WRITING LESSON: Four Ways to Develop the Main Point of a Paragraph

1. Development by Detail (using a bell word and echoes)

This is the method you will probably use most often. Using this method, you simply expand on the idea in the topic sentence by giving examples or illustrations. Take a careful look at my paragraph below, in which I used development by detail.

TS Today the weather warmed up to the low 50s, and somehow this helped the day seem especially harmonious for me. SD Everything seemed to work together for good. CM Nothing extraordinary happened, just a great number of little experiences that blended together in perfect concord. CM With the spring-like weather came a tranquility that was more than welcome after a very busy week. SD I graded papers in the morning at my desk, and the work seemed to go as smoothly as it ever has. CM I had my lamp directly over the papers, giving me an ideal light for reading and for writing comments. CM My words to the students came easily, almost, it seemed, without effort. SD Later, I went to school and prepared for the coming week. CM There was a look of spring outside my big windows, with birds flashing back and forth and the trees moving slightly in the breezes. CM There seemed to be a sense of peacefulness outside, and CS I felt the same feeling in my room as I listened to Mozart and assembled materials for another good week ahead.

In this paragraph, the main point of the topic sentence is that the day was “harmonious”, which I developed in the paragraph by simply giving some examples, or illustrations. I graded papers with a peaceful feeling, and I prepared for the week with the same kind of harmonious feeling.

By the way, I call the most important word in the topic sentence the “bell word” (in bold), and the italicized words are its “echo words”. I ‘ring’ the main idea in the topic sentence, and then I ring that same word (or synonyms of it) a few times throughout the paragraph or essay, just to remind the reader what the main point is.


2. Development by Comparison and/or Contrast

When you are discussing two or more objects, chapters, poems, characters, books, etc., it might be best to develop your paragraph by using comparison and/or contrast. In a formula paragraph, it’s quite easy to do this, since you can devote one “chunk” to each item. I used this technique in the paragraph below:

TS In Jane Austen’s novel Emma, there are decided contrasts between Emma, her friend Harriet Smith, and Emma’s father. SD Emma is a strong-willed, opinionated, and seemingly fearless young woman. CM Every sentence she speaks radiates vigor and confidence. CM She appears to be a woman who has never known defeat or failure, for she self-assuredly strides ahead into any endeavor that strikes her fancy. SD Quite to the contrary, her friend Harriet is a somewhat mousy person. CM She can’t seem to stride forward in any endeavor. CM She even comes to Emma for advice about how to respond to a marriage proposal! SD In utter contrast to both of the women is Emma’s father, a paranoid hypochondriac who spends hours worrying about the weather. CM He is neither confident like Emma, nor modest like Harriet, but is is simply a loud, thoughtless, arrogant fusspot. CM If the author was trying to highlight the women’s qualities by juxtaposing them to those of Emma’s foolish and vain father, she certainly succeeded. CS It’s rare that three such contrasting characters can be found in the pages of such a short novel.

Again, notice that the ‘bell word’ is in bold, and its echoes are in italics.

3. Development by Process
Using this method, a write develops the topic of the paragraph by simply describing a process. I used it in the paragraph below to describe the process by which an author made her main character come to life. (The two bell words are in bold. Can you find the echo words?)

TS In George Eliot’s novel Middlemarch, the heroine, Dorothea Brooke, begins as a somewhat flighty and impractical idealist, but ends as an admirable and heroic woman. SD In the first few chapters, the reader has a worried feeling about this young romantic person – a woman who sees everything through rosy glasses and seems incapable of noticing the evil that’s right in front of her. CM Dorothea totally fails to see the phoniness of Mr. Casaubon, even though it’s sadly obvious to even a careless reader. CM She blithely goes about the business of pledging herself to him for the rest of her life, never catching sight of the fact that he is a doomed man. SD However, as the novel proceeds, the reader sees a slow change in Dorothea. CM She is gradually forced to face the realities of her life with Casaubon, and she slowly accepts them with an admirable measure of dignity and strength. CM The reader sees a strong, mature woman progressively emerging. SD Finally, at the end of the story, Dorothea is clearly the strongest character in the book. CM She has molded herself into a clear-thinking and brave woman. CM Even her arch-enemies, in the end, have to pay homage to her wisdom and courage. CS It’s a steady process of transformation, and the author handles it with ease and artistry.

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