HOW TO WRITE A WELL-SUPPORTED, DETAILED PARAGRAPH

C.P. English 1 / English IMiss Jessup

Power Paragraphs

What is a Power Paragraph?

Packed with details and facts to prove your point

11 Sentences (minimum)Includes transitions into and out of the

paragraphBody paragraphs should always be POWER

PARAGRAPHS unless otherwise noted

Power Paragraph Format

Sentence 1. Thesis Statement (with a controlling idea & at least 3 supports) Sentence 2. Major Support Statement – Topic Sentence #1

Sentence 3 – Minor Support #1: Reason to Back up Major Support Statement #1

Sentence 4 - Minor Support #1: Example, Fact, Detail, or Statistic to Back up Major Support Statement #1

Sentence 5. Major Support Statement – Topic Sentence #2 Sentence 6 – Minor Support #2: Reason to Back up Major Support Statement

#2 Sentence 7 - Minor Support #2: Example, Fact, Detail, or Statistic to Back up

Major Support Statement #2 Sentence 8. Major Support Statement – Topic Sentence #3

Sentence 9 – Minor Support #3: Reason to Back up Major Support Statement #3

Sentence 10 - Minor Support #3: Example, Fact, Detail, or Statistic to Back up Major Support Statement #3

Sentence 11. Closing/Transitional Sentence (Flip Thesis)

Sentence #1 – Thesis Statement

Must have a controlling idea (the topic) i.e. The Ohio State Buckeyes.

Must also make a statement about the topic. i.e. The Ohio State Buckeyes are the best team in college football.

Must list the three major supports for the statement about the controlling idea (topic).

i.e. The Ohio State Buckeyes are the best team in college football because they have the most talented players, the best coaches, and the most challenging schedule. Our topic sentence

First Major Support section:3 sentences (#2, #3, #4)

Remember, the first major support is the first reason that you mentioned in your thesis statement!

Hmmm .. What was that?? Let’s take another look at our thesis and find out.

The Ohio State Buckeyes are the best team in college football because they have the most talented players, the best coaches, and the most challenging schedule.

First major support “cont”Sentence #2

Our first major support sentence must repeat the controlling idea, the statement about it and the first major reason that we listed in the topic sentence.The first reason that the Ohio State Buckeyes are the best college football team is because they have the most talented players.

Easy!!! You are simply repeating part of your topic sentence!! Note the transitional word “first.”

Sentence #3 Every major needs two minors. Minor support A - explain

It isn’t enough to just repeat the one part of the topic sentence. Now we have to prove it!! This first minor support sentence explains our major idea further. Why do we think that O.S.U has the best players? Uhm . . .just because? Nope, we have to do better than that!!

The Ohio state players are the most talented in the country, because their statistics are consistently at the top for nearly every position on the field.

Sentence #4 – Minor Support B - example

Ok, so we explained our first major support a bit. Now we need to give an example or a detail, to let the reader know that we’ve really thought this through, before we move on to the next major support.

Ohio State’s quarterback, for instance, has more completed passes than any quarterback in the country. look at that pretty blue transitional phrase!!!

Sentence #5 – 2nd Major Support

The Ohio State Buckeyes are the best team in college football, because they have the most talented players, the best coaches, and the most challenging schedule.

Ahhh . .there it is. Major support #2 The best coaches! Once again, we simply repeat the controlling idea (topic –

OSU football team) and the statement about it (the best) and this time we cut to the second major reason we gave. Oh, and don’t forget the transition!!

Another reason the Buckeyes are the best team in college football is their superb coaching staff.

Sentence #6 – Minor Support A - explain

We’ve given our major reason #2. Now, for our first minor support (because

every major needs two minors), we explain what we meant a bit further.

The coaching staff at Ohio State is superb, because they never fail to come up with the right play at the most crucial moment.

Sentence #7 – Minor Support B - Example.

Example time!!! Following our major support statement (about the coaches) and our minor support explanation (why they are so great), we need an example - -to really prove our point!!

For example, in a recent Michigan State game, the Ohio state coaches called a surprise play on third down, which resulted in the game-winning touchdown.

Sentence #8 – Major support #3.

Ok . .on we go to major support #3. What was the third reason? We need to look back at that handy-dandy thesis statement again.

Here it is: The Ohio State Buckeyes are the best team in college football, because they have the most talented players, the best coaches and the most challenging schedule.

There’s our #3 major reason!! In red (or should we say scarlet). Once again, for our last major support sentence, we just have to copy the controlling idea (the O.S.U Bucks), the statement (the best in college football) and cut directly to the third reason (because we already proved #1 and #2).

The final reason that the Buckeyes are the best team in college football is that they have the most challenging schedule. look at that pretty purple transition!!!

Sentence #9 – Major #3 needs minor support A.

We’ve repeated our major reason #3 and now we need to explain it. Remember, Minor #1 does the explaining and the next Minor sentence cleans up with an example or detail.

Any team could have a perfect record against smaller, weaker schools, but Ohio State has a perfect record against Big Ten powerhouses.

Sentence #10Minor Support B

Now we need a specific example that proves or clarifies what we told them.

No problem.

For one thing, the Buckeyes have played more top twenty-five teams than any other team in college football, and they still have a perfect record.

ALMOST THERE…

We proved all three major supports in our topic sentence!!!

Only one more thing . . .We need to remind the audience

of our thesis statement one last time!!

Yes, that pesky audience tends to be a bit forgetful.

Sentence #11 – The Clincher

This sentence puts the final oomph on your paragraph, by repeating what you’ve just accomplished.

An easy way to do this is by flipping your topic sentence on it’s head. (Don’t worry, it won’t mind.)

Because the Ohio State Buckeyes have the most talented players, the best coaches, and the most challenging schedule, they are clearly the best college football team in the country. Note the “clearly.” It is clear now, because we proved it.

Did you also notice that we stated the three reasons in the SAME order in the topic sentence and the clincher sentence? Keeping the major supports in one, two, three order helps the audience remember our ideas and keeps us organized.