Level 5 — Advanced · Technical & Evidence-Based Writing
Task 87: Writing a Paragraph With One Main Idea and Real Support
Write a short paragraph with one clear main-idea sentence and two to three genuinely supporting sentences, not tangents — the production side of Lesson 87's information-hierarchy skill, and the final writing task in this course so far.
Learning Objectives
By the end of this task, you should be able to:
- Write one sentence that states a paragraph's actual main idea, not just its topic
- Write two to three supporting sentences that genuinely develop the main idea, not just relate to it
- Apply the removal test to your own paragraph to confirm every sentence earns its place
Introduction
Lesson 87 — the last lesson in this course's reading track — taught you to sort a paragraph's sentences into a hierarchy: a main idea, genuine support, illustration, and mere detail. This task asks you to build that hierarchy yourself, deliberately, sentence by sentence, rather than just recognizing it when someone else has already written it.
The Rule, for Writing
Core Concept
A main-idea sentence states the paragraph's actual point, not merely its topic. Each supporting sentence must then do real work for that point — a reason, evidence, or explanation that would weaken the paragraph if removed (apply Lesson 87's removal test to your own writing) — not simply mention something related to the same subject.
Example
Topic: warehouse robots. Weak paragraph (support drifts into unrelated detail): "Warehouse robots are increasingly common. They were first developed decades ago. Many companies now use them." Strong paragraph (main idea + real support): "Warehouse robots can significantly cut order-picking time, but only where inventory stays organized. When shelving is predictable, robots retrieve items directly, cutting walking time almost entirely. When inventory is rearranged frequently, however, robots struggle to relocate items, and the time savings shrink sharply." Removing either supporting sentence here weakens the point; removing the weak paragraph's second sentence changes nothing at all.
Your Turn
Your Turn
Pick a process, technology, or policy you know well. Write one academic-register paragraph (120-150 words): a single sentence stating your main idea, not just the topic, followed by two or three supporting sentences that each genuinely develop that idea — a reason, evidence, or an explanation — rather than sentences that merely relate to the same subject. Before finishing, apply the removal test to each supporting sentence in your head.
Vocabulary in Context
removal testnoun phrasecourse term
a way to judge a sentence's importance by imagining it deleted and seeing what, if anything, is lost (অপসারণ পরীক্ষা)
Often with apply the removal test, use the removal test, removal test for
“Apply the removal test: if deleting the sentence changes nothing, cut it.”
tangentnounneutral
a sentence that relates loosely to the topic but does not actually support the main idea (মূল বিষয় থেকে বিচ্যুতি)
Often with go off on a tangent, tangent from, brief tangent
“A sentence about office parking is a tangent in a report on gate delays.”
rhetorical weightnoun phraseformal
how much a sentence actually matters to a paragraph's point, regardless of its length or position (বাচনিক গুরুত্ব)
Often with carry rhetorical weight, greater rhetorical weight, rhetorical weight of
“A short concluding sentence can carry more rhetorical weight than a long paragraph.”
Model Answer
Show a model answer
Automating berth scheduling can meaningfully reduce vessel turnaround time, but only in ports with consistently high cargo volume. In three high-volume ports, automated scheduling cut turnaround time by roughly 30 percent, because the system had enough daily bookings to optimize berth assignments efficiently. In two smaller ports, however, turnaround time barely improved, since there were too few vessels scheduled each week for the algorithm to find any meaningful efficiency gain. Staff at the smaller ports also reported continuing to adjust assignments manually, which further limited the system's effect. This pattern suggests the benefit depends less on the technology itself than on whether a port generates enough scheduling volume to make automated optimization worthwhile in the first place.
Self-Check
Self-Check
- Does your first sentence state an actual main idea, not just a topic?
- Does each supporting sentence pass the removal test — would the paragraph genuinely weaken without it?
- Did you avoid at least one tangent — a sentence that relates to the topic but does no real supporting work?
- Is the paragraph within 120-150 words and written in an academic register?
This is the final writing task in the course so far — there is no Writing 88 yet. Keep applying this hierarchy test to your own writing outside these lessons; the habit doesn't stop mattering just because the numbered tasks do.