Question

A trip to the ocean can be a relaxing escape from the everyday pressures of life. A sailboat glistening on the horizon provides a mental escape to faraway places. The rhythm of the ocean beating against the sand is sedating music to a troubled mind. A slow, gental breeze can relax your tensions. You should always be careful to avoid overexposure to the sun at the beach. 1a.) What sentence is the topic sentence of the paragraph? 1b.) What sentence is unrelated to the topic and can be eliminated?

Answer 1

1a.) What sentence is the topic sentence of the paragraph?

A trip to the ocean can be a relaxing escape from the everyday pressures of life.

When looking for the topic of a paragraph, it’s best to look at the beginning of the paragraph because, typically, the topic of the paragraph will be presented within the first couple of sentences.  Too, because the body sentences should really be development of the topic, the topic sentence will be a general statement and body sentences will tend to get more specific.  When looking the first sentence, we see that it is a broad statement upon which the rest of the sentences elaborate.

 1b.) What sentence is unrelated to the topic and can be eliminated?

You should always be careful to avoid overexposure to the sun at the beach.

Because all the sentences discuss relaxation in one fashion or another, and this sentence discusses the potential of sun burn/skin damage, this sentence would be considered off topic because it is not developing the topic sentence.