Chapter 3: Stated Main Ideas
Lab Activity 13: Topic Sentences
 
Objective
To identify the topic sentence in a paragraph.

arrow.gif Step 2: Select the topic sentence(s) for each paragraph below.


      5.      1One library refused to circulate a novel—widely hailed by critics—because of the word breast (as in the sentence "Beneath this breast is a heart turned to stone"). 2William Golding's novel Lord of the Flies raised more than a few eyebrows because it showed a group of English choirboys, cast away on a desert island, gradually losing their civilized veneer and becoming savages in their struggle to survive. 3Richard Wright's Native Son, about an African American unjustly accused of a crime and unjustly treated in a white environment, won the Pulitzer Prize but was banned in many places. 4Lillian Smith's Strange Fruit, the first major novel to treat interracial love sympathetically, was unavailable in many bookstores and libraries after its publication. 5Thus, books have been severely criticized, even banned, because of objectionable subject matter, characters, even individual words.

— Adapted from Janaro and Altshuler, The Art of Being Human, 7th ed., p. 540

 

 
 
 
 
      6.      1Because society is not a monolith, almost always an artist somewhere is being opposed, and the result can sometimes be artistically inhibiting, as in the case of Michael Cimino. 2In 1978 Cimino directed The Deer Hunter, a film about a Vietnam War veteran's difficulties in readjusting to civilian life. 3After it won the Academy Award as best picture, the director's stock went up immediately, and he had no trouble getting studio support as well as a big budget for his next venture, Heaven's Gate. 4Although it won admirers elsewhere, in the United States it was destroyed by critics, who complained of its excessive length, its lack of plot and structure, and its self-indulgent style. 5Cimino waited five years for another job, but by that time he was discouraged and afraid to make the bold directing choices for which The Deer Hunter was celebrated. 6In attempting to please he lost heart and altogether stopped expressing himself through cinema art.

— Adapted from Janaro and Altshuler, The Art of Being Human, 7th ed., p. 540

 

 
 
 
 
      7.      1Societies can be classified by many features.2A popular classification of cultures is in terms of their masculinity and femininity (Hofstede, 1997, 1998). 3In a highly "masculine" culture, men are viewed as assertive, oriented to material success, and strong; women on the other hand are viewed as modest, focused on the quality of life, and tender. 4In a highly "feminine" culture, both men and women are encouraged to be modest, oriented to maintaining the quality of life, and tender. 5The ten countries with the highest masculinity score (beginning with the highest) are Japan, Austria, Venezuela, Italy, Switzerland, Mexico, Ireland, Jamaica, Great Britain, and Germany. 6The ten countries with the highest femininity score (beginning with the highest) are Sweden, Norway, Netherlands, Denmark, Costa Rica, Yugoslavia, Finland, Chile, Portugal, and Thailand. 7Out of 53 countries ranked, the United States ranks 15th most masculine (Hofstede, 1997).

— Adapted from DeVito, The Interpersonal Communication Book, 10th ed., p. 45

 

 
 
 
 
      8.      1Societies are not the only groups that sociologists classify. 2Organizations can also be viewed in terms of masculinity or femininity. 3Masculine organizations emphasize competitiveness and aggressiveness. 4They focus on the bottom line and reward their workers on the basis of their contributions to the organization. 5Feminine organizations are less competitive and less aggressive. 6They're more likely to emphasize worker satisfaction and reward their workers on the basis of need; those who have large families, for example, may get better raises than the single people, even if the singles have contributed more to the organization.

— Adapted from DeVito, The Interpersonal Communication Book, 10th ed., p. 45

 

 
 
 
 
      9.      1Water molecules stick together as a result of hydrogen bonding. 2When water is in its liquid form, its hydrogen bonds are very fragile, about one-twentieth as strong as covalent bonds. 3They form, break, and re-form with great frequency. 4Each hydrogen bond lasts only a few trillionths of a second, but the molecules are constantly forming new bonds with a succession of partners. 5Thus, at any instant, a substantial percentage of all the water molecules are bonded to their neighbors, making water more structured than most other liquids. 6Collectively, the hydrogen bonds hold the substance together, a phenomenon called cohesion.

— Campbell, Reece, and Mitchell, Biology, 5th ed., p. 38

 

 
 
 
 
      10.      1The ability of water to stabilize temperature depends on its relatively high specific heat. 2The specific heat of a substance is defined as the amount of heat that must be absorbed or lost for 1 g of that substance to change its temperature by 1ºC. 3Therefore, the specific heat of water is 1 calorie per gram per degree Celsius, abbreviated as 1/cal/g/ºC. 4Compared with most other substances, water has an unusually high specific heat. 5For example, ethyl alcohol, the type of alcohol in alcoholic beverages, has a specific heat of 0.6 cal/g/ºC.

— Campbell, Reece, and Mitchell, Biology, 5th ed., p. 39

 

 
 
 
 





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