SUPPORTING DETAILS

 





A paragraph consists mostly of three components

  1. The topic
  2. The main idea
  3. The supporting details

The supporting details are examples, explanation, proofs, statistics, etc. that support and illustrate thpoint being made by the main idea of a paragraph. They are supporting because they lift up the main idea and help to make it clearer through providing a deeper explanation of the author’s main point.

Supporting Details, a paragraph contains facts, statements, examples-specifics which guide us to a full understanding of the main idea. They clarify, illuminate, explain, describe, expand and illustrate the main idea and are supporting details.

Determining Supporting Details

1. Decide which details help to further the story line.

2. Decide which details help you to understand the main idea.

3. Answer question raised by the main idea (who, what when, why or how).

 





Types of Supporting Materials

1.      COMPARISONS in which one thing is shown to be like another.

EXAMPLE: Skilled college students are like the unskilled students in their desire for a diploma.

2.      CONTRASTS in which one things is shown to differ from another.

EXAMPLE: Skilled students are different from unskilled students in that they use a method to read a textbook.

3.      STATISTICS

EXAMPLE: 75 percent of the students who do not attend class regularly receive grades of C or worse.

4.      GRAPHS

EXAMPLE: Figure 9-1 is one type of graph.

5.      QUOTATIONS from authorities

EXAMPLE: Professor Smity admits, “I tell students they don’t need to attend my class if they don’t want to. I know, however, that if they don’t come, they won’t pass.”

6.      VIVID DESCRIPTIONS

EXAMPLE: The students took the exam from the professor’s hand, quickly looked at the grade, gave a sigh or relief and began to smile.

There are two kinds of supporting details-major and minor. The main idea and its major supporting details form the basic framework of paragraphs. The major details are the primary points that support the main idea. Paragraphs often contain minor details as well. While the major details explain and develop the main idea, they, in turn are expanded upon the minor supporting details.

EXAMPLE: Main Idea and Major Detail

Studies reveal that people’s first names can have an influence on them. Some names reflect on people in a positive way. For example, one survey showed that American men consider them name Susan to be ver sexy. And participants in a British study thought Tony to be the name of someone very friendly. However, other names can have a negative impact. In one study, for instance, teachers gave lower grades to essay supposedly written by boys named Hubert and Elmer than to the very same essay when they credited to boys with more popular names. Another study found girls with unpopular names did worse on IQ and achievement tests than girls with more appealing names.

In order to find the supporting details, a reader needs to find the main idea and turn it into a question. The aspects of the paragraph that answers these questions are the supporting details.

Example

There are several reasons why smoking is bad for you. First, smoking waste a lot of money that can be used for other activities. Second, smoking harms your health. Lastly, smoking is a bad example for children.

Here is a breakdown of the paragraph. We know that the first sentence is the main idea.

Topic: Smoking

Main idea: There are several reasons why smoking is bad for you.

Supporting Details: First, smoking waste a lot of money that can be used for other activities.
Second, smoking harms your health.
Lastly, smoking is a bad example for children.

Perhaps you noticed that most of the time, everything that is not the main idea is normally a supporting detail but there are exceptions to this.

As stated earlier, in order to identify the supporting details, a reader needs to turn the main idea into a question(s). Below is an example.

Topic: Smoking

Main idea: There are several reasons why smoking is bad for you.
Conversion of the main idea into a question: What are the reasons that smoking is bad for you?

Supporting Details: First, smoking waste a lot of money that can be used for other activities.
Second, smoking harms your health.
Lastly, smoking is a bad example for children.
Conversion of supporting
details into an answer: First, smoking waste a lot of money that can be used for other activities.
Second, smoking harms your health.
Lastly, smoking is a bad example for children.


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