Focusing on paragraph organization

A paragraph is a group of related sentences which develop one main idea called the topic. Within a paragraph we may find topic sentences, supporting sentences and concluding sentences. A topic sentence is a general idea that tells the reader what the paragraph is about. It is a complete sentence that has a subject, a verb, and a controlling idea. A supporting sentence develops the topic sentence and gives special information about the topic. And, a concluding sentence completes and summarizes the development of the topic of the sentence (Pintos, 2009)
Let’s consider the following topic sentences:
a-Explorers investigating a large area located in the south of Venezuela called that area “The Lost World” because of what they found there.
b-Several signs can be observed before and during the passage of a cold front.
The controlling ideas in a) are: explorers, a large area, south of Venezuela, “The Lost World”, and what they found there. Two possible questions that may be answered in the paragraphs following this topic sentence are: Which explorers? And, What did they find there? In addition, two possible supporting sentences may be:
-Since quicksand was found in some parts of the area, explorers could not search for the missing ring.
-After many hours walking round the area, they found the ring in the finger of the corpse.
Moreover, an appropriate concluding sentence for a) could be:
-Nevertheless, “The Lost World” will remain a mystery.
The controlling ideas in b) are: several, signs, observed, and the passage of a cold front. Two possible questions answered in the possible following paragraphs might be: How many signs? And, What kind of signs? Besides, two possible subordinate sentences could be:
-Cold fronts may on occasion be preceded by squall lines or dry lines.
-Additionally, cold fronts may feature narrow bands of thunderstorms and severe weather.
Finally, a possible concluding sentence for this topic sentence may be:
-Consequently, the passage of cold fronts promotes changes in the entire ecosystem.
Having analyzed these two topic sentences and proposed possible subordinate and concluding sentences, a reinforcing practice on paragraph organization has been provided.


Reference

Pintos, V. (2008) Unit 3: Academic Writing. Universidad CAECE: Buenos Aires,
Argentina. Retrieved September 2009, from http://caece.campusuniversidad.com.ar/mod/resource/view.php?id=2725