Specific Details as Support

In expository writing, the writer is trying to prove the point he is making by providing the reader with support. Good proof is factual detail.

Factual details are facts and information that explain the main idea and make it specific. They provide answers to the questions who, what, why, when, where, and how. Factual details make the main idea believable to the reader and thus provide effective support. Therefore, a writer must test each detail to see whether or not it will prove the controlling idea. Not only should support be specific, it should be relevant as well. Remember, all of the details in a paragraph must support the controlling idea of the topic sentence and all the sentences in the paragraph should relate to the controlling idea in order to make the paragraph unified.

Examples and Illustrations as Support

When you use examples and illustrations to support your point (controlling idea):

  1. Make sure that your examples or illustrations really support your point.
  2. Introduce them with appropriate transition signals. Three common transitions are for example, for instance, and e.g. (from Latin exempli gratia, for example).

Organization of Examples and Details

  1. When a paragraph contains several details and examples, it is necessary to consider the order of their presentation. In the expository paragraph, there is no prescribed or set pattern of organization to follow; the order depends upon the subject and often upon the author’s logic. However, there are some common patterns that might be considered guidelines: order of importance, order of familiarity, and chronological order.

Each method of organization has special words and expressions.