|
The Topic Sentence:
A good topic sentence has three
main characteristics:
- A clear subject
- A controlling idea
- A strong action verb
Look for these characteristics in
the sentences on the chart below. Note how the controlling
idea limits the scope of the topic and controls its
development.
| Subject |
Predicate |
Controlling Idea |
| 1. Many parents |
face challenges |
adopting an older child. |
| 2. Misunderstandings |
often occur |
between parents and teenagers. |
| 3. A school-aged child |
may have problems |
moving to a new neighborhood. |
| Practice expanding
the three simple sentences above into complex and compound
sentences. Which reads better? Evaluate the relative importance
of each clause within the sentence to answer this question.
If the information in one of the clauses has less importance,
the complex sentence will be preferred. |
| 1 a. (Complex sentence) |
|
| 1 b. (Compound sentence) |
|
| 2a.
(Complex sentence) |
|
| 2b.
(Compound sentence) |
|
| 3a. (Complex sentence) |
|
| 3b.
(Compound sentence) |
| |
Return
 Print
Version
|
