Sentence “Topic” and “Comment”

Learning how information flows in writing

A sentence, like a journey, has two parts: a point of

departure and a destination.

Sentence Topic and CommentFULL SENTENCE

“Instead of being the warm center of the world the middle-west now seemed like the ragged

edge of the universe -- so I decided to go east and learn the bond business.”

(The Great Gatsby, pg. 3)

Sentence Topic and Comment● The point of DEPARTURE in a sentence is the

beginning of the sentence.

Ex. “Instead of being the warm center of the world the middle-west now seemed like the

ragged edge of the universe…”(The Great Gatsby, pg. 3)

Sentence Topic and Comment● At the other end of the sentence, the

DESTINATION is where the writer takes that sentence -- how the writer BUILDS ON OR

EXPANDS HIS/HER MESSAGE.

Ex. “... -- so I decided to go east and learn the bond business.”

(The Great Gatsby, pg. 3)

Sentence Topic and CommentFULL SENTENCE

“Instead of being the warm center of the world the middle-west now seemed like the ragged

edge of the universe -- so I decided to go east and learn the bond business.”

(The Great Gatsby, pg. 3)

Sentence Topic and Comment

● The point of departure, the beginning of a sentence, is called the TOPIC. Think about a

topic sentence in a paragraph to help!

● The destination of a sentence is called the COMMENT.

Sentence Topic and Comment

It is NOT always clear where the topic of a sentence ends and where the comment of a

sentence begins.

The guide to “Sentence Topics and Comments” will give us some practice with identifying

“topics” and “comments.”

Sentence Topic and CommentSimple or Complex?

Sentence Topic and CommentSimple or Complex?

The topic usually includes the subject (and everything before the subject) of the sentence.The topic usually stops right before the verb phrase.

HOWEVER, this gets more complicated when there is more than one thought or clause (has a subject and a verb) in a sentence.

Ex. “When Bingley leaves for London and does not return, Jane follows him in hopes of an explanation.”

Sentence Topic and Comment

What is important is that you begin to understand that your choice of a TOPIC has a big impact on the success of your academic

writing.

TOPIC = FOCUS

Sentence Topic and Comment

TOPIC = FOCUS

What a writer chooses to put in the topic position is made focal.

Ex. “In a moment the thickish figure of a woman [blocked out the light from the office door.”] (The Great Gatsby 25)

Sentence Topic and CommentTOPIC = FOCUS

What a writer chooses to put in the topic position is made focal.

Ex. “... [you perceive, after a moment, the eyes of Doctor T.J. Eckleburg.] The eyes of Doctor T.J. Eckleburg are

blue and gigantic -- their retinas are one yard high.” (The Great Gatsby 23)

Sentence Topic and CommentPay attention to what you put in the topics throughout a

paragraph.

Excerpts from The Great Gatsby:

“I have been drunk just twice in my life, and the second time was that afternoon; so everything that happened has a dim, hazy cast over it, although until after eight o’clock the apartment was full of cheerful sun. Sitting on Tom’s lap Mrs. Wilson called up several people on the telephone; then there were no cigarettes, and I went out to buy some at the drugstore on the corner. When I came back they had disappeared, so I sat down discreetly in the living-roomand read a chapter of Simon Called Peter.—either it was terrible stuff or the whiskey distorted things, because it didn’t make any sense to me.”

Sentence Topic and CommentPay attention to what you put in the topics throughout a

paragraph.

Excerpts from The Great Gatsby:“Tom rang for the janitor and sent him for some celebrated sandwiches, which were a complete supper in themselves. I wanted to get out and walk eastward toward the Park through the soft twilight, but each time I tried to go I became entangled in some wild, strident argument argument which pulled me back, as if with ropes, into my chair. Yet high over the city our line of yellow windows must have contributed their share of human secrecy to the casual watcher in the darkening streets, and I was him too, looking up and wondering. I was within and without, simultaneously enchanted and repelled by the inexhaustible variety of life.” (The Great Gatsby 31)

Sentence Topic and CommentPay attention to what you put in the topics throughout a

paragraph.

“Hamlet cannot decide to act. He is indecisive. For example, he says in his soliloquy, “To be or not to be.” Hamlet is trying to make up his mind if he wants to live or die.”

Too repetitive. Mix up the focus/topic a little!Ex. Hamlet cannot decide to act. His indecisiveness is best displayed in the driving question of the prince’s soliloquy, “To be or not to be.” The dilemma of living with pain or dying to escape it keeps Hamlet questioning rather than acting.