What are some ways to develop supporting ideas?

Supporting ideas help to convince your reader that your main idea is a good one. You might try to develop supporting ideas in the manner that professional writers do. Here are some things that they do:

• Tell a story that illustrates the main idea.
  Tell a story about a teacher you have had to show why you want to be a teacher.
• Give examples of the main idea to show breadth and depth.
• Give reasons why the thesis should be considered true. These can be facts, logical arguments, or the opinion of experts.
• Use details that are very specific so the reader can understand how this idea is different from others.
• Tell what can be seen, heard, smelled, touched, felt, or experienced.
• Try to see the idea from many different angles.
• Tell how other events, people, or things might have an influence on the main idea.
• Use metaphors or analogies to compare the idea to something very different from it that helps the reader understand your idea.

Have you done your best to support and develop your ideas?

Think of your reader as a curious person. Assume that your reader is hungry for everything that you can say about this subject.

Talk to your teacher about what kind of support is best for the type of writing that you are doing.

Here are some specific questions that are appropriate for a certain type of writing:

• If you are describing a problem or issue

What type of problem or issue is it?

Is it one that can be easily or cheaply solved?
Will it take a decision from one person or the effort of many people, from legislators to other people?

What are the signs that a problem or issue exists?

Lots of cafeteria food in the trash could be a sign that kids are not eating what the cafeteria serves.

Who or what is affected by the problem or issue?

If you recommend that cafeteria food change, you write about what would happen if it did.

What is the history of the problem or issue--what or who caused it or contributed to it and what is the state of the problem now?

The school cafeteria has been trying to serve healthy food, but it can only offer a few choices because it has to keep costs low. Students are eating less often at the cafeteria and more often at the fast-food restaurant down the street.

Why is the issue or problem significant? What makes this issue or problem important or less important (yes, this is comparison and contrast)?

If you are writing to ask your principal to have a community night about drinking in 6th and 7th grade, you might want to say why this more important than a community night about study habits.

• If you are arguing or trying to persuade your reader to your opinion

What facts or statistics could you mention as support?

What observations could you make to prove your points?

What comparison could you make that would improve your reader's understanding?

What expert opinion would make your opinion more worthy?

Could you demonstrate your point with some examples?

Could you describe the views of an opposite but worthwhile opinion?

Tip: Strong arguments are often made by acknowledging what is good in the opponent's view. You can use expressions like: on the other hand, granted, while it is true that, or I agree that to introduce this opposite view.

• If you are analyzing literature or writing a review of a story or movie

Can you summarize the story so that your reader knows what happens?

Can you give the details about the place or time so that your reader has a context for understanding the story?

What can you say about the main characters so that the reader can "see" or understand what makes them special or interesting?

Can you describe the point where the main character(s) is in a crisis and has to make an interesting choice?

Can you quote what characters say about each other or about what they are experiencing?

Does the story have a deeper truth or theme that you could discuss?

Can you describe the style in which the story is told or the camera angles of the movie?

Are there interesting "pictures" or images or symbols?

• If you are describing something or providing a definition

Can you tell what the thing looks like or what its parts are?

Can you say what it does or means?

If what it does or means has changed over time, can you describe what it used to mean or do and what it now means or does?

If certain places call this thing something different than it is called in another place, can you tell the reader the different names or meanings?

• If you are telling how to do or make something

Have you started at the right place--the first step--and moved logically?

Have you defined any terms that might be strange to your reader?

Have you given an example if that might help your reader understand what you mean?

Have you tried to break your instructions into easy steps? Have you numbered these steps so that the reader knows the order in which it is best to do them?

Tip: You may want to think of a way to arrange your material so that you can be most helpful to your reader. For example, in a recipe the ingredients are listed at the top and the instructions are in short paragraphs or are numbered as steps.