Supporting Details

Introduction

If you think of a paragraph as a hamburger, the supporting details are the meat inside the bun. They make up the body of the paragraph by explaining, proving, or enhancing the controlling idea in the topic sentence. Most paragraphs contain three to six supporting sentences depending on the audience and purpose for writing.

Breaking-Down Supporting Details

Each supporting detail should have the following:

• Explanation: Explains the topic

• Evidence: Gives specifics to help support the that the explanation is true

Types of Supporting Details

A supporting detail usually offers one of the following:

The type of supporting sentence you choose will depend on what you are writing and why you are writing. For example, if you are attempting to persuade your audience to take a particular position, you should rely on facts, statistics, and concrete examples, rather than personal opinions.

Read the following example:

There are numerous advantages to owning a hybrid car (topic sentence). First, they get 20 percent to 35 percent more miles to the gallon than a fuel-efficient gas-powered vehicle (supporting sentence 1: statistic). Second, they produce very few emissions during low speed city driving (supporting sentence 2: fact). Because they do not require gas, hybrid cars reduce dependency on fossil fuels, which helps lower prices at the pump (supporting sentence 3: reason). Alex bought a hybrid car two years ago and has been extremely impressed with its performance (supporting sentence 4: example). “It’s the cheapest car I’ve ever had,” she said. “The running costs are far lower than previous gas powered vehicles I’ve owned” (supporting sentence 5: quotation). Given the low running costs and environmental benefits of owning a hybrid car, it is likely that many more people will follow Alex’s example in the near future (concluding sentence).

Note: The above paragraph has a lot of nice examples of different types of evidence that can be used in supporting sentences. Remember, it is not just enough to include evidence; a paragraph also needs explanation to how that evidence relates to the topic sentence. The writer might ask themself, "How does this evidence support my topic sentence?" The answer would be the explanation. For example, "supporting sentence 3" provides an explanation for both "supporting sentence 1" and "supporting sentence 2" by letting the reader know exactly why more miles per gallon and reduced dependency on fossil fuels are "advantages of owning a hybrid car."

Where to Get Info for Supporting Details

To find information for your supporting sentences, you might consider using one of the following sources:

• Reference book

• Encyclopedia

• Website

• Biography/autobiography

• Map

• Dictionary

• Newspaper/magazine

• Interview

• Previous experience

• Personal research

Tip: When searching for information on the internet, remember that some websites are more reliable than others. websites ending in .gov or .edu are generally more reliable than websites ending in .com or .org. Wikis and blogs are not reliable sources of information because they are subject to inaccuracies due to anyone having access to contribute.

Key Takeaways

• Supporting sentences help explain, prove, or enhance the topic sentence by offering facts, reasons, statistics, quotations, or examples.

• Supporting details consist of both evidence and explanation.