In illustration, the examples show or prove your stated main point.
A student who had written the thesis Homeschooling is beneficial to both the child and the parent focused her prewriting on finding examples of benefits of homeschooling. Here are some examples from her brainstorming.
| individualized to child | parent and child have control |
| parent and child together | more flexibility |
| at child’s own pace | considers child’s learning style |
| one- |
education is part of regular life |
An illustration essay usually uses several examples as support points. The writer of the prewriting on homeschooling selected “individualized to child” as one support point and asked herself, “What do I mean? How? In what ways?” to find supporting details.
She also chose “parent and child have control” as another major example that would support the thesis. She then asked herself, “How do they have more control?” and listed potential supporting details.
control over materials used (what books, what computer programs, what approach)
control over time of instruction (what hours of the day, based on child’s natural rhythms, vacations — not tied to a school’s calendar)