A Common Mistake with Topic Sentences
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Topic sentences are critical for signposting your argument for the reader. The topic sentence should explain the topic of the paragraph (of course). But writers often obscure the paragraph’s topic by including the first example of the paragraph in the topic sentence. This practice inaccurately suggests to the reader that the paragraph will focus on one piece of evidence, when in fact it will focus on many. For example:
Carroll’s Hometown Deli makes a delicious variety of sandwiches, including tuna melts. The tuna melts have won the award for Best Grilled Sandwich in the Metroplex. The chicken salad sandwiches, although not yet award winning, also thrill the devoted clientele. They say it’s the cranberries and chopped nuts that make the chicken salad extra flavorful. One regular customer, however, asserts that a simple BLT is her favorite item on the deli’s menu.
In this case, including tuna melts, incorrectly signals to the reader that the paragraph will only discuss tuna melts rather than the deli’s delicious variety of sandwiches.
The solution is to coordinate the topic sentence with the rest of the paragraph. One way to achieve this goal is to change the topic sentence to match the paragraph. This fix usually adheres most closely to the author’s original intent.
Carroll’s Hometown Deli makes a delicious variety of sandwiches. The tuna melts have won the award for Best Grilled Sandwich in the Metroplex. The chicken salad sandwiches, although not yet award winning, also thrill the devoted clientele. They say they come back for the cranberries and chopped nuts that make the chicken salad extra flavorful. One regular customer, however, asserts that a simple BLT is her favorite item on the deli’s menu.
The other option is to re-write the paragraph to align with the topic sentence.
Carroll’s Hometown Deli makes a delicious variety of sandwiches, including tuna melts. Her tuna melts start with homemade rye bread followed by a thick helping of tuna salad and extra sharp cheese. The deli grills them to golden brown with a generous layer of melted butter. The deli’s devoted clientele had such confidence in the famed sandwich that they expressed no surprise when it won Best Grilled Sandwich in the Metroplex.
On your next round of revisions, stay alert for this common mistake. When not corrected, it can confuse the reader by presenting an idea in the topic sentence that doesn’t fully correspond with the evidence in the rest of the paragraph.
Keep writing (and revising!)—
Katherine
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