ADDING SUPPORTING DETAILS = DEVELOPING IDEAS Developing Ideas

The Refresher

“I don’t like to add ‘fluff” vs. Development Students often underestimate how much they need to develop  What is your audience going to know?  How much information do you need to give them? The result is that they end up with a couple of lines when they need much more!!!!! As you write your paper, keep a few points in mind: 1. Decide on a controlling idea and a topic sentence 2. Explain the topic sentence 3. Give an example or multiple examples to illustrate your point 4. Explain the example(s) 5. Complete the paragraph’s idea and transition to the next paragraph

A way to think about development My job is to offer advice on writing. The following slides outline a way of thinking about development, not the way. Writing is not paint by numbers. As a writer, you need to think about how best to develop ideas. BUT, there are some things that you will want to pay particular attention to. You need topic sentences to identify the main points of each section. It doesn’t have to be the first sentence of the paragraph. It could be anywhere, but you need them to focus. You need transitions. You need explanations after evidence to create meaning. Professional writers know this. So, I have broken down one section of a professional writer’s paper to demonstrate a way of developing ideas.

“There's No Way to Enforce a Texting While Driving Ban” Thesis: There shouldn’t be a texting while driving law. We can’t solve every problem with a new law. America has a “There Oughtta Be a Law” (TOBAL) problem  A description of what TOBAL means  Explanation of how TOBAL relates to texting and driving The Alleged Problem  There is no evidence to support the belief that texting leads to accidents  Traffic fatalities have gone down as texting has risen  Other distractions could cause accidents Enforceability problem  Maryland example (texting banned; reading allowed)  Problems of writing the laws Conclusion  Raising penalties for distracted driver laws is ok  A specific law would be less about safety and more about symbolism

Supporting— “There's No Way to Enforce a Texting While Driving Ban” Forget flu season. Several times per year, America comes down with a national case of TOBAL-itis. TOBAL is short for "There Oughtta Be a Law." Here's the progression of symptoms: Wrenching anecdotes about the effects of some alleged new trend make national news. A panic takes root in the media. Earnest editorialists scrawl urgent pleas for action. Politicians grandstand. Soon enough, we have our new law or regulation. It doesn't matter if the law is enforceable or may have unintended consequences. Nor does it matter if the law will have any actual effect on the problem it was passed to address. In fact, it doesn't even matter if the problem actually exists. The mere feeling that it exists is sufficient. And so it goes with the panic over texting while driving. I'm not going to defend the act of clumsily thumbing out an while guiding a 2-ton, gasoline-loaded missile down the highway at 70 miles per hour. That's foolish. Nor will I argue there's some right to drive while iPhone-ing tucked into a constitutional penumbra. I will argue that we need to get over the idea that we can solve every bad habit with a new law. We can't, and this issue illustrates why.

5 Steps to Paragraph Development 1. Decide on a controlling idea and a topic sentence: Often, the controlling idea of a paragraph will appear in the form of a topic sentence. In some cases, you may need more than one sentence to express a paragraph's controlling idea. Here is the controlling idea for our "model paragraph," expressed in a topic sentence: Forget flu season. Several times per year, America comes down with a national case of TOBAL-itis. 2. Explain the topic sentence: Paragraph development continues with an expression of the rationale or the explanation that the writer gives for how the reader should interpret the information presented in the topic sentence: TOBAL is short for "There Oughtta Be a Law."

5 Steps to Paragraph Development 3. Give an example or multiple examples to illustrate your point: Paragraph development progresses with the expression of some type of support or evidence for the idea and the explanation that came before it. The example serves as a sign or representation of the relationship established in the idea and explanation portions of the paragraph: Here’s the progression of symptoms….. 4. Explain the example(s): The next movement in paragraph development is an explanation of each example and its relevance to the topic sentence and rationale that were stated at the beginning of the paragraph: And so it goes with the panic over texting while driving. 5. Complete the paragraph’s idea and transition to the next paragraph:

You Need Evidence for EVERY Supporting Point Here are some methods to make sure your ideas are well-developed: Use examples and illustrations Cite data (facts, statistics, evidence, details, and others) Examine testimony (what other people say such as quotes and paraphrases) Use an anecdote or story Define terms in the paragraph Compare and contrast Evaluate causes and reasons Examine effects and consequences Analyze the topic Describe the topic Offer a chronology of an event (time segments) After you have offered a piece of evidence to support your point and develop your idea, you need to comment on the information to create meaning. Commenting on supporting information is the glue that holds a paper together: The equation: Your claim + supporting info + comment

Now, let’s look at your papers Look at the supporting points that you say you will cover. Example: We should/should not have a texting while driving law because……… TODAY: we are going to go back through the articles to look for evidence to support the ideas in our papers. You can’t begin to write until you have read and know how to support your points. As you write your paper, keep a few points in mind: 1. Decide on a controlling idea and a topic sentence 2. Explain the topic sentence 3. Give an example or multiple examples to illustrate your point 4. Explain the example(s) 5. Complete the paragraph’s idea and transition to the next paragraph

Main Points ““ Common Core Demonized as Obamacore: Our View”  Author’s position: The new professionally, developed standards deserve a chance to prove their worth, not be sacrificed in yet another campaign of political demonization  CC were developed to improve US schools, too many failing, era of globalization  Washington isn’t jamming the standards down anyone’s throat  Opposition also coming from the left (teacher’s unions and teachers) “Gov. Jindal: Leave Education to Local Control”  Author’s position: supports high standards but doesn’t want the government involved—wants more local control  Centralized planning—feds got too involved  Parents are upset ““Blame the process, not the standards”  Author’s position: problem with Common Core is the name; people generally like the ideas  Failure to communicate—  the standards are good but people don’t necessarily follow through and explain to the average person what’s going on  survey information—people like the tenets of the program  The implementation hasn’t been smooth (training and curriculum)  Media and talk radio have hammered home this point “I was naïve about Common Core”  Author’s position: Common Core is dying because it is being corrupted  What is being corrupted: The tests, data, and evaluations don’t value “real learning”  Who is corrupting: Teachers, principals, and parents are suspicious of what they see happening  Who is corrupting: Test companies  What do we assess for: Measuring standards—“wrong drivers”

Today Today, (1) I want you to decide which main points you want to cover in your paper. (2) Then, write 1-2 sentences to explain what you mean by that main point [e.g. What do you mean by “the process isn’t clear”?]. (3) After than, look back through the articles to find evidence to support them. Thesis: Common Core offers a strong set of standards, but the process of implementation isn’t very clear. 1) There is a strong set of standards 2) The process of implementation isn’t clear: for the process of implementation, I want to focus on the communication between the schools and parents. As it stands, parents might get their information about Common Core from the news, but the news can be biased.  Evidence: I can research how schools communicate. Look at if the communication is uniform. I can quote the Jindal article to show that there is currently a communication problem 3)