When writing a paragraph about a person, the topic sentence includes the person's name, and the idea is the concept communicated about the person. For example, fill in any one of the blanks below and create different topic sentence that may be used in a paragraph describing a person.
John Smith enjoys ________________________________
John Smith hates _________________________________
John Smith loves __________________________________
John Smith works _________________________________
John Smith plays _________________________________
John Smith makes ________________________________
John Smith builds _________________________________
John Smith expects _______________________________
John Smith provides _______________________________
Write a summarizing topic sentence for each of three paragraphs of your choice. In the sentence, state the classmates' full name and describe the singular focused idea that the paragraph will develop. Then, draft a paragraph using the supporting details below:
Supporting Details
The supporting details are the remaining sentences of the paragraph, after the topic sentence. There are usually between 7 to 10 sentences that explain and develop the main idea or topic.Some techniques used to develop a paragraph and provide supporting details include:
- Using examples and illustrations,
- Citing data (facts, statistics, evidence, details, and others),
- Examining testimony (what other people say such as quotes and paraphrases),
- Using an anecdote or story,
- Defining terms in the paragraph,
- Comparing and contrasting two ideas or items,
- Evaluating causes and reasons,
- Examining effects and consequences,
- Analyzing the topic,
- Offering a chronology of an event (time segments).
