouraging them.
2) The most obvious reason to recycle waste
is to save resources.
3) Using a cell phone while driving is
dangerous.
4) Watching TV is a good way to learn spoken
English.

(1) Parents can help their children be
successful in school by encouraging them.
Support:
Parents can encourage them to study by buying
them story books with pictures
Parents can encourage children to study
efficiently by rewarding them when they
get an A
Parents can by asking their children to teach
them what they have learned.
(2) The most obvious reason to recycle waste
is to save resources.
Support:
a. save trees by collecting and recycling old
paper
b. save aluminum, a limited mineral resource
from the earth by recycling aluminum cans


(3) Using a cell phone while driving is
dangerous.
Support:
a. Drivers with one hand on the wheel may not
be able to control it.
b. Drivers may not hear sounds of other
vehicles immediately
c. Drivers may not react quickly in an
emergency when attention is distracted

(4) Watching TV is a good way to learn
spoken English.
Support:
a. News use current vocabulary and show
pictures
b. Soap operas and talk shows include
conversations
c. TV shows and commercials often show
speakers faces up close.
(1) T: The biggest change in job-hunting
these days is the use of the Internet.
C: Clearly, job hunting is not what it
used to be.
(2) T: Going to college can be expensive.
C: The fees never seem to end.
(3) T: The Internet is a very useful tool for
college students.
C: The Internet is useful to college students
in many ways.

Topic sentence is not written or not
effectively written.
Support is not concrete, just restatements of
the same idea
Support is only partly relevant or not
relevant at all
Too many ideas are covered in a paragraph.
Concluding sentence is on a new point not
mentioned in the support.
Adapted from:
Rooks, G. M. (1999). Paragraph power:
communicating ideas through paragraphs.
Ruetten, M.K. (2003). Developing
Composition Skills: Rhetoric and Grammar
(2
nd
Ed.)Thomson & Heinle.
Course notes from ES1000 & ES5000

The following links contain more explanations
for paragraph writing and examples of
paragraphs:

http://www2.actden.com/Writ_Den/Tips/pa
ragrap/index.htm
http://lrs.ed.uiuc.edu/students/fwalters/pa
ra.html
http://howtowriteaparagraph.com/