5 Flow Part 2: Use Topic Sentences so Your Prose Flows

Tuesday, July 05, 2016 Expert Advice , Flow , Scholarly Writing , Writer's Workshop No comments

Last week, Lydia wrote about how creating a logical progression of ideas enhances the flow of academic writing. For this installment in our series, let’s complicate Lydia’s ideas by adding another strategy you can use to enhance flow: providing strong and well-supported topic sentences.

Topic sentences are one of the most important parts of academic writing. A well-written topic sentence tells your reader how to interpret what comes next. A poorly written topic sentence (or a missing one) will leave your reader confused and uncertain about why you are telling them what comes next.

First, let's look at what makes a good topic sentence. There are many possible recipes, but some of the most common qualities are:

clarity,
conciseness,
directness, and
specificity.

Here’s an example of a not-so-good topic sentence:

There’s little known about adoption.

A reader coming across this topic sentence immediately has some questions about how to interpret it. Who doesn’t know about adoption? How much is little? What is the context (geographic or otherwise) for this statement?

Compare the first example with this better example of a topic sentence:

There is limited literature on adoptions in Nepal.

The second example (above) is more specific – it specifies that the limitation is in the literature, and that the geographic scope is the country of Nepal. As the reader, however, we still don’t know what type(s) of literature this statement refers to. We also don’t know what types of adoption are being discussed. Compare the last example with this:

There is limited quantitative research on adoptions of Nepalese infants by foreigners.

The example immediately above is much more specific than the previous examples. It conveys a claim/assertion that is clear, concise, direct, and specific. This is a well-written topic sentence!

But as any experienced writer knows, coherence relies on more than surface-level alterations to one location in your prose. Instead, let’s take a look at how you can employ your well-written topic sentences to enhance the flow of your writing by using them to create a framework for your paragraphs’ ideas.

Coherent Paragraphs? It’s All About the Flow

A well-written topic sentence not only conveys what a paragraph is about (or, if you prefer, what the paragraph is designed to communicate), but also creates a framework for connecting the paragraph’s ideas. If you make a claim/assertion in your topic sentence, arrange the evidence and argumentation supporting that claim in a logical order that clarifies why you are presenting information and how this connects to your topic.

Consider these sentences:

Garrett (2014) investigated social workers’ responses to restructuring, noting that 73% opposed all changes imposed by legislative mandate.
In general, organizations resist change initiated by external groups (Smithson, 2012).
An organizational restructuring that fails imposes significant financial burdens on the organization (Moroboshi, 2013).

If these sentences are grouped into a paragraph without a topic sentence, readers might guess that the paragraph is somehow related to restructuring, but the larger meaning/purpose of the paragraph would not be clear. See how this paragraph’s meaning becomes more clear when a topic sentence is added:

Hedgehog theory is commonly used to identify key stakeholders for planning successful organizational change. Garrett (2014) investigated social workers’ responses to restructuring, noting that 73% opposed all changes imposed by legislative mandate. In general, organizations resist change initiated by external groups (Smithson, 2012). An organizational restructuring that fails imposes significant financial burdens on the organization (Moroboshi, 2013).

Now that it’s clear what the paragraph is about, the sentences can be rearranged to support the claim made in the topic sentence, and to expand on its claims in a logical fashion:

Hedgehog theory is commonly used to identify key stakeholders for planning successful organizational change. In general, organizations resist change initiated by external groups (Smithson, 2012). An organizational restructuring that fails imposes significant financial burdens on the organization (Moroboshi, 2013). Garrett (2014) investigated social workers’ responses to restructuring, noting that 73% opposed all changes imposed by legislative mandate.

Once these sentences have been rearranged, there are opportunities to further refine the text so that it more clearly aligns with and supports the topic sentence’s claim (additions in bold):

Hedgehog theory is commonly used to identify key stakeholders for planning successful organizational change. This theory states that organizations resist change initiated by external groups (Smithson, 2012). Addressing this resistance is important because a failed restructuring imposes significant financial burdens on the organization (Moroboshi, 2013). Garrett (2014) used hedgehog theory to investigate social workers’ responses to restructuring, noting that 73% opposed all changes imposed by legislative mandate.

Now that the ideas have been connected, re-read the paragraph. Notice how the topic sentence is clear, direct, and gives the reader a way of understanding the information to come?

Even when our paragraph is fully developed, a topic sentence alone will not improve the flow of your writing. It takes a coordinated effort intertwining the topic sentence, evidence, and other attributes of your paragraph to allow your reader to move through your prose unimpeded. While the topic sentence is not the only important factor at play for improving flow in paragraphs, it is the first important factor.

Using topic sentences to enhance the progression of your ideas? How’s that for flow?

This is the second part in five-part series on flow in academic writing. Tune in next week as we take a look at a third strategy that will help you capture the illusive flow: Transitions.

Basil K. Considine is a Dissertation Editor and Contributing Faculty in the Walden University Academic Skills Center and School of Management. Outside of Walden, Basil is the artistic director of Really Spicy Opera, a chamber opera company specializing in new musical works for the theatrical stage.