2009 | OriginalPaper | Chapter
The topic sentence
The opening sentence of each paragraph is often referred to as the ‘topic sentence’, because it announces the overall topic of the paragraph. All the information in the rest of the paragraph expands on, explains or elucidates that topic. In other words, the whole paragraph depends on the opening topic sentence in much the same way as a piece of clothing on the washing line depends on the peg from which it hangs!