Ministry of public education of the republic of uzbekistan

Handout 3
Each paragraph is missing the topic sentence.
Read the each paragraph carefully, discuss all options whether they are suitable or not, and circle the letter (a, b, c, or d) of the best topic sentence for that paragraph.

1. 
   Ninety-five percent of the population in China had been illiterate. He knew that American public schools would take care of our English, but he had to be the watchdog to nurture our Chinese knowledge. Only the Cantonese tongue was ever spoken by him or my mother. When the two oldest girls arrived from China, the schools of Chinatown received only boys. My father tutored his daughters each morning before breakfast. In the midst of a foreign environment, he clung to a combination of the familiar old standards and what was permissible in the newly learned Christian ideals.
   

1. 
   Education was a priority in our family.
   
2. 
   My father made sure that his sons received a proper education.
   
3. 
   Learning Cantonese was an essential part of my education.
   
4. 
   My father believed that that the girls deserved educational opportunities just as much as the boys in the family.
   

2. 
   How to hold a pair of chopsticks (palm up, not down); how to hold a bowl of rice (one thumb on top, not resting in an open palm); how to pass something to elders (with both hands, never one); how to pour tea into the tiny, handless porcelain cups (seven-eighths full so that the top edge would be cool enough to hold); how to eat from a center serving dish (only the piece in front of your place; never pick around); not to talk at table; not to show up outside of one’s room without being fully dressed; not to be late, ever; not to be too playful – in a hundred and one ways, we were molded to be trouble-free, unobtrusive, quiescent, cooperative.
   

1. 
   From very young age, I was taught proper table manners.
   
2. 
   Very early in my life, I was taught the manners of a Chinese lady.
   
3. 
   Many Chinese customs differ from American customs.
   
4. 
   Learning manners in a Chinese American household.
   

3. 
   Mother would clean our living quarters very thoroughly, decorate the sitting room with flowering branches, fresh oranges, and arrange candied fruits or salty melon seeds for callers. All of us would be dressed in bright new clothes, and relatives or close friends, who came to call, would give each of us a red paper packet, containing a good luck coin – usually a quarter. I remember how my classmates would gleefully talk of their receipts. However, my mother made us give our money to her, for she said that she needed it to reciprocate to others.
   

1. 
   I always enjoyed dressing up for Chinese holidays.
   
2. 
   Each holiday was unique and had its own special blend of traditions and festivals.
   
3. 
   The Chinese New Year, which would fall sometime in late January or early February, was the most special time of the year.
   
4. 
   There was much work to be done during times of celebration.
   

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Check the answers and ask what kind of difficulties they have in identifying the topic sentences. Discuss the responses.

Activity 3
Objectives:
Participants will identify topics and the controlling ideas of the topic sentences.