Find out what supporting details are and their role in essay writing. Learn the different ways to include supporting details, then take a quiz to test your new skills.
Supporting Details
Supporting details provide the information that supports the topic sentence. You can create supporting details with descriptions, examples, reasons, explanations and comparisons.
The details you use to support your topic sentences depends somewhat on the development strategy (persuasive, compare/contrast, narrative, expository, etc.) that you're using. Are you writing a narrative or descriptive essay? Make your paragraphs come alive with details. A persuasive essay? Use plenty of facts and evidence. You may end up combining several types of supporting details.
Description & Examples
Descriptive details will expand on the main idea in your topic sentence. Describe the colors, smells, textures and size of things. If your topic sentence claims that a fire was particularly damaging, you would include the color and size of the flames, the smoke, the smell of burning materials, etc. Description can include emotional details as well. Describe your feelings or the feelings others described.
Examples support topic sentences like evidence supports an argument. If you say that your car is in disrepair, give some examples. Is the engine barely running? Does it burn oil? Or, are you referring to the interior with exposed springs? Examples can also be shown with an anecdote, which are brief stories that illustrate the main idea in your topic sentence.
Compare/Contrast
Let's say you're writing a compare/contrast essay about two brands of e-book readers. If your topic sentence says that one has an easy-to-read home page, you might discuss the font sizes and screen colors and follow with what's lacking on the other brand's home page. If your topic sentence states that they're similar in many ways, show the many ways and not just one or two.