DEVELOPING THE TOPIC SENTENCE IN A PARAGRAPH

The topic sentence is given. Which of the sentences given after the topic sentence support it, and which do not?

Topic sentence: Getting on the honor roll is not easy.It requires hard work.Nanding is on the honor roll.One must study very hard.One must develop good study habits.I envy Nanding when I see his name on the honor roll.Nanding is my friend.I am proud of him.One must be attentive during the recitation.I wish I could be as smart as he is.

Topic sentence: It was a hard-fought game.The two teams were well-matched.I saw the game with my father.My sister wanted to go with us.My father would not let her.The game seesawed dangerously several times.There was a big crowd.I cheered my team enthusiastically.With three minutes to go, the score was tied.I grew hoarse with shouting.When the buzzer ending the game went off, our team had won.

Topic sentence: Everything in my bedroom was in order.I worked hard all morning.The bed cover lay smoothly over the bed.The floor was spic and span.The pillows were arranged neatly.Some friends were coming to see me.The wastebasket contained a few soiled pieces of paper.The dressing table had received special care.All the articles on it were arranged in neat rows.A vase on the dresser had a few fresh roses.A red rose had fallen to the floor.

Topic sentence: Celia didnt want to play with us.She said that she had a lot of things to do.Celia generally joins us in our play every day.She is a very lively person.She would have test the next day.She always wants to study well for a test.We spent some time coaxing her to play with us.When Celia says no, she means it.

Development by giving details

We have many delicious dishes from different parts of Luzon. From the Ilocos region comes goat kilawin. This is goats meat served with radish and condimented heavily with vinegar, garlic, onions, and pepper. From that region also comes pinakbet, a vegetable dish made from eggplant, sitao, ampalaya, okra, and fish bagoong. From Central Luzon comes paksiwmilkfish cooked in vinegar and garlic with a dash of pepper. Central Luzon is also famous for its tamales, one persons lunch wrapped up in banana leaves. from Southern Luzon we have delicious coconut milk dishes, for the Bicolanos love to cook their vegetables in coconut milk.

Development by giving examples

There is a well-known proverb which states: An empty sack will not stand upright. This is indeed true, for what will support a sack when it is empty? Nothing. So the sack collapses. In the same way a student who does not prepare his/her lesson cannot recite the next day. He/She may bluff, but the teacher soon calls his/her bluff. A man who does not earn enough cannot allow his family to indulge in luxuries. He will get into debt, he will be shamed and embarrassed, and he may even have to face a lawsuit.

Development by giving cause and effect When someone catches a heavy cold, he/she asks himself/herself, How did I ever catch this cold? Someone he/she knows but quite often he/she cannot remember. The cold may be the result of exposure to a cold wind when the body temperature is heated and the person is perspiring profusely. It may be caused by sudden drop in temperature, such as when a person gets wet in a summer rain. Whatever it is, there is surely a definite cause for a person catching cold.

Development by comparison and contrast A vacation spent by the sea is different from a vacation spent in the mountain. It is true that in both places, one will live close to nature. In both places the air will be healthful and invigorating. But there are some elements in which the places will be different. By the sea, one is lulled to sleep by the sound of the waves. In the mountain, one sleeps to the rustling of the leaves and the creaking of the branches as the wind blows. On the beach, one can swim to his/her content, pick up shells on the shore, and even go sunbathing. In the mountains, one can go hiking, camp under the trees, and fish in some clear river or brook.

Study the following paragraphs and state which method of development has been used in each.

Germany has a highly distinctive cookery. One of the most striking features of German cookery is the abundance of sour or sweet flavoring for vegetables and meats. One of Germanys most valuable contributions to cookery is sauerkraut, a sort of pickle made from cabbage. And from Germany, too, comes all the sweetish and sourish sausages which are among the most notable good things to eat in this world.

All the students in the classroom were excited. The principal had announced that classes would be dismissed at the end of the period. The boys openly smiled in anticipation of the unexpected holiday. The girls put their heads together whispering, wondering why the classes were being dismissed. Some were gathering their books and notebooks together preparatory to leaving.

The church was well-lighted. Lights flooded the altar. The chandeliers above glowed and sparkled as the light was scattered by the cut glass. The clothes of the images glimmered and glowed. The vestments of the priest also caught the light as he moved slowly and solemnly said mass.

The boyhood experiences of Rizal were not so different from those of any other Filipino boy. Like any normal child he loved to listen to his nurse as she told him stories of the duwende, the kapre, and the multo. He enjoyed watching his mother cook his favorite dishes. When the moon was full he played with his brother and sisters and friends until rather late at night. He enjoyed all the activities boys enjoy today.

Almost everyone knows that Egypts pride lies in the pyramids, which were built by the ancient pharaohs as their tombs fifteen hundred or more years before Christ. On the walls of these tombs were pictured records of the glorious lives of those buried there. Here, too, were found miniature objects belonging to Egyptian society. Some of these objects were fragile and exquisitely beautiful. They were replicas of objects that the dead person loved and would have liked to carry with him to the other life.

In ancient Persia, physical education was practiced at an early age. At six the children were trained for physical and military training. They were made to run, use a slingshot, shoot the bow and arrow, and throw a javelin. They also practiced jumping on and off a horse. they were taught to hunt, to endure extreme heat and cold, to eat very little food, and to sleep on the ground.

REARRANGING SENTENCES IN A PARAGRAPH Rearrange the sentences in the following paragraphs in the proper order. First look for the topic sentence. Then study the rest of the sentences and arrange them in clear and logical order.

But the second floor is different. It is odd how your feelings about the house change from the ground floor to the second. It stretches for what seems a great distance. It is so cut up by partitions that you get no idea of the expanse of the place. When you first enter the house, you are surprised at the size of the hall. You feel that you will need at least a car to get from one side to the other.

After you have two pieces, you look for a third. The difference is that you are working with sentences. Fitting together the parts of a scrambled paragraph is like working on a jigsaw puzzle. You make them fit together to build a good paragraph. Thats what you do with a scrambled paragraph. When you work on a jigsaw puzzle, you look for two pieces that fit into each other.