Topic Menu Comments

Topic Sentence

Introduce - The topic sentence should introduce the topic of the paragraph.

Need Controlling Idea - The topic sentence should have a controlling idea.

Missing Organizing Sentence - This paragraph is missing an introductory/organizing sentence or two.

Sentence Order - Sentences in a paragraph should be ordered systematically (e.g., compare and contrast, chronological, simple to complex, less important to more important, etc.).

Communicate Order - Inform the reader of sentence organization with the use of transitional words (e.g., first or more important).

Most General - The topic sentence should be the most general sentence in the paragraph.

Provide Paragraph Theme - The controlling idea in the topic sentence should inform the user of the theme of the paragraph.

Relate to Topic - Each paragraph should address only one idea. The topic sentence and all other sentences within the paragraph should relate and address the same idea.

Good Topic Sentence Needed

Need One - The paragraph is missing a topic sentence.

Incomplete - The topic sentence is incomplete.

Clarify - The topic sentence is unclear.

Narrow - Your controlling idea needs to be more specific.

Expand or Broaden

Expand - Expand on the controlling idea in the topic sentence.

Broaden - Your controlling idea is too specific.