This idea or attitude about the topic is called the controlling idea; it controls what the sentences in the paragraph will discuss. All sentences should relate to and develop the controlling idea. To illustrate, look at the following topic sentence to identify the topic and controlling idea: Smoking cigarettes can be an expensive habit. Now choose the topic from Practice 5 that most interests you. Write your narrowed topic, controlling idea, and topic sentence here. Narrowed topic: Controlling idea: Topic sentence: Next, brainstorm. On paper or on the computer, write anything that comes to you about your topic sentence. Just let your ideas pour out. Try to fill at least one page. A clearly stated topic sentence helps the reader to understand what you have to say in the paragraph. It’s a lot easier for reader to understand the main idea and look for the supporting details in the paragraph. EXAMPLES OF TOPIC SENTENCES. Read the following topic sentences. They all contain a topic (in red) and a controlling idea (in green 3. Decide on a topic. 4. Brainstorm the points and ideas that will be included in the essay. 5. Organize the points and ideas in an outline or a diagram. 6. Construct the introduction, followed by the thesis statement It is in the introduction where the main points are briefly stated. The main points will be further discussed in the body of the .

topic controlling idea examples