3 Breaking Down a Text: Finding the Supporting Details

What is a supporting detail?

A detail is part of the text used to support an idea, often an example, quotation, or statistic that helps the reader understand what the author is trying to say.

When an author works to make a point, they are expressing a main idea. In addition to telling readers that point or idea, the author will show that point is valid by adding supporting details. In other words, they will offer some specifics to back up and illustrate the point they are making. Supporting details help to make the points clear and more credible. Those details often make the point easier to remember as well.

How can I find the supporting details?

When you are identifying the supporting details an author uses, below are helpful clues to look for.

Names: Often an author will use a specific person’s story or circumstances to illustrate a point. Similarly, an author might will use someone with expertise or professional experience to support a point. When an author introduces someone by name, that is a good clue that you are looking at a supporting detail move.

Capital Letters: Just like looking for names, specific places or titles that are proper nouns (they start with capital letters) are another good clue for identifying a supporting detail.

Numbers: When you see a number in a sentence, the author is usually offering a specific detail such as a statistic, a date, or an amount.

Descriptions: Authors use specific details and stories to illustrate a broader point, so look for descriptive words. Description details are ones that help “paint a word picture” in a reader’s mind, so they are often connected to the five senses. Ask yourself, what details does the author give to help readers imagine how to see, hear, feel, smell, and/or taste what they are describing?

Quotations: When authors are quoting other people, they are bringing in the experience or opinion of others to illustrate or support the point they are making. Look for quotations as another clue for finding supporting details. You can recognize a quote as words found inside quotation marks like this, “I am creating a quote here.” Quotations will be combined with other clues like the name of the person being quoted and numbers or descriptive detail in the quotation of what that person said.

Transitions: As authors work to guide the reader’s attention from one sentence to the next, they will use transition words and phrases to show the relationship between ideas. Look for transitions that signal the author is making a supporting detail move, such as offering an example. When you see words like “for example,” “for instance,” “specifically, or “to illustrate,” the author is signaling that they are about to offer a supporting detail.