How a Controlling Idea can Dramatically Improve your Content

For example, last week, I taught my family about repentance. Since there were young children there, I wondered how I could say it so everyone would understand. As a result, I thought of a few examples to make my point. That extra work in my brain created extra connections in my brain. It was the kind of brain growth that we read about when we learned about growth mindset.

As prewriting, ‌prepare a graphic organizer to provide a visual guide for the writing process of your essay.‌ One approach to a graphic organizer is a box web. At the top of a piece of paper, write your broad topic, such as “Romeo and Juliet”. Draw three lines from the box to three https://nhakhoatanmy.com/weekly-upsc-ias-essay-writing-challenge/ smaller boxes. Draw three additional lines connecting the three boxes to a single box at the bottom of your paper. This will help with brainstorming around the central idea for the topic of the essay. Another type of supporting detail you could choose to use is a statistic.

Topic Sentence

Still unsure about writing your own controlling idea? Here are some great examples of outstanding controlling ideas.

definition of controlling idea

A conclusion is intended to provide the reader with a sense of completion. Introducing a subject https://agem.ma/academic-guide-for-students that is not covered in the paragraph will confuse the reader and weaken your writing.

Learn

Pick up any newspaper or magazine and read the first sentence of an article. Are you fairly confident that you know what the rest of the article is about? An effective topic sentence combines a main idea with the writer’s personal attitude or opinion. It serves to orient the reader and provides an indication of what will follow in the rest of the paragraph.

definition of controlling idea

When confronted with humans, piranhas’ instinct is to flee, not attack. But there are two situations in which a piranha bite is likely. The first is when a frightened piranha is lifted out of the water—for example, if it has been caught in a fishing net. The second is when the water bridge examples in writing level in pools where piranhas are living falls too low. A large number of fish may be trapped in a single pool, and if they are hungry, they may attack anything that enters the water. Notice that the example and explanation steps of this 5-step process can be repeated as needed.

Support

The topic sentence is thus implied rather than stated. This technique is often used in descriptive or narrative writing.

The first thing you need to keep in mind when writing a paragraph is the need for a single controlling idea. The controlling idea of a paragraph is the main idea or point the writer is trying to make.

thoughts on The Controlling Idea

Other times, it may be the simple result of wanting to add some complexity and depth to the writing. This is why it is always best to limit each paragraph to one controlling idea. The real content of the sandwich—the meat or other filling—is in the middle. It includes all the evidence you need to make the point. But it gets kind of messy to eat a sandwich without any bread.

  1. Recall that, to create meaning, every scene in your story ends with a value change of some kind.
  2. From the list above, let’s choose “illustration” as our rhetorical purpose.
  3. Remember to include a controlling idea as well as a main idea.
  4. The thesis statement is like a road map that will tell the reader or listener where you are going with this information or how you are treating it.
  5. It serves to orient the reader and provides an indication of what will follow in the rest of the paragraph.

The purpose of your paragraph will be made clear in your topic sentence. The most common reasons for writing are to persuade, to inform, and to entertain.

2 Effective Means for Writing a Paragraph

The last sentence of this paragraph is the topic sentence. It draws on specific examples and then makes a general statement that draws a conclusion from these examples (animals’ senses are better than humans’). In this case, the supporting sentences are placed before the topic sentence and the concluding sentence is the same as the topic sentence. Refer to your first supporting evidence box to compose your first body paragraph. ‌The body paragraph should appropriately cite your piece of evidence and clearly connect it to your controlling idea at the beginning of the paragraph.‌ This will be the main idea of the paragraph. Include a concluding sentence that firmly reasserts your controlling idea based on the evidence. Few writers finish a paper writing about the exact topic they begin with.

It goes beyond simply stating the topic of the essay and provides insight into what the essay will be about. Every paragraph, sentence, and word should support the thesis implicit thesis examples statement in some way. Supporting sentences help explain, prove, or enhance the topic sentence by offering facts, reasons, statistics, quotations, or examples.

How to Write an Opinion Paragraph

Able to live in some of the most arid parts of the southwest, the kangaroo rat neither sweats nor pants to keep cool. Its specialized kidneys enable it to survive on a miniscule amount of water.

  1. Include a concluding sentence that firmly reasserts your controlling idea based on the evidence.
  2. Each time something goes right for Katniss we think, “Katniss and the citizens of Panem will get their freedom!
  3. It is also possible that a sentence could do more than one of these.
  4. The topic is “pollution in ABC Town is the worst in the world” and the controlling idea is “many reasons.”
  5. An expert testimony is a quote or statement made by a qualified person about a specific issue they are considered “expert” in.
  6. It is the topic sentence for that paragraph of supporting detail, which will, no doubt, go on to tell of the varieties of fruits and vegetables and the benefits of eating them.

The exercises help slow my heart rate and make me feel less anxious. Better yet, they require no pills, no equipment, and very little time. It’s amazing how just breathing correctly has helped me learn to manage my anxiety symptoms. The unrealistic demands of union workers are crippling the economy for three main reasons. Creating a national set of standards for math and English education will improve student learning in many states.

Writing the Perfect Controlling Idea for Film and TV: The ULTIMATE Guide

Now when I think about repentance, I have those connections to help me understand it better. Each of the paragraphs in this exercise has three possible topic sentences following it. Choose the best one and make sure that it includes the main idea of the paragraph. The topic sentence should not be too general or too specific. When considering the options, look for a topic sentence what is the controlling idea? that is general enough to show the paragraph’s main idea instead of just one of its details. The answer should be specific enough that the reader understands the main idea of the paragraph. It is the topic sentence for that paragraph of supporting detail, which will, no doubt, go on to tell of the varieties of fruits and vegetables and the benefits of eating them.

  1. Write a letter to a friend summarizing Churchill’s ideas and giving your own opinions about the rising tensions between the Soviet Union and the West.
  2. How do you connect every scene in your story to a cohesive controlling idea, or theme?
  3. Using your own paper, write a paragraph on a topic of your choice.
  4. Each of the paragraphs in this exercise has three possible topic sentences following it.

Thus, the reader can predict that the writer will list and describe the four sections in order. Transitional words and phrases are useful tools to incorporate into workplace documents. They guide the reader through the document, clarifying relationships between sentences and paragraphs so that the reader understands why they have been written in that particular order. The body is composed of the supporting sentences that develop the main point.

Single Controlling Idea

One of the best and easiest ways to determine your controlling idea is to work backwards from your story’s end goal. With that all said though, defining a controlling idea, knowing how best to use it, and figuring out how to write a great one is easier said than done. Every GENRE narrative characteristics has a built in controlling idea or theme that is tied to the VALUE at stake in that genre. The story theme is the takeaway message the ARTIST wants the SINGLE AUDIENCE MEMBER to discover from reading the story. It is the deeply held truth we are embedding into our story.

definition of controlling idea

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