Organizing Paragraph Sentences In a memo to the college president, the athletic director argues for a new stadium scoreboard. One paragraph will describe the old scoreboard and why it needs to be replaced. Study the following list of ideas for that paragraph. 1. The old scoreboard is a tired warhorse that was originally constructed in the 1970s. 2. It is now hard to find replacement parts when something breaks. 3. The old scoreboard is not energy efficient. 4. Coca-Cola has offered to buy a new sports scoreboard in return for exclusive rights to sell soda pop on campus. 5. The old scoreboard should be replaced for many reasons. 6. It shows only scores for football games. 7. When we have soccer games or track meets, we are without a functioning scoreboard. Which sentence should be the topic sentence? Which sentence(s) should be developed in a separate paragraph? Which sentences should become support sentences?

Memo to the College President

New Stadium Scoreboard:

1. Topic Sentence:

5. The old scoreboard should be replaced for many reasons.

2. Sentence(s) for separate paragraph:

4. Coca-Cola has offered to buy a new sports scoreboard in return for exclusive rights to sell soda pop on campus.

3. Support Sentences:

1. The old scoreboard is a tired warhorse that was originally constructed in the 1970s.

2. It is now hard to find replacement parts when something breaks.

3. The old scoreboard is not energy efficient.

6. It shows only scores for football games.

7. When we have soccer games or track meets, we are without any functioning scoreboard.

Explanation:

1. Topic Sentence:

This is the theme or main topic of a paragraph that summarizes the information in the paragraph.  It may be the first sentence or inserted elsewhere in the paragraph.  But, all other sentences within the paragraph support it with points, reasons, or examples.

2. Support Sentences:

These are sentences that support the topic sentence by offering justifications and examples.

3. Separate Paragraph Sentence:

This is a sentence that introduces another idea which is not closely related to the idea contained in the other paragraph.