Chapter 4: From Topics to Topic Sentences From this chapter, you’ll learn 1.how to identify the topic, or the subject under discussion. 2.how to use.

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Transcript Chapter 4: From Topics to Topic Sentences From this chapter, you’ll learn 1.how to identify the topic, or the subject under discussion. 2.how to use.

Chapter 4: From Topics to Topic
Sentences
From this chapter, you’ll learn
1.how to identify the topic, or the subject under
discussion.
2.how to use the topic to get to the writer’s
main idea.
3.how to identify topic sentences that sum up
the main idea.
Copyright Laraine Flemming 2009
4.1 Defining Terms
The topic of the paragraph
• is the subject under discussion.
• answers the question: “What person, place,
event, or thing is the author discussing?”
• is the starting point for discovering the reading’s
main idea, or central thought.
• is repeated and referred to throughout the
passage.
• is expressed in a single word or brief phrase.
Copyright Laraine Flemming 2009
What do you think is the topic of this
paragraph?
When Dwight D. Eisenhower nominated Earl Warren to be
Chief Justice of the Supreme Court in 1958, he thought he
was putting a very conservative judge in place, who would
be unlikely to promote dramatic changes in the legal
system. Warren, however, turned out to be anything but
conservative. It was he who pushed through groundbreaking civil rights legislation in 1954 and made the
protection of individual liberties a passionate cause
throughout his long career. As head of the Supreme Court
for sixteen years, Warren was considered an “activist”
judge who openly pursued a liberal agenda—much to
Eisenhower’s surprise and shock.
Copyright Laraine Flemming 2009
4. 1 Any one of the following topics would be correct.
• Earl Warren’s years on the Supreme Court
• Earl Warren’s role as Supreme Court Justice
• The liberalism of Chief Justice Earl Warren
But the question you need to be asking now is why?
Copyright Laraine Flemming 2009
4.1 Determining the Topic
Again and again, the writer returns to the
subject of Earl Warren as the Chief Justice of
the Supreme Court. Either Warren’s name or
his tenure on the court is referred to
throughout the paragraph. That chain of
repetition and reference is what makes “Earl
Warren’s years on the Supreme Court,” or a
similar phrase, the subject under discussion, in
other words, the topic of the paragraph.
Copyright Laraine Flemming 2009
4.1 Note the number of references to
Warren as Supreme Court head
When Dwight D. Eisenhower nominated Earl Warren to be
Chief Justice of the Supreme Court in 1958, he thought he
was putting a very conservative judge in place, who would
be unlikely to promote dramatic changes in the legal
system. Warren, however, turned out to be anything but
conservative. It was he who pushed through groundbreaking civil rights legislation in 1954 and made the
protection of individual liberties his personal cause
throughout his long career. As head of the Supreme Court
for sixteen years, Warren was considered an “activist”
judge who openly pursued a liberal agenda—much to
Eisenhower’s surprise and shock.
Copyright Laraine Flemming 2009
A Word to the Wise
The author doesn’t usually identify the topic
through repetition of the exact same word or
phrase. Instead, the topic is threaded
throughout the paragraph by a combination of
straight repetition and the use of topic standins or substitutes. Those topic substitutes can
take many different forms, i.e., pronouns,
synonyms, examples, and related words.
Copyright Laraine Flemming 2009
Just So you Know
Eisenhower was so upset about how liberal Warren
turned out to be, he is said to have called Warren’s
appointment the “biggest damned fool mistake I ever
made.” Among Warren’s landmark decisions were
Brown v. Board of Education, which banned segregation
in public schools, and Miranda v. Arizona, which made it
illegal for the police to take people into custody without
notifying them of their rights, particularly their right to
an attorney.
Copyright Laraine Flemming 2009
4.1 What’s the topic of the following
paragraph?
Are you one of those people who think professional athletes should quit their
sport by age thirty, before physical decline sets in? What’s the point, after all, of
aging athletes trying to beat opponents ten years younger? It’s hopeless and
pathetic. If those are your thoughts, consider the fact that baseball great Nolan
Ryan pitched a no-hitter against the Toronto Blue Jays in 1991. At the time, Ryan
was forty-one. In 2003, at the ripe old age of forty-six, tennis player Martina
Navratilova won two mixed-doubles crowns, one at Wimbledon and another at
the Australian Open. In the 2008 Olympics, no one expected much from fortyone-year-old swimmer Dara Torres, but to everyone’s shock, she became the
oldest woman to ever medal at the Olympics. In 2009 boxer “Sugar” Shane
Mosley was a four-to-one underdog when he walked into the ring against
reigning welterweight Antonio Margarito. Few thought the thirty-eight old
Mosley had a chance. But they changed their tune when Mosley knocked out
Margarito to become the new title-holder.
Copyright Laraine Flemming 2009
4. 1 Which of the following would you pick to
express the topic of the previous paragraph?
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Dara Torres
Aging Boxers
Nolan Ryan
Aging Athletes
Athlete Heroes
Copyright Laraine Flemming 2009
4.1 The answer should have all the
following characteristics:
The topic should
1. be repeated and referred to throughout the
paragraph.
2. answer the question, “What person, place,
event, or thing is the author describing?”
3. be referred to in a variety or ways, through
pronouns, synonyms, examples, associated
words, and suggestions.
Copyright Laraine Flemming 2009
4.1 The correct answer is “aging
athletes” because
• “aging athletes” is the one phrase that is
repeated, in a variety of different ways,
throughout the paragraph.
• it answers the question “What person,
group, experience or event is the author
discussing in the paragraph?”
Copyright Laraine Flemming 2009
A Word to the Wise
Don’t focus solely on word or phrase
repetition when trying to determine the topic.
Instead, look for words, pronouns, examples,
synonyms, and associations that are linked
together to form a chain of repetition and
reference. A chain of repetition and reference
is what links the sentences in a paragraph
together and, at the same time, reveals the
topic.
Copyright Laraine Flemming 2009
4.2 From the Topic to the Main Idea
Once you have a handle on the topic of a
reading, you need to take the next step. You
need to determine what the author wants to
say about the topic. You need, that is, to
discover the main idea, or the point of the
paragraph.
Copyright Laraine Flemming 2009
4.2 Defining Terms
The Main Idea
• answers the question: “What does the
author want to say about the topic?”
• unifies, or holds together, the sentences
in a paragraph.
• is expressed in a sentence rather than a
single word or a phrase.
Copyright Laraine Flemming 2009
4.2 From Topic to Main Idea
Here are three topics:
1. Wikipedia
2. Facebook
3. Vaccines against Bird Flu
Copyright Laraine Flemming 2009
4.2 Three Main Ideas:
1. Software now exists that can identify who
makes changes to Wikipedia’s entries.
2. More and more employers are blocking
employees from accessing Facebook at work.
3. Many drug companies are working hard to
develop a vaccine against bird flu.
Copyright Laraine Flemming 2009
4.2 Clues to Main Ideas in Paragraphs
Main Ideas
1. are often expressed in one sentence called the “topic
sentence.”
2. are likely to appear in the first, second, or third
sentence.
3. are further explained as the paragraph continues.
4. answer the questions: 1. What general point does the
author make about the topic? 2. What did the author
want to tell the reader about the topic?
Copyright Laraine Flemming 2009
4.2 What are the topic and main idea
of this paragraph?
If something is not done fast, frogs may become extinct.
Already, almost one-third of all frog species have vanished.
In addition to the human invasion of frog habitats and the ills
brought on by air pollution, frogs are being plagued by a
mysterious fungus, which plugs their pores and leaves them
to suffocate. Amphibian experts all over the world are trying
to find a cure for the fungus before frogs disappear from the
face of the earth. In parts of Central America, some frogs
have been completely removed from their natural habitat and
transported to new locations. The goal is keep the healthy
frogs safe from the fast-traveling chytrid fungus that has
already destroyed entire species of frogs.
Copyright Laraine Flemming 2009
4.2 To find the topic, ask this question:
What subject does the author repeatedly refer
to?
Answer: Frogs
Why is “frogs” the correct topic?
There is a reference to frogs in every single
sentence.
Copyright Laraine Flemming 2009
4.2 What main idea does the author want
to communicate about frogs?
“If something isn’t done soon, they are going to
disappear from the planet.”
Why is that answer correct?
From first sentence to last, the writer explains how
and why frogs are disappearing. Every sentence in
the paragraph, one way or another, returns to this
point.
Copyright Laraine Flemming 2009
4.3 Topic Sentences
Whenever you read a paragraph, be on the
lookout for general sentences that seem to
sum up most of the sentences in the
paragraph. These are topic sentences, and
they are designed to give you the author’s key
point in a nutshell. Here’s the topic sentence
for the paragraph on frogs: If something is not
done fast, frogs may go the way of passenger
pigeons and disappear.
Copyright Laraine Flemming 2009
4.3 Spotting Topic Sentences
That’s the topic sentence because
• it’s one of the most general sentences in the
paragraph.
• every other sentence in the paragraph
develops it.
• it could be used to answer the question,
“What’s the point of the paragraph?”
• it appears at the beginning of the paragraph.
Copyright Laraine Flemming 2009
A Word to the Wise
Particularly in textbooks, topic sentences usually
appear at the beginning of a paragraph, but they
can turn up in the middle or at the end. If the first
sentence opening a paragraph is not further
developed by the sentence that follows, the
chances are good the topic sentence is also not
the first sentence in the paragraph.
Copyright Laraine Flemming 2009
4. 1 Where’s the topic sentence in this
paragraph?
Bullying in high schools and elementary schools is a
much discussed topic, yet many parents feel that they
don’t know whether their child is being bullied. They just
can’t tell. However, there are often visible signs that
indicate a child is being bullied, and parents should be
alert to them. A child might be the object of bullying if
he or she comes home from school with unexplained
bruises or cuts. Bullying might also be why a child
suddenly shows no interest in school work. Another sign
is a child’s resistance to talking about school and signs of
moodiness or tears upon returning home from school.
The sudden onset of insomnia when school starts is yet
another indication that a child is being bullied.
Copyright Laraine Flemming 2009
4.3 Which sentence is the topic
sentence?
1. Bullying in high schools and elementary
schools is a much discussed topic, yet many
parents feel that they don’t know whether
their child is being bullied.
2. They just can’t tell.
3. However, there are often visible signs that
indicate a child is being bullied, which
parents should be alert to.
Copyright Laraine Flemming 2009
4.3 Identifying Topic Sentences
Answer 3 is the topic sentence because
• it’s one of the more general sentences in the
paragraph.
• it could function as a summary sentence for
the content of the paragraph.
• most of the other sentences in the paragraph
refer to it.
• it appears at the beginning of the paragraph,
which is where most topic sentences appear.
Copyright Laraine Flemming 2009
A Word to the Wise
If you are having any doubts about the topic
sentence you have selected, turn it into a question
and see if the supporting details serve as an
answer. For the paragraph on bullying, if you turn
the topic sentence into a question--“What are the
signs of bullying parents should be alert to?”-- you
can see how the supporting details provide an
answer, which means your topic sentence choice is
correct.
Copyright Laraine Flemming 2009
Finishing Up: From Topics to Topic
Sentences
You’ve previewed the major concepts and skills
introduced in Chapter 4. Take this quick quiz to
test your mastery of those skills and concepts,
and you are ready to read the chapter.
Copyright Laraine Flemming 2009
Finishing Up: From Topics to Topic
Sentences
1. True or False. You can identify the topic of a
paragraph by looking for the word that is
repeated several times.
2. True or False. The topic of a paragraph can
always be expressed in a single word.
Copyright Laraine Flemming 2009
Finishing Up: From Topics to Topic
Sentences
3. True or False. The topic is what unifies all
the sentences in a paragraph.
4. True or False. Topic sentences appear most
frequently at the beginning of paragraphs,
but they can appear anywhere.
Copyright Laraine Flemming 2009
Brain Teaser Challenge
Copyright Laraine Flemming 2009
Brain Teaser Challenge
Out of these five sentences, which one could best function as the
opening topic sentence and why?
1. The battle lasted not days but hours.
2. Custer had been expecting to face a few hundred men, but he had
underestimated the enemy’s strength.
3. The 1876 battle of Little Bighorn is also known as “Custer’s Last Stand” and for
good reason.
4. When the battle ended, the only thing left alive from Custer’s regiment was one
horse.
5. On June 25, 1876, Major General George Armstrong Custer rode into battle
against the combined forces of the Sioux and Cheyenne Indians.
Copyright Laraine Flemming 2009