The act of providing convincing data or groundwork leads the reader to the topic sentence, which then also serves as the conclusion. The following sample paragraph is an example of one in which the topic sentence and controlling idea appear in the final position: People do it everyday. In the topic sentences provided in the other examples on the previous page, the controlling ideas are: The subjection of children to forced labour through trafficking has age and gender dimensions. The ILO alone cannot respond to all the recommendations of the Commission's report. Controlling statement examples like, "Colorado has the most beautiful mountains" is an opinion. Someone may think that Montana or Tennessee has more beautiful mountains. Asking "how do you know?" can help identify the controlling idea of an opinion-based topic sentence. Identifying lists requires a "What are…" question. For this activity, do the following: Select the word or phrase that reveals the controlling idea of the paragraph. This controlling idea will be part of the topic sentence. Click on the Show Solutions link to check your answers. Example 1. For example, one of the most common patterns in academic writing is outlined below. Topic sentence. A topic sentence introduces the main point of the paragraph. It should contain a main idea and a controlling idea which support the thesis statement and unify the content of the paragraph. Every topic sentence has two parts: a topic (what the paragraph is about) and a controlling idea (the direction the paragraph will take). Take a look at these topic sentence examples in which the topic is bold and the controlling idea is in italics. A good topic sentence contains both a topic and a controlling idea or opinion. Weak example. In this paragraph, I am going to discuss the rising suicide rate among young professionals. (This topic sentence provides a main idea, but it does not present a controlling idea.) Stronger example. Examples of Controlling Ideas. Here is an example of a controlling idea at a topic sentence level: Topic sentence: In order to effectively control a country's population, the government must have a well-developed system of birth registration. Controlling idea: "system of birth registration" I. What is a Topic Sentence? A topic sentence in a paragraph is like the GPS in a car. It shows you (and others) where you are going and explains the point of the paragraph. Everything else is used as supporting details. The topic sentence contains two parts: the topic and a controlling idea. RzozH.

topic sentence and controlling idea examples