Developing Main Points

[borrelli_13]

I took the GMAT last month. I did ok (660), but I did poorly on the essays (3.5). I felt as if I followed the structure recommended in the Essay Lab. However, I think my biggest issue is not coming up with main ideas to support or counter the argument/issue, but developing those ideas. I started the body paragraphs off with the main point, then followed up with an example. But I tend to freeze up after that. Can anyone offer some ideas as to how to develop the point further?

Thanks,
Adam

[StaceyKoprince]

I'm sorry that it took us so long to answer your post.

In general, you need to do a couple of things with your example. You need to offer enough detail (typically about 2 sentences) to give the background or context for the example - basically explaining it so that someone else can understand what you're talking about. Then, you also want to explain why this example is relevant to the overall point that you're trying to make (your thesis statement from the first paragraph) - and that also might take 1-2 sentences.

So this would give you 4-6 sentences: 1-2 to make your main point / introduce your example, 2 to give further detail about the example, and 1-2 to explain why this example supports your overall thesis.