1Copyright Laraine Flemming 2009 Chapter 5: Focus on Supporting Details From this chapter, you’ll...

1Copyright Laraine Flemming 2009

Chapter 5: Focus on Supporting Details

From this chapter, you’ll learn1. how topic sentences and supporting

details work together to create meaning.2. how to tell the difference between

major and minor details.3. how writers rely on readers to infer

supporting details.


5.1 Defining Terms

Supporting Details

• are specific sentences that explain, prove, or suggest the main idea.

• can be reasons, illustrations, statistics, definitions, etc.

• change according to the main idea they explain, prove, or imply.

• clarify key terms and prove the author’s point.


5.1 Connecting Topic Sentences and Supporting Details

Topic Sentences• use general language.• make statements that raise questions.

Supporting Details• place limits on how the general language can

be understood.• answer the questions.


5.1 Topic Sentences Raise QuestionsTopic Sentence:

Lyndon Johnson, the thirty-sixth president of the United States, did much good and even more harm during his term in office.

Questions raised:1. How did Johnson do good?2. How did he do harm?3. How is it possible to do both at the same time?


5.1 Four Supporting Details Answer The Three Questions

1. Johnson was responsible for the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965.

2. Thanks to Lyndon Johnson, those over the age of sixty-five now have federally funded medical assistance in the form of Medicare.

3. Yet, although all the signs were there that the Vietnam War was disastrous for the United States and for Vietnam, Johnson kept the war going.

4. His stubborn determination in the face of guaranteed failure cost immeasurable suffering.


Just so You Know

In 1964, Lyndon Baines Johnson won the presidentialelection by so many votes, he was nicknamed “Landslide Johnson.” But by 1967, he had mired the United States in the Vietnam War in Southeast Asia, a war that he himself had worried would prove disastrous for the country and for his presidency. As public opinion turned against him, Johnson wasn’t sure he could win a second term. On March 31, 1968, he announced on television that he would not be a presidential candidate.


5.2 Defining TermsMajor Details• refer directly to the topic sentence.• clarify or prove some part of the topic

sentence.

Minor Details• follow and further develop major details.• are the most specific sentences in the

paragraph.


5.2 Major and Minor Details Work Together to Develop the Topic Sentence

If diagrammed, the topic sentence along with the major and minor details, would look some-thing like the ladder-like diagram that follows:


5.2 Diagram of Major and Minor Details with Topic Sentence Main idea: Most people don’t realize that the holiday we call Labor Day began under very sad circumstances. Main idea: Most people don’t realize that the holiday we call Labor Day began under very sad circumstances.

Major Detail: It got its start when President Grover Cleveland sent troops to break up a railroad workers’ strike, and many striking workers were injured; the strike was broken but the public was angry.

Major Detail: It got its start when President Grover Cleveland sent troops to break up a railroad workers’ strike, and many striking workers were injured; the strike was broken but the public was angry.

Minor Detail: To calm the public’s outrage, Congress rushed the national holiday, called “Labor Day,” into law.

Minor Detail: To calm the public’s outrage, Congress rushed the national holiday, called “Labor Day,” into law.


A Word to the Wise

Don’t be misled by the words major andminor. Minor details can add importantinformation as they do in the previous example. While some add just emphasis or repetition, others provide key details. Always evaluate the minor details.


5. 2 Can you Identify the Topic Sentence Along with the Major and Minor Details?

1. The e-mail usually includes quotations from the Bible.

2. With this scam, the target receives an e-mail from someone, supposedly a foreigner, who wants to spread the word of God but needs financial help because of illness, age, or government interference.

3. One popular Internet scam involves people of the Christian faith.


5.2 Topic Sentences Can Offer Clues to Major Details.

Some topic sentences provide explicit clues to major details. These topic sentences

• include very general words and phrases that are plural and need individual examples to become meaningful, for instance, “various characteristics,” “new studies,” and “typical practices.”

• leave it up to the major details to define each characteristic, study, and practice.


5.2 Which Topic Sentence Provides a Clue to the Major Details?• The American painter Jackson Pollock (1912-1956)

became a superstar in the art world practically over night, after his picture appeared in a 1949 issue of Life magazine.

• History has not been kind to John C. Calhoun (1782-1850), the former vice-president and senator from North Carolina.

• Early in the twentieth century, the Supreme Court’s rulings in a number of key cases put teeth into the Constitution’s guarantee of free speech.


5.2 Recognizing Major Details

• The correct answer is the third sentence: “Early in the twentieth century, the Supreme Court’s rulings in a number of key cases put teeth into the Constitution’s guarantee of free speech.”

• The topic sentence announces to readers that each ruling or case will be a major detail.


5.2 Recognizing Major DetailsHere’s a topic sentence. Read it carefully so you candetermine how it relates to the sentences that follow:

“For centuries, Chinese tradition celebrated the birth of a male child but despaired over the birth of a female, encouraging families to give male children better care thanfemales, but as the society suffers a growing shortage of women to men, the government has launched a campaigndesigned to counter the traditional view of femaleinsignificance.“


5.2 Recognizing Major DetailsWhich sentences would be major details inrelation to the previous statement?1. The government has begun offering bonuses to

families with more than one female child.2. The government has also changed inheritance

laws making it easier for daughters to inherit family property.

3. The bonuses are not large but they are an incentive for most families.


5.3 Questions to answer when reading a sentence or paragraph:1. What does the writer talk about in this sentence?

2. What does this sentence add to what came before?

3. What does the author want us to understand?

1. Why is this sentence here? What does it contribute to meaning of the previous sentences?

2. Based on this sentence, what does it look like the writer will discuss next?


5.3 How to Question Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)

1Many parents have noticed that their children do not pay attention to them—they run around and do things in their own way. Summarizing: This sentence just talks about ordinary kid behavior. It must be an introduction because it doesn’t address the heading. Predicting: The next sentence will probably explain when this kind of behavior gets labeled attention deficit disorder. 2Sometimes this inattention is a function of age; in other instances, it is a symptom of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, in which a child shows a developmentally inappropriate lack of attention, impulsivity, and hyperactivity. Questioning: How do they know when it’s a function of age and when it’s a symptom of ADHD? The various symptoms of ADHD are described below. Clarification: The writer must mean that when these symptoms come together, then it’s ADHD rather than a stage the child is going through. (Larry Siegel, Criminology, 10e © Cengage Learning.)


5.31When antibiotics arrived in the 1940s, they were hailed as wonder drugs. 2At the

time, they seemed a miraculous drug capable of curing bacterial-caused diseases like tuberculosis and pneumonia, which had previously posed deadly threats. 3Currently, though, antibiotics, while still essential to curing many diseases, are viewed with a good deal more anxiety, and doctors are worried that antibiotics are losing some of their healing power due to increasingly potent bacteria. 4Bacteria can mutate, or change, over time. 5Unfortunately, some bacteria have undergone mutation and adapted to the antibiotics that once destroyed them. 6The presence of antibacterial agents in soap and antibiotics in animal feed haven’t helped the situation. 7Bacteria that survive an onslaught of antibiotics breed and pass on their immunity to their offspring. 8As a result, there are some serious super-bacteria roaming the world, and they are much less vulnerable to existing antibiotics. 9Vancomycin, for instance, was once a magic bullet in the war on staph infections. 10But since 1996, a number of untreatable staph cases have been reported as resistant to Vancomycin treatment. 11The hope was that the injectable antibiotic Synercid would step into the breach and kill Vancomycin-resistant bacteria. 12Unfortunately, Synercid has serious side effects. 13More importantly, though, there are already signs that some bacteria can stand up to even this potent antibiotic. T.S. ______

Topic?a.antibiotics and super-bacteria

b.antibiotics as wonder drugs.

c.new and incurable diseases

In your own words, what idea about the topic does the author want to communicate?


5.31High credit card balances could be costing you hundreds of dollars in

interest payments each year. 2To pay off your credit card debts and save yourself money, create and then stick to a strict payment plan. 3The first step in paying off your debts involves making a firm resolution to do so. 4Make a promise to rid yourself of the extra expense of owing creditors. 5As part of this resolution, avoid adding more changes; you may need to destroy your credit cards in order to resist the temptation to use them again. 6Second, if you have several credit card debts, you may want to consider consolidating them. 7If possible, use a card with the lowest interest rate to pay off the others, or obtain a lower-interest personal bank loan to pay off all of your cards and to reduce your overall interest rate. 8Third, always pay more than the minimum balance required by each creditor. 9This will allow you to pay off the cards more quickly and save more money. 10Once you pay off all of your debts, save credit cards for emergencies only. 11Plan to save money to purchase items rather than obtain them on credit. T.S. _____

Topic?a.getting rid of debtb.getting rid of credit card debtc.buying on credit

In your own words, what idea about the topic does the author want to communicate?


A Word to the Wise

Although they aren’t as reliable as the topicsentences just covered, transitions are also clues to major details. Transitions like next, first, second, and finally frequently introduce major details. In effect, they say to readers, “Here’s another one. Pay attention.”


5.3 Writers Often Expect Readers to Infer Some Supporting Details.

Where in the following passage does the author tell readers that the second sentence illustrates the first?

“Cross training is used by many organizationsto eliminate job tedium. At Ciba-Geigy, anagricultural chemical plant, workers set schedules, handle costs, and do job training.”


5.3 Inferring Supporting Details

The correct answer is nowhere, because the writer expects readers to infer that the second sentence illustrates the first. Writers don’t putall the supporting details on the page. Theyoften expect readers to supply a few, so be prepared to supply the necessary connections anddetails that the author suggests but does notexpress in words.


5.3 Inferring Supporting Details

What inferences is the reader expected to supply in order to make the following passage meaningful?


5.3 Inferring Supporting DetailsIn 1965, John Lewis, Georgia’s long-time congressionalrepresentative, was a passionate civil rights activist, whoparticipated in the march over Selma, Alabama’s

blockadedEdmund Petrus bridge. During the march, Lewis and 90 other demonstrators were badly hurt. But the televisedviolence against the demonstrators, outraged the public,and increased support for African-American civil rights.Twenty-three years later, when Barack Obama wasinaugurated, Lewis said, “Barack Obama is what comes atthe end of that bridge in Selma.”


You’ve previewed the major concepts and skills introduced in Chapter 5. Take this quick quiz to test your mastery of those skills and concepts, and you are ready to read the chapter.

Finishing Up: Focus on Supporting Details


Finishing Up: Focusing on Supporting Details

1. If this is the topic sentence—”Prior to 2001, women in the American military rarely saw combat, but that is no longer true today.”—which one of the following sentences should be the major detail?


a. In the military, women are barred from joining combat branches like the infantry and special forces.

b. In Iraq and Afghanistan, Army commanders, short of male soldiers, have quietly “attached” women to combat units.

c. In 1948, women were granted permanent status in the Army, Navy, Air Force, and Marines.




2. In the the following topic sentence, what words would you expect the major details to further develop: “Giacomo Rizzolatti of Italy’s University of Parma has done some very interesting research on “mirror neurons.”



Explaining Answer 2: The most obvious phrase to be addressed by the major supporting details is “mirror neurons.” Even an audience of experts would expect some kind of definition. But “Rizzolatti’s interesting research” would also require some explanation. Without a definition of mirror neurons and an explanation of the research, the topic sentence would raise expectations in the reader that go unanswered.


Just So You Know

Mirror neurons are nerve cells activated in the brain when animals, including humans, watch someone else perform an activity. For instance, if you were intently watching someone putting together the pieces of a book shelf, the neurons firing in your brain would resemble those of the person you are watching.



3. In this pair of sentences, sentence a is a major detail and sentence b a minor one.

Can you explain what makes the difference?

a. Abraham Maslow was a psychologist, who tried to explain the commonly reported of experience of being suddenly overwhelmed by feelings of wonder and happiness.

b. Maslow called that feeling a “peak experience.”



4. In the two topic sentences that follow, which word or phrase provides a clue to the major supporting details?

a. Astonishing though it might seem, many industries have begun advocating for more

government intervention.

b. The early twentieth century saw the emergence of several significant art movements.



5. What follows are two supporting details for this topic sentence: “The Civil War that tore the country apart had a powerful impact on the country’s farmers.” After you read the topic sentence, explain what information the reader has to supply to make the three sentences make sense.



a. The Civil War had ravaged the countryside, leaving thousands of farmers with barely enough money to make ends meet.

b. From that desperation emerged “The Farmers Alliance,” an agricultural organization determined to gain political power and change how the nation was run.


Brain Teaser Challenge


Brain Teaser ChallengeRead the following four quotations. Then decidewhich more general main idea they illustrate.

a. “I don’t care if a dude is purple with green breath as long as he can swing.” ( Miles Davis)

b. “So what if we’re Asian. Listen to the flow of our rhyme, and you’ll forget what color we are.” (Chops, former member of the Asian-American rap group, Mountain Brothers)


Brain Teaser Challengec. Long before the Civil Rights Act, long before Brown

vs. The Board of Education, and long before President Truman’s integration of the armed forces, black and white musicians were breaking social taboos to learn from each other. (Jeff Perry, diversity trainer)

d. “I don’t care if he’s purple [referring to white rapper Eminem], as long as he can rap!” (Dr. Dre)


The four quotes about music and musicians provide support for which more general quotation?

1. Music of all the arts has the most influence on the passions. (Napoleon Bonaparte)

2. If music be the food of love, play on. (Shakespeare)3. Music is the universal language of mankind. (Henry

Wadsworth Longfellow)4. I don’t know anything about music. In my line, you

don’t have to. (Elvis Presley)

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