Support essay
Three major experiences shape student motivation to stay in college and graduate, writes Vincent Tinto. For years, our prevailing view of student retention has been shaped by theories that view student retention through the lens of institutional action and ask what institutions can do to retain their students. Students, however, do not seek to be retained. They seek to persist. The two perspectives, although necessarily related, are not the same.
Parts of an Essay
A support paragraph is a group of sentences that work together to explain, illustrate, or provide evidence for a single supporting assertion topic sentence. Several support paragraphs usually work together to explain the main idea of a story, an essay, or a section of a business or technical report.
The best way to keep an essay focused on its main idea is to make sure your supporting assertions are clear and your paragraphing is strong. A topic sentence assertion , support point that is clearly related to the main idea of the whole essay.
A clear relationship to the main idea of the essay through signal words and paragraph transitions. A paragraph may relate directly to the main idea of the essay, or it may relate to the paragraph that comes just before it or both.
We show both kinds of relationships by means of transition words and phrases. These may include. A combination of general and specific detail.
General detail consists of. Specific detail consists of. A clear relationship between one sentence and the next. This relationship is established through sentence transitions. In the porcupine example above, the second sentence relates to the first in two ways:.
Here are the examples from the previous section. These are useful models of the relationship between general and specific details. Example 1: It was a beautiful day abstraction. White clouds towered above the mountains, and the air was brisk and cold. The trees outside my office stirred in the wind, and a flock of crows rode the air currents up past my window, over the building and down past the windows on the other side sensory detail.
The news of these failures echo word sent the stock market plunging points in the first two hours of trading fact. It was an economic disaster abstraction. Example 3: My father often read to me after dinner "always" detail. By the end of the first story, I was hooked. I felt that I, too, had joined Mother Wolf's cubs and become a member of the wolf pack.
I also wanted desperately to read this book myself, so that I could read the stories again and again "once" detail. Example 4: My cousin liked to play jokes on us "always" detail. That night time phrase , after we were all asleep, he shoved a dead porcupine into the crawl space under the bathroom. Several days later time phrase we began to notice a peculiar smell "once detail". Another time time phrase , he pretended to be lost when we were out riding together "once detail.
This whole example is an anecdote. To evaluate a support paragraph, ask. Good professional writers often write strong paragraphs that do not follow this advice. And these paragraphs are often more effective than those that do follow it. The ability to deviate from the standard patterns in creative ways is the mark of a writer who has practiced his or her craft for many years, listening to feedback from readers and other writers and revising, revising, revising.
How to Write a Support Paragraph A support paragraph is a group of sentences that work together to explain, illustrate, or provide evidence for a single supporting assertion topic sentence. A strong support paragraph has 1. In an analytical essay, the assertion topic sentence of most paragraphs is stated explicitly at or near the beginning of the paragraph.
Exception 1: Occasionally, an analytical paragraph will have no topic sentence of its own but will relate to the topic sentence of the paragraph before it.
This often happens when the support for an assertion is complicated and requires a whole series of examples or a lot of explanation. Exception 2: Occasionally, for dramatic effect, a paragraph will begin with details and build up to a topic sentence at the end.
In a narrative essay, many paragraphs may have implied assertions. Readers must infer the points as they read. These may include Echo words and phrases repetition of key words from the main idea of the essay, the topic sentence of the previous paragraph, or the concluding sentence of the previous paragraph Time and space words and adverb phrases yesterday, two weeks later, previously, directly across the river, etc.
Signal words and phrases however, therefore, in contrast, on the other hand, the second reason for. These are also adverbs. General detail consists of Abstractions It was a beautiful day. It was an economic disaster. My cousin liked to play jokes on us. Specific detail consists of Sensory description The sky was a clear, deep blue, and the air was warm and still.
The news of these failures sent the stock market plunging points in the first two hours of trading. These can be either short anecdotes or extended examples. That night, after we were all asleep, my cousin shoved a dead porcupine into the crawl space under the bathroom. Several days later we began to notice a peculiar smell. On another occasion he pretended to be lost when we were out riding together. Examples Here are the examples from the previous section. To evaluate a support paragraph, ask Is its assertion clear?
Is it direct topic sentence or implied? Is this the best strategy? How does it relate to the main idea of the essay? Does it relate directly to the main idea? Does it relate to the previous paragraph? Do the transition words and phrases need clarifying? Could echoing be used more effectively?
Do the sentences relate to each other through transitions and echoing? Perspective Good professional writers often write strong paragraphs that do not follow this advice.
Checklist for Thesis-Support Essay: Basic Expectations. Shape. Unity. Is there a main idea (thesis sentence) that focuses the information? Does all of the. Developing Supporting Paragraphs. Each supporting paragraph in a short essay should support points made in the thesis statement. The thesis statement acts.
The best way to support your point is through the use of supporting evidence. Supporting evidence can include personal narratives i. We find that most people do not have a problem coming up with stories that provide supporting evidence; rather, they have a problem weaving their narrative or examples effectively into their essay.
Each supporting paragraph in a short essay should support points made in the thesis statement.
As you progress through school, you'll be required to write essays. And the farther along in school you get, the more complex and demanding the essays will become. It's important that you learn early on how to write effective essays that communicate clearly and accomplish specific objectives.
Family Provides Unconditional Love and Support Essay
Generally, though, it will fall under one or more of these five general types of supporting statements. If you argue that a particular politician is corrupt, for instance, you can state instances that depict that person in such a manner, making your claim more believable. Reasons are typically drawn from both facts and opinions tied together by sound logic. As such, they make sense as an argument, despite not owning full immunity to being challenged. Want an example?
Expert guidance for all your college essays
A support paragraph is a group of sentences that work together to explain, illustrate, or provide evidence for a single supporting assertion topic sentence. Several support paragraphs usually work together to explain the main idea of a story, an essay, or a section of a business or technical report. The best way to keep an essay focused on its main idea is to make sure your supporting assertions are clear and your paragraphing is strong. A topic sentence assertion , support point that is clearly related to the main idea of the whole essay. A clear relationship to the main idea of the essay through signal words and paragraph transitions. A paragraph may relate directly to the main idea of the essay, or it may relate to the paragraph that comes just before it or both. We show both kinds of relationships by means of transition words and phrases. These may include. A combination of general and specific detail. General detail consists of.
People will usually take your word for certain kinds of claims.
Academic essay writing is a style that anyone can learn to produce, once they know the basics of writing an essay. An academic essay should provide a solid, debatable thesis that is then supported by relevant evidence—whether that be from other sources or from one's own research.
The Basics of Effective Essay Writing
Make sure to visit his website EnglishForStudy. I admire international students. One of the most common mistakes that I see is a lack of opinion. This is especially true if you are using some of the stronger phrases. This evidence can be a journal article, a lecture, a textbook, or something else which is a trustworthy source of information. Your experiences or opinions will be enough. Quick note : I know! Shayna has some great videos on her Espresso English Youtube channel. If you want to know the structure of a good essay paragraph, check my post here. In an academic essay, these phrases will probably be too informal because they are too personal. These phrases are more suitable for academic essays. If you are unsure whether you should use an informal phrase or an academic phrase, use an academic one. If you think your writing might be informal, read this post to learn more. The patterns here are quite straightforward.
10 English Phrases to Express Your Opinion in an Essay
Strong Family Relationships A family, by definition, is a fundamental social unit consisting of parents and children who typically live together. However, many would argue that a family is more than that; a family is a group of people willing to do anything for each other because they truly love and care for one another no matter what. Strong families create relationships based on unconditional love and rely on their family bond when trials arise. The only love that is not based on conditions and prejudice is between children and parents. The power of such bond is unperceived by many and only taken for granted. However, to maintain that bond, parents and children are obligated to earnestly sacrifice for each other. A prospering relationship is unachievable with unrequited love; both individuals need to demonstrate their value for one another. Sadly, the insight of the importance of my parents occurred to me recently and those previous interactions. Then, I will explore the impact of race and ethnicity, political affiliation, and identity of the child on parental love. I have two sisters Jannine and Yvonne
