Anker Susan. Real Essays with Readings with 2009 MLA Update
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WRITING ESSAYS
Chapter 5 • Making a Point 87
CRITICAL THINKING: WRITING A THESIS STATEMENT
FOCUS
• Read your narrowed topic.
• Decide what you think is important about it. You may want to use
a prewriting technique.
ASK
• What is my position or my point about my topic?
• Why is it important to me?
• What do I want to show, explain, or prove?
• Can I think of additional ideas to support it?
• Is my position a single point?
• Is it a complete sentence?
WRITE
• Write a draft thesis statement, and make sure that it follows the
basics of a good thesis statement (p. 74).
• Revise your draft statement according to the basics of a good thesis
statement, and try to make it more specifi c and confi dent.
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88
6
Supporting Your Point
Finding Details, Examples, and Facts
Understand What Support
for a Thesis Is
Support consists of the evidence, examples, or facts that show, explain,
or prove your main point, or thesis. Primary support points are the
major support for your thesis. Supporting details (or secondary support
points) are specifi cs that explain your primary support points.
Without support, you state the main point, but you don’t make the
main point. Consider the following statements:
I didn’t break the plates.
I don’t deserve an F on this paper.
My telephone bill is wrong.
These statements may be true, but without support they are not convincing.
Perhaps you have received the comment “You need to support (or develop)
your ideas” on your papers. This chapter will show you how to do so.
Writers sometimes confuse repetition with support. Using the same
idea several times in different words is not support; it is just repetition.
REPETITION, My telephone bill is wrong. The amount is incorrect.
NOT SUPPORT It shouldn’t be this much. It is an error.
SUPPORT My telephone bill is wrong. There are four duplicate
charges for the same time and the same number. The per
minute charge is not the one my plan offers. I did not
call Antarctica at all, much less three times.
■ IDEA JOURNAL
Write about a time
you had to give
someone reasons for
why you wanted to
do something.
You Know This
You already know
how to support a
point you want to
make.
• You explain to
someone why
you think a
certain rule is
unfair.
• You give reasons
for an important
decision you
have made.
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As you develop support for your thesis, make sure that each point has
the following three basic features.
BASICS OF GOOD SUPPORT
• It relates to your main point, or thesis. The purpose of support is to
show, explain, or prove your main point, so the support you use must
relate directly to that main point.
• It considers your readers. Aim your support at the people who will read
your writing. Supply information that will convince or inform them.
•
It is detailed and specifi c. Give readers enough detail, particularly
through examples, so that they can see what you mean.
Practice Supporting
a Thesis Statement
A short essay usually has between three and fi ve primary points that sup-
port the thesis statement. Each primary support point becomes the topic
sentence of its own paragraph. Each paragraph presents details that sup-
port that topic sentence.
The following sections detail the steps in supporting a thesis statement.
Prewrite to Find Support
Reread your thesis and imagine your readers asking, “What do you mean?”
To answer this question and generate support for your thesis, try using
one or more of the prewriting techniques discussed in Chapter 4.
PRACTICE 1 PREWRITE TO FIND SUPPORT
Choose one of the following sentences or one of your own, and write for fi ve
minutes using one prewriting technique. You will need a good supply of ideas
from which to choose support points for your thesis. Try to fi nd at least a
dozen different ideas. Answers will vary.
SUGGESTED THESIS STATEMENTS
1. Everyone in my family __________________________________________________.
2. Online dating services are wonderful for busy people.
3. Online dating services can be very disappointing.
■ TEAMWORK
Practice 1 works well
in pairs or small groups
if you have students
choose listing or
discussing as their pre-
writing technique.
■
TEACHING TIP
Emphasize that an
opinion alone will
not convince read-
ers. If students use an
opinion, they should
support it with factual
evidence.
■ See Chapter 5 for
advice on developing
thesis statements.
■ For more practice
with support, visit
Exercise Central at
bedfordstmartins
.com/realessays.
WRITING ESSAYS
Chapter 6 • Supporting Your Point 89
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WRITING ESSAYS
90 Part One • How to Read and Write in College
■ RESOURCES
To gauge students’
understanding of sup-
port and other writing
and grammar issues,
use the Testing Tool
Kit CD available with
this book.
4. Discrimination comes in many forms.
5. I have done some stupid things in my life.
NOTE: Imagine your reader asking, “What do you mean?”
Drop Unrelated Ideas
After prewriting, remind yourself of your main point. Then, review your
prewriting carefully, and drop any ideas that are not directly related to
your main point. If new ideas occur to you, write them down.
PRACTICE 2 DROP UNRELATED IDEAS
Each thesis statement below is followed by a list of possible support points.
Cross out the unrelated ideas in each list. Be ready to explain your choices.
1. THESIS STATEMENT: Written communication must be worded precisely and
formatted clearly.
POSSIBLE SUPPORT POINTS
use bulleted lists for important short points
once I wrote a ridiculous memo to my boss but never sent it
try to keep it to no more than a single page
write the date
get it done by the end of the day
read it over before sending
hate to put things in writing
takes too much time
make a copy
getting forty e-mails in a day is too many
2. THESIS STATEMENT: Just this year, I experienced a day that was perfect in
every way.
POSSIBLE SUPPORT POINTS
weather was beautiful
on vacation
■ TEACHING TIP
Remind students that a
point may be interest-
ing or true, but that
doesn’t necessarily
mean it belongs in the
essay. The point must
support the thesis
statement.
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WRITING ESSAYS
Chapter 6 • Supporting Your Point 91
we’d had a great meal the night before
slept late
cold but inside fi re was burning hot
new snow, all white
the year before we lost electricity
sky cloudless and bright blue
snow shimmering in the sunlight
perfect snow for skiing
no one else on the ski trail, very quiet
next Tuesday the ski resort would close for the season
3. THESIS STATEMENT: I know from experience that sometimes the customer is
wrong.
POSSIBLE SUPPORT POINTS
work at supermarket
customers often misread sale fl yer
they choose something like the item on sale but not it
get mad and sometimes get nasty
why do people bring screaming kids to the supermarket?
they don’t have any right to be rude but they are
want to argue but I can’t
customers steal food like eating grapes that are sold by the pound
sometimes they eat a whole box of cookies and bring up the
empty box
then the kids are always grabbing at the candy and whining, some-
times they just rip the candy open or put it in their mouths
customers misread the signs like ones that say “save $1.50” and think
the item is on sale for $1.50
should get a different job
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WRITING ESSAYS
92 Part One • How to Read and Write in College
Select the Best Support Points
After dropping unrelated ideas, review the ones that remain, and select the
ones that will be clearest and most convincing to your readers. As noted
earlier, short essays usually have three to fi ve primary support points. They
will become the topic sentences for your support paragraphs.
PRACTICE 3 SELECT THE BEST SUPPORT POINTS
For each item, circle the three points you would use to support the thesis
statement. Be ready to explain your answers.
1. THESIS STATEMENT: A college degree should not be the only factor in hiring
decisions.
POSSIBLE SUPPORT POINTS
job experience
motivation and enthusiasm
friends who work at the company
appearance
age
reliability and honesty
good transportation
artistic talents
2. THESIS STATEMENT: People have a variety of learning styles.
POSSIBLE SUPPORT POINTS
learn by doing
not interested in learning anything new
learn by seeing
don’t bring their books to class
disrupt the class
learn by working with others
get bored
bad learners
gifted students
■ TEACHING TIP
Encourage students to
get in the habit of
asking themselves the
kinds of basic questions
their readers will ask:
“Such as?” “In what
way?” “For example?”
If a student’s support
points answer those
questions, his or her
readers should under-
stand the main point.
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WRITING ESSAYS
Chapter 6 • Supporting Your Point 93
3. THESIS STATEMENT: The beauty and grandeur of the cathedral astonished me.
POSSIBLE SUPPORT POINTS
four hundred feet high
hundreds of tourists
white, pink, and green marble gleaming in the sun
junky gift shops in the circle around it
interior very plain
beautiful warm day
built hundreds of years ago
intricate carving on all sides
Add Supporting Details
Once you have chosen your primary support points, you will need to add
details to explain or demonstrate each of those points. These supporting
details can be examples, facts, or evidence. As the following example shows,
a supporting detail is always more specifi c than a primary support point.
THESIS STATEMENT I try to eat sensibly, but some foods are just too
good to pass up.
PRIMARY SUPPORT Chocolate in any form is a major temptation for me.
POINT
SUPPORTING DETAIL Peanut M&M’s are especially tempting; I
could eat a whole pound bag in one sitting.
SUPPORTING DETAIL Canned chocolate frosting is great; I can eat it
with a spoon right from the can.
SUPPORTING DETAIL Big fat truffl es with the creamy centers just
melt on my tongue.
PRIMARY SUPPORT Freshly baked bread calls to me from the
POINT supermarket shelves.
SUPPORTING DETAIL I can smell it as soon as I walk into the store.
SUPPORTING DETAIL Sometimes it’s still warm and soft, with steam
on the wrapping.
SUPPORTING DETAIL It reminds me of my grandmother making rolls
for Thanksgiving dinners.
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WRITING ESSAYS
94 Part One • How to Read and Write in College
PRIMARY SUPPORT I tell myself never to buy boxes of cheese crackers,
POINT but sometimes my hand doesn’t listen to me.
SUPPORTING DETAIL Cheddar is my favorite, with lots of salt and
shaped in little bite-sized squares.
SUPPORTING DETAIL Once I open the box, they’ll be gone within
a day, maybe even within a couple of hours,
especially if I’m working at home.
SUPPORTING DETAIL I start by eating one at a time, but I get into
handfuls as I go along.
PRACTICE 4 ADD SUPPORTING DETAILS
For each primary support point, again imagine your readers asking, “What do
you mean?” Add specifi c details to answer that question.
THESIS STATEMENT My baking skills are absolutely superb.
PRIMARY SUPPORT My chocolate chip cookies are irresistibly
POINT delicious.
SUPPORTING DETAIL I use extra-large double chocolate chips
that are soft, gooey, darkly sweet, and
sinfully rich.
In the space indicated, write the points you chose in Practice 3, item 1 (p. 92),
as the best support. In the space to the right, add three details that would
show, explain, or prove each primary support point.
THESIS STATEMENT: A college degree should not be the only factor in
hiring decisions. Answers will vary.
PRIMARY SUPPORT POINT SUPPORTING DETAILS
_______________________ ___________________________
___________________________
___________________________
PRIMARY SUPPORT POINT SUPPORTING DETAILS
_______________________ ___________________________
___________________________
___________________________
■ TEAMWORK
Have students work
in pairs to read their
thesis statements and
share possible support-
ing details. Together,
partners can select the
three best points. Sug-
gest that they refer
to the Basics of Good
Support (p. 89) when
generating and select-
ing support points.
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WRITING ESSAYS
Chapter 6 • Supporting Your Point 95
PRIMARY SUPPORT POINT SUPPORTING DETAILS
_______________________ ___________________________
___________________________
___________________________
Write Topic Sentences for Your Support Points
Your primary support points will form the topic sentences of the para-
graphs that support your thesis statement. Each topic sentence should
clearly relate to and show, explain, or prove your thesis.
THESIS STATEMENT Playing a team sport taught me more than how to
play the game.
TOPIC SENTENCE I learned the importance of hard practice.
(1st paragraph)
TOPIC SENTENCE I also realized that, to succeed, I had to work with
(2nd paragraph) other people.
TOPIC SENTENCE Most important, I learned to be responsible to
(3rd paragraph) others.
Once you have developed topic sentences to support the thesis, you
will need to back up your topic sentences with supporting details.
PRACTICE 5 WRITE TOPIC SENTENCES AND SUPPORTING DETAILS
Using the support points you generated in Practice 4, write topic sentences
that support the thesis statement. In the space under each topic sentence, list
the details you selected. When you have completed this practice, you will have
developed support for an essay.
THESIS STATEMENT: A college degree should not be the only factor in
hiring decisions. Answers will vary.
TOPIC SENTENCE (primary support point 1): _________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________________
SUPPORTING DETAILS: _________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
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WRITING ESSAYS
96 Part One • How to Read and Write in College
TOPIC SENTENCE (primary support point 2): _________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________________
SUPPORTING DETAILS: __________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
TOPIC SENTENCE (primary support point 3): _________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________________
SUPPORTING DETAILS: __________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
Write Your Own Support
Before selecting a writing assignment, read how a student, Carson Williams,
developed support for his thesis.
THESIS STATEMENT: Although my girlfriend and I are in love, we have
some very different ideas about what a “good” relationship is.
1. To generate ideas that might work as support, Carson used a pre-
writing technique: listing/brainstorming.
LISTING
She always wants to talk
Asks me how I feel, what I think, what I’m thinking about
Gets mad if I don’t answer or thinks I’m mad about something
Talks during movies and annoys me
Puts makeup on in the car
Always wants to be affectionate, holding hands, kissing
Wants me to tell her I love her all the time
Wants to hear she’s pretty
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