Topic and Development Paragraphs

Topic and development is an easy way to build clear and effective paragraphs. Here's how it works.

The paragraph has a clear statement of what it is about. Usually, this statement is contained in one single sentence. This is called the 'topic sentence'. The rest of the sentences develop the topic sentence. They can do this in various ways. Some of these are:

they can give examples
they can give a brief history of the material in the topic sentence
they can cite statistics, or a quotation from a published source
they can illustrate the point with a brief anecdote
they can discuss one or more key terms in the topic sentence
they can bring in different arguments to support the topic sentence
they can bring in different arguments to oppose the topic sentence
they can discuss the effect of whatever is in the topic sentence
and so on.

Not all paragraphs are built in this way, but a lot are. And if you are unsure about how to build effective paragraphs, topic and development is a good place to start. It's easy to learn, and it works.

Here's an example to start with:

(1) Since the nineteenth century, Teesside has based its economy on heavy industry. (2) Middlesbrough was originally based on the shipping of coal, and the iron and steel industry followed, after the discovery of useable deposits of iron ore in the nearby hills. (3) In the first half of the twentieth century, Teesside had a claim to be the bridge-building capital of the world. (4) The famous Sydney Harbour Bridge was built by the Teesside firm of Dorman Long, and Teessiders are also proud of their local bridges, especially the largest working Transporter bridge in the world. (5) This heavy manufacturing industry was joined in the interwar period by the massive chemical plants at Wilton, east of Middlesbrough (petrochemicals) and Billingham (nitrates and synthetic ammonia). (6) Teesside also remained a major centre for steel production.

The structure of this paragraph is topic and development. The first sentence is the topic sentence, and the other five sentences develop the topic sentence. They develop it by giving examples, more or less in chronological order. Easy, isn't it? The structure of the paragraph is especially clear because the topic sentence is the first sentence. This isn't strictly necessary, though. A topic sentence can occur anywhere in a paragraph. It's common for a topic sentence to be the first sentence in a paragraph, but, as we shall see, it's also common for the topic sentence to be the second sentence.

Exercise: here are some more paragraphs with a topic and development structure. See if you can pick out the topic sentence in each one. And when you've done that, see if you can work out what the other sentences are doing, and how they develop the topic sentence

Paragraph 1, from Kennedy, A.J. (1999)The Rough Guide to the Internet. Rough Guides: London.

(1) Email is also better than faxing. (2) It's always a local call to anywhere, at any time. (3) No busy signals, paper jams, or failed attempts. (4) Plus you receive the actual text and not a photocopy, or an actual image file and not a scan. (5) So that means you can send high-resolution color and long documents. (6) As a matter of fact, each edition of this book has been submitted and edited via email.

[The first sentence is the topic sentence. The other sentences give the reasons why email is better than faxing. Sentences 2-5 give a reason each, then sentence 6 gives an example of the usefulness of email. So every sentence from 2-6 supports the topic sentence.]

Paragraph 2, from Harvey, P. (1988) Health Psychology. Longman: London.

(1) While many cancers are both treatable and curable, the nature of the treatment process may have important pyschosocial dimensions. (2) Many treatments are distressing and uncomfortable (e.g. radiotherapy and chemotherapy) or painful (e.g. surgery) or may be disfiguring (e.g. mastectomy, when the breast is removed).(3) Such procedures are carried out on patients and not simply on bodies. (4) The reactions to such treatments may influence both their efficacy and the cooperation of the patient. (5) Furthermore, the care staff will have to deal with patients who are anxious or distressed and to participate in treatments which they themselves find distressing, despite the clinical benefits which may accrue to the patient.

[The topic sentence is sentence (1). The other sentences develop the topic by giving examples (2) and by setting out some of the implications of the topic (3) (4) (5).]

Paragraph 3, from Hall, S. (1977)The Study of Culture (Unit 6). Open University Press: Milton Keynes.

(1) Ideology is yet another of those concepts developed and discussed within the social sciences which defy simple definitions. (2) Rather than being a simple conceptual tool in the hands of the sociologist or the political scientist, ideology rather provides a focal point for a series of intellectual tensions and arguments. (3) In public discussions, for example, the term 'ideology' is used in a fairly loose and unsystematic way. (4) When Keith Joseph calls another politician's speeches 'ideological', the implication would be that the politician was wrong, that he presented an inaccurate view of reality. (5) This pejorative use of the term 'ideology' to mean a distorted view of reality is used by people at both ends of the political spectrum to discredit the opposing view.

[This one is a bit more complicated. You could say that sentence (1) is the topic sentence, or that sentence (2) is. Both these sentences say roughly the same thing. Then sentences (3) and (4) give examples, and sentence (5) sums up. The whole paragraph develops the topic by setting out some of the complications in it.]

Paragraph 4, from Ashworth, P (1985) 'Interpersonal Skill Issues Arising from Intensive Care Nursing Contexts', in Kagan, C. (ed.) Interpersonal Skills in Nursing. Croom Helm: Beckenham.

(1) It is evident that full and effective use of all communication channels requires the physical, emotional and intellectual capacity to send signals which convey their intended meaning and to receive them, and also some common understanding with those with whom it is sought to communicate. (2) But this is precisely what most patients in intensive care units often do not have. (3) All are restricted in their ability to express themselves by body movement and personal appearance. (4) They are usually unfamiliar with being in a situation where they are physically dependent on other people; where bodily functions usually performed independently in private require assistance and/or permission, and are matters for relatively public discussion; and where they may not understand the physical objects, activities and sounds (including much of the verbal interchange) around them. (5) They need information about their own condition, and the environment and expectations; yet in order to conform to the traditional expectations of the 'good patient' (seen as passive and undemanding), and because they do not feel confident of knowing the right words to use, they are often unwilling or unable to pressure staff to provide it. (6) The patients' self-esteem may be diminished by illness and dependency, thus making them unwilling or unable to persist in their efforts to gain the information they need.

[This is another example of a first sentence which isn't the topic sentence. Most of this paragraph develops a topic of the difficulties faced by patients in intensive care: sentences (3), (4), (5) and (6) all do this. So these sentences are actually developing the topic which is stated in sentence (2), not sentence (1). What then is the function of sentence (1)? It isn't the topic sentence. Instead, it is the link back to what has gone before. The paragraph immediately before this one discusses different kinds of communication, both verbal and non-verbal, and shows how important they are. So sentence (1) links to that, before starting the particular topic of the difficulties which affect patients in intensive care. This is a very common structure for paragraphs - a first sentence which sums up a situation, followed by a sentence which starts a more specific topic within that situation.]

So far, we have looked at straightforward topic and development paragraphs. We have looked at the ways the sentences in an individual paragraph can support and develop the topic. The last example was the most complicated, and it brings us to the next part of our study of paragraphs - how to link paragraphs with each other.