How-to-Develop-Ideas-in-Paragraphs

HowtoDevelopIdeasinParagraphsAnimportantcomponentofastrongessayisthepresenceofwell-developedideasintheessay’sbodyparagraphs.Essaysoftenreceivepoorgradesbecausetheideasarenotdevelopedenough.Sowhatdoesitmeantodevelopanidea?Youdevelopanideabysupportingit,discussingitssignificance,andshowinghowitconnectstotherestofyouressayandthesisstatement.Ifyoucandoallthreeofthesethingsconsistently,youwillfindyourselfwritingstrong,well-developedparagraphsandpapers.Let’slookatanexampleparagraph.Forthisexample,thethesisoftheoverallpaperis“Growinguppoorhasmademeastrongerperson.”PoorlydevelopedBecausewedidn’thavemuchmoney,wedidn’talwayshavealotoffood.Sometimesallwehadweresandwiches.Irememberbeinghungryalot.Thereisn’tmuchtotheaboveparagraph,isthere?Theauthordoesn’tshowthesignificanceoftheexamplesorhowtheysupportthethesisoftheessay.Belowisadifferentversionofthesameparagraph.WelldevelopedBecausewedidn’thavemuchmoney,wedidn’talwayshavealotoffood.Sometimesallwehadweresandwiches.Irememberbeinghungryalot.Thismademeappreciatethevalueofmoney.Today,Ialwaysmakesuretosaveandbudgetenoughmoneyforfood,becauseIneverwanttogohungryagain.IhavealsolearnedtobesmartabouthowIspendmoneyonfood.I’malwayslookingforgoodbargainsandcreativewaystousemyleftoverssothatIdonotwasteanything.Thisparagraphdoesamuchbetterjobofdevelopinghowtheexamplesrelatetothemainideaandthesisstatement.Itislongerbecausetheauthorismakingthesignificanceoftheideasintheparagraphclear.PracticeTowriteawell-developedparagraph,followthestepsbelow.1.Whatisthemainideaoftheparagraph?Writeitasacompletesentence.Thiswillbeyourtopicsentence.__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________2.Supportyourmainideawithatleastoneexample.________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________3.Explainhowyourexamplesrelatetoyourmainidea.________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________4.Explainhowyourmainideasupportsyourthesis.________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________