The Confident Writer
Chapter 5:
Supporting Your Thesis
After you’ve written a thesis, you need
to find evidence to support it.
 Arranged your evidence based on the
divisions in your thesis.
 Write an informal outline

 Each division in your thesis becomes a main idea
that supports your thesis.

Find facts, reasons, and examples to
support your main ideas.
Find Evidence to Support Your
Thesis
Thesis:
I can’t wait until spring
break because I plan on
relaxing, spending quality
time with my Kindle, and
enjoying family time.
Main Ideas:
a. Relaxing
b. Kindle-time
c. Catching up on family
news
The Informal
Outline
The informal outline is
simply your thesis and
your main ideas.
Using a graded essay,
draft an informal
outline.


Choose specific details and arrange them
logically.
Your thesis is your central or controlling
idea.


It determines your essays development and selection of
details.
Follow this logical plan to achieve unity and
coherence:
thesis  topic sentence  major details  minor
details
 Look at the formal outline on page 116-117.
Arrange Your Supporting Evidence
Thesis:
I can’t wait until spring break because I plan on
relaxing, spending quality time with my Kindle, and
enjoying family time.
I.
Relaxing
A. Catching up on sleep
B. Catching up on DVRed shows
1.
2.
3.
II.
C. Catching up on housework
Kindle-time
A. Books I’m working on
1.
2.
3.
III.
Spartacus
Glee
American Idol
20 Under 40
For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide
Who’s Afraid of Virginia Wolfe
B. Books I want to read
Enjoying family time
A. Lunch with Mom
B. Spend time with the boys
1.
2.
3.
Movies
Park
Crafts
The Formal
Outline
The formal outline is
more elaborate than an
informal outline. At
this point, you are
deciding on major and
minor details to support
your main ideas. The
structure of a formal
outline is also more
complex.
Using a graded essay,
try to draft an formal
outline.
Coherence is how well your ideas hold together.
What ties your introductory, body, and
concluding paragraphs together is your thesis,
your controlling idea, and the transitional
words and phrases within and between the
paragraphs.
 Types of transition include:


 Signal words
 Words, phrases, or ideas repeated from paragraph to
paragraph
 Key words or terms repeated throughout entire essay
Achieve Coherence between
Paragraphs


Your conclusion should not leave the reader
hanging!
There are several ways to conclude an essay:
◦ Use one of the following introduction strategies
 Relating an anecdote
 Being with a quotation and explanation
 Using interesting facts and figures
 Asking a revealing question
◦ Summarize thesis and support
◦ Predict the future
◦ Challenge your readers
Write an Effective Conclusion