A short essay usually has between three and five primary points that support the thesis statement. Longer pieces of writing require more support. Each primary support point becomes the topic sentence of its own paragraph. Each paragraph presents details that support that topic sentence.

The following sections detail the steps in supporting a thesis statement.

PREWRITE TO FIND SUPPORT

Reread your thesis and imagine your readers asking, “What do you mean?” To answer this question and generate support for your thesis, try using one or more of the prewriting techniques discussed in Chapter 2.

DROP UNRELATED IDEAS

After prewriting, remind yourself of your main point. Then, review your prewriting carefully, and drop any ideas that are not directly related to your main point. If new ideas occur to you, write them down.

SELECT THE BEST SUPPORT POINTS

After dropping unrelated ideas, review the ones that remain, and select those that will be clearest and most convincing to your readers. As noted earlier, short essays usually have three to five primary support points. They will become the topic sentences for your support paragraphs.