The Mystery of Topic Sentences

In reading Richard Braddock "The Frequency and Placement of Topic Sentences in Expository Prose," he presents a study which indicates that the frequency of topic sentences in expository prose, is not so frequent at all. Braddock states, "While helping students use clear topic sentences in their writing and identify variously presented topical idea in their reading, the teacher should not pretend that professional writers largely follow the practices he is advocating" (310). I think this is interesting because from the moment that I began to take English composition courses, it has been drilled into my head that each paragraph must contain a topic sentence. I have always wondered how this can be true. For instance, you many have a topic sentence in the first line of a new paragraph, but perhaps your topic overflows into multiple paragraphs, where you need to transition, then the question becomes is the topic sentence something that instructor like to see, that has been taught to them, or is it really useful to teach students that every new paragraph needs an initial topic sentence. Braddock addresses this rule by citing Gorrell and Laird: Most paragraphs focus on a central idea or unifying device expressed in topical material. Occasionally this topical material is complex, involving more than one sentence and some subtopics; sometimes it carries over from a previous paragraph and is assumed to be understood or is referred to briefly; but usually it simply takes the form of a sentence, sometimes amplified or made more specific in a sentence or two following it (Gorrell and Laird, p.25) Although I do not agree that each paragraph needs a topic sentence, I do believe that each paragraph which presents a new idea should have a topic sentence. My belief is that writers get into this mode of writing where everything must be universal, such as the five paragraph essay. These confinements could possibly limit the writer, in producing a great body of work. Yes, structure is needed in composition, but I think readers and writers can become too legalistic, and we miss out on great prose. As a future educator, I will teach the topic sentence to my students, but not to the extent in which it is taught today. I do not agree that every paragraph needs a topic sentence, nor does that sentence need to come at the beginning of the paragraph. I want to give my students every opportunity to compose without overwhelming them with all the rules and regulations of writing that have been imposed by men. Basically, the topic sentence is helpful in guiding the reader through the paper, but in my opinion, it should not define the heart of the paper, if it is missing.