UNIT 11 WRITING SUPPORTING DETAILS IN A RESEARCH REPORT: DESCRIPTION
WRITING SUPPORTING DETAILS IN A RESEARCH REPORT: DESCRIPTION
Task 1 Read the paragraph and name the types of supporting sentences.
Types of Supporting Sentences
The supporting sentences in a paragraph have the job of developing the main idea
with specific details, explaining, illustrating, describing, or arguing for the main idea. There
can be the following types of supporting details: facts, examples, reasons, events,
descriptive details, comparisons and contrasts.
Task 2 Apply the strategies of writing a description into practice. Write any
description referring to your studies.
Description
Strategies
1 Suggest an overall impression in the topic sentence.
2 Write supporting sentences that include specific and sensory details that communicate the
overall impression.
3 Organize the supporting details in spatial order, adding transitions to guide the reader
through the description.
4 Write the concluding sentence that reinforces the overall impression conveyed in the
paragraph.
Example of writing: describing a person, order of importance
A Man of Many Talents
Benjamin Franklin accomplished many things in his eighty-four years. He was a
recognized inventor. Franklin gave to the world the stove, bifocals, and the lightning rod.
He invented a draft for fireplaces and a combination chair and stepladder for the kitchen.
He was also a city planner. Franklin reorganized the British Post Office, established a city
police system in Philadelphia, and an efficient fire-control organization. He was
instrumental in providing his city with a public hospital and a subscription library.
Furthermore, Franklin was a military strategist. He organized a successful defense of his
colony when it was threatened by attack by the French. He led a force of men into the
wilderness near Bethlehem and supervised the building of three important forts in that area.
Finally Franklin was an active statesman. He was a member of a committee which drew up
the Declaration of Independence, a delegate to the Constitutional Convention, and a very
popular and valuable ambassador to England and France for over twenty-five years.
Task 3 Read and act out the dialogue. Think of your own example.
Writing a Description
− Mrs. Williams, please, how can I use supporting sentences to write a description?
− First suggest an overall impression in the topic sentence.
− I see.
− Next write supporting sentences including specific and sensory details that
communicate the overall impression.
− What is the way of organizing supporting details?
− You can mostly use spatial order or order of importance, adding transitions to guide
the reader through the description.
− What is the purpose of the concluding sentence?
− It reinforces the overall impression conveyed in the paragraph.
− Thanks a lot.