The part of a sentence that conveys what the writer considers newsworthy about the topic is called what?

• A. Comment/Rheme
• B. Topic/theme of a sentence
• C. Coherence
• D. End-weight

Answer: (A)

In information structure, the part of a sentence that carries the new or focus information—the piece the writer flags as newsworthy about the topic—is the rheme, also known as the comment. This is the portion that delivers what’s new or what the writer wants the reader to pay attention to.

That’s why this option is the best choice: it identifies the rheme as the part that conveys the newsworthy content, the focus of the sentence. The topic or theme is what the sentence is about, not necessarily the part that carries the emphasis or new information. Coherence relates to how ideas hang together across sentences, and end-weight is about placing heavier information toward the end for emphasis, not about which part specifies the news value within a sentence. For example, in The budget proposal was approved by the council, the theme is the budget proposal, while was approved by the council is the newsworthy information carried by the rheme.