Chapter 25- Writing a Paragraph- Focus on Support

Chapter25:WritingaParagraph:FocusonSupportandDetailsInthischapteryouwillstudytheimportanceofbeingspecificinthedetailsyouusetosupportanidea.Whenyouwriteinvague,generalterms,youleavethereadertointerpretwhatyoumeanandoftenthereaderwillnothaveenoughinformationtoaccuratelydothat.Youmustbeclearinyourmeaningsothatanyonewhoreadsyourworkunderstandsexactlywhatyouwanthimtounderstand.Itisequallyimportantthatyouprovideenoughinformationtosupportyourideas.Generallyyouneed3to5examplesperideatobesureyou`vegivensufficientsupport.Thebestwaytodevelopsupportistoaskyourselfquestionsaboutyourideas.Youcanevaluatethesupportateachstageofthewritingprocess.Muchoftheworkthatyoudointheroughlineseditingisevaluatingsupportandaskingquestionstobesureyouhavesaidenoughtoclearlycommunicateyourideastoyouraudience.Onceyouhavegatheredtogetherasmanydetailsasyouthinkyouneed,youthenorganizethemwitharoughoutline.Thisgivesyouanotheropportunitytocheckforsufficientsupport.Doeseachsectionoftheoutlineseemdeveloped?Istheremorethanonedetailforeachsection?Haveyouusedspecificratherthangeneralwordsasyou`veoutlined?Atthispointyoudouble-checkthetopicsentencetobesureitcoversallyourdetails.Alwaysrememberthatthemoredetailsyouputintheoutlinethemoredetailswillmakeitintoyourparagraph.Ifyouareatalossfordetails,tryturningtoyoursenses.Askingquestionsabouthowsomethinglooks,feels,tastes,smells,andsoundscanprovideyouwithplentyofdetails.Whenyouaredescribinganeventaskquestionslikewho,what,when,where,how,andwhy.Readthelecturebelowforfurtherinformationondevelopingsupportanddetailsforyourwriting.