1. 1 Pertemuan 2 The Topic sentence Matakuliah: Writing III Tahun: 2006-2007 Versi: 3

2. 2 Learning Outcomes By the end of this session the students are expected to be able to: –Write a good topic sentence –Provide supporting points to a topic sentence –Revise their paragraphs

3. 3 Outline Choosing a topic Writing your topic sentence Writing your supporting details

4. 4 Choosing a topic In general for a composition class like Writing III, the topic has been provided by your lecturer or the text book. However, sometimes the topic may be too broad and needs limiting to be more specific. For example: Topic: Health More specific: Health issues among old citizens More specific: Health care and benefits for the elderly Or, Preventing hip bone fractures among the elderly.

5. 5 Topic Sentence It is the most general sentence in a paragraph Its purpose is to help the readers focus on the main point and prepare them for the information that follows It should be interesting enough to catch the reader’s attention

6. 6 Example Topic sentence: –When I was eight years old, I received the most wonderful birthday gift – a pair of soccer shoes. Support –I adore the shoes because soccer was my favourite past time that I played everyday –It was given by my cousin, Karl, who had been a great soccer player –The shoes were unusual. They had flaps over the laces with red cougars on them.

7. 7 Other examples 1. Topic sentence: My Mazda RX-7 has been one of my valued possessions ever since I purchased it last fall Supporting points: How the exterior looks What the interior has How it performs and handles

8. 8 2.Topic sentence: I have a special toy, a digital camera, which has several useful features. Supporting points: ten-times zoom function viewfinder and editing computer hook-up and e-mail

9. 9 Conclusions The topic of your paragraph should be limited to a certain aspect of a broad topic e.g. Education  Education in Indonesia  Primary school system in Indonesia  Bilingual primary schools in Indonesia. (the arrows indicate the limiting process) A topic sentence contains the main idea of the paragraph The topic sentence should be supported by supporting sentences.