Read the paragraph and answer the question that follows.

As exemplified throughout Fitzgerald's classic, The Great Gatsby, people and situations are not always what they seem. Perhaps no other character personifies this assertion better than the quintessential Jay Gatsby, a man with many secrets and an insatiably dangerous gift of hope. Then there are Daisy and Tom Buchanan, the wealthy couple who appear to have it all, yet still manage to commit adultery in seemingly broad daylight. In fact, the characters who—financially and culturally—should have reveled in the greatest depths of happiness, were actually the most miserable. Ironically, it is our modestly endowed and unwed narrator who is the only character in the book who appears to possess any shred of contentment with his present lot in life.

What is the topic sentence?

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The topic sentence is number 1: As exemplified throughout Fitzgerald's classic, The Great Gatsby, people and situations are not always what they seem.

Explanation:

A topic sentence has the purpose of expressing the main idea of the paragraph in which it is inserted. In the paragraph we are analyzing here, the whole idea is to show how Fitzgerald's characters aren't always what they seem, since the ones we would expect to be happy and centered are the ones who are miserable and "messed up". The sentences that follow the topic sentence offer evidence of what the topic sentence states, having, thus, the objective of developing its idea.