Controlling Idea Teaching Resources

Controlling Idea Teaching Resources

October 6, 2023
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Then, all you need to do is determine what you want to say about this large emotional theme. Essentially declares your ending from the very beginning and helps inform the steps you need to get there. Is the main takeaway from the film or show, expressed through the action and aesthetic emotion of the last act’s climax.

whats a controlling idea

Topic sentences follow the lead of the thesis statement while it is self-explanatory and highlights the main theme of the essay or paper. It informs the reader about the main thought or theme and the details presented in the rest of the paragraph. Finally, an author might put the main idea in the middle of a paragraph. The author will spend a few sentences introducing the topic, present the main idea, then spend the rest of the paragraph supporting it. This can make the main idea more difficult to find. A paragraph is a series of sentences that are organized and coherent, and are all related to a single topic. Almost every piece of writing you do that is longer than a few sentences should be organized into paragraphs.

ENG 101 OER: Paragraph Development

The cause of the change in the value charge is viral in nature. And Gladwell’s use of the words “spread” and “viruses” in this sentence is in no way accidental. You do them because you actually enjoy cleaning her socks. Because you love her and desire to make her life a small bit easier. And you don’t give her crazy thanks for the boots of yours she bought out of her “rainy day” fund to replace your holey ones with the double-knotted laces.

If it’s too narrow, you might not be able to find research, and your paper probably won’t be long enough. How the writer intends to prove or demonstrate his or her main points.

Learn

The clearest and most efficient way to communicate in an informational document is to position the topic sentence at the beginning of the paragraph. The first sentence of this paragraph is the topic sentence. It tells the reader that the paragraph will be about reality television shows, and it expresses the writer’s distaste for these shows through the use of the word bombarded. Now that you know the main parts of a topic sentence, take a look at how they look in different subjects. Note that each example includes both a topic and a controlling idea. While this process will not produce a final version of a controlling idea for our specific story, it will allow us to start writing our first draft with a solid guide in mind.

whats a controlling idea

She may also regret not being able to take them to after-school activities or participate in family activities with them. Activate your 30 day free trial to continue reading. Activate your 30 day free trial to unlock unlimited reading. But you will likely understand what a person is saying because you know or see the situation.

Characteristics of Effective Thesis Statements

Several human activities are the main reasons behind global environmental pollution. Excess usage of plastic and plastic waste is one such cause and reason. Instead, you could discuss theories about politics or religions and use literature to prove or disprove those theories. Clarifies your writing by keeping you on target to fulfill your proposed purpose.

They help organize the writer’s ideas by showing that he or she has another point to make in support of the topic sentence. Other transition words that show order include third, also, and furthermore.

What is a Topic Sentence?

To choose an appropriate topic sentence, read the paragraph and think about its main idea and point. Teacher chooses one poem to do whole group, then the second day hands out poems to read independently as a smaller group and analyze. Finally they write a controlling idea about love after discussing all of the poems. This can go on to be a bigger writing assignment like the Controlling Idea essay on the English Regents Exam. Back in high school and college, the big idea might have been called the controlling idea or the thesis. You were probably trained to express it as one sentence—a statement that is, in fact, arguable. The thesis statement expresses the big idea of your project in that one sentence and then you set out to explore and support this statement.

  • It is the change the AUTHOR is trying to evoke in the reader.
  • Whether you start writing and discover what you want to say as the words spill out, or you outline and plot it all out in advance, either way, you probably have a big idea.
  • A controlling idea/theme must be boiled down to the fewest possible words and cannot be longer than a one-sentence statement.
  • The whole process is an organic one—a natural progression from a seed to a full-blown paper where there are direct, familial relationships between all of the ideas in the paper.

Without revision and editing, the topic sentence will not serve its purpose in the paragraph. For example, commentary paragraph if you want to write about your favorite movie, think about all the reasons that you like it.

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This worksheet was created for the advanced ESL class. Students have to cite evidence and formulate a controlling idea for the soliloquys in ACt 3 Scene 3.

  • Finally, Canada’s cities are clean and efficiently managed.
  • The author gives supporting information first and then makes the point in the last sentence.
  • Although most paragraphs should have a topic sentence, there are a few situations when a paragraph might not need a topic sentence.
  • These are absolutely great stories…even though the controlling idea/theme for all three isn’t earth shaking.

The information contained in encyclopedias and textbooks are good examples of explicit knowledge. The topic sentence is the first sentence in a paragraph. They do not require gas, hybrid cars reduce dependency on fossil fuels, which helps lower prices at the pump. Alex bought a hybrid car two years ago and has been extremely impressed with its performance. “It’s the cheapest car I’ve ever had,” she said. The topic is “crime in poverty-stricken areas” and the controlling idea is “systemic discrimination.” The topic is “To be an effective CEO” and the controlling idea is “certain characteristics.”

Appendix A: Books to Help Improve Your Writing

A topic sentence is the first sentence of a paragraph, and it keeps the readers glued to your essay. Therefore, spend some time developing engaging and targeted topic sentences for your essay or research paper. They are similar to your thesis statement – just as it sums up the main idea of the entire paper, a topic sentence introduces the idea of the particular paragraph. The writer explains his/her thinking about the main topic, idea, or focus of the paragraph. Before you can begin to determine what the composition of a particular paragraph will be, you must first decide on an argument and a working thesis statement for your paper. What is the most important idea that you are trying to convey to your reader? The information in each paragraph must be related to that idea.

Even if your controlling idea is good, if it has too many moving parts, it will still make writing your script rather difficult. Even if they’re watching your movie or show mainly for entertainment, everyone always loves a good moral of the story they can put to use.

Starting at the End

The paragraph will not contain enough information to support the topic sentence. Be consistent in point of view, verb tense, and number. Consistency in point of view, verb tense, and number is a subtle but important aspect of coherence.

whats a controlling idea

The controlling idea I worked with for M School was sociopathic behavior leads to unresolvable cycles of violence. Though never explicitly stated in those words, that simple sentence is what I want readers to take away from the book. It, therefore, informed many of the decisions I made during the drafting whats a controlling idea process. Whereas thematic patterning can emerge subconsciously, a book’s controlling idea should be clearly understood by the author at the beginning of the drafting process. The controlling idea is, after all, why you are writing the book. It is the beating heart of your novel, the message of your story.

IV Placement of Topic Sentences

The reason that a recent poll found that one fifth of American youths cannot locate the U.S. on a world map is because the sampling was faulty. The poll does not state the age of the students polled. If a child has not completed the sixth grade, the child has not had much instruction in geography. Also, the poll does not state whether the youths are non-native speakers who may not have completed their educational goals when they were polled on this question. This poll implies that American youth are somehow stupid, which is simply not the case. The U.S. has a diverse population of youths who will be able to identify the U.S on a world map by the time they graduate from high-school.

  • Let theme emerge in the writing, but lock down that controlling idea before you begin to draft.
  • Like Love Story and The Firm with their familiar controlling idea/themes, Big Idea Nonfiction can be straightforward narrative from start to finish and still satisfy.
  • Just a value and no cause is like a thesis statement with no evidence.
  • An effective topic sentence combines a main idea with the writer’s personal attitude or opinion.
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