Topic Sentences

Most readers in our fast-paced world only scan documents, meaning they read very little of the body of a text.  Instead, they focus on headings and topic sentences (and places that call out “In conclusion…”).  As a general rule, writers should stick to one idea per paragraph.  Keeping in mind audience and purpose, create topic sentences for the following ideas: 

(Do the color that coordinates with your computer row. You don’t have to e-mail these to me, but you should write/type them for class discussion.) 

Audience:  Your Company’s CEO and Board of Directors
Purpose:  Aliens on Mars are paying seriously low wages to employees who produce products similar to your company’s main product lines (your bread-and-butter goods/services).

Audience:  The Chancellor
Purpose:  You want to convince your school to invest in a football team.

Audience:  Queen Elizabeth II
Purpose:  The people of England have finally decided not to have a royal family and are ready to “initiate an alternative career path” for the Queen and her goofy son (and grandsons).

Audience:  Alumni from your high school
Purpose:  You want money so your high school—yeah, your high school—can build a multi-million dollar stadium.

Audience:  Parents of a local school district
Purpose:  Students in the school district are not scoring well on standardized tests, and this is adversely affecting their unbridled spirit.

Audience:  The Users
Purpose:  You want to provide users with an overview of what they can do with Blackboard.  This will be the first sentence they read after looking through the Table of Contents.

What do your topic sentences need to get your point out efficiently?  Also, remember, there is more to come after your topic sentence?

Head on back to today's page (2/7).