Moving from general to specific General information is

Moving from general to specific: General information is useful; it let’s the reader know what you’re talking about. Specific information is useful; it offers necessary and persuasive details that give your argument credibility and rhetorical power.

General Less General Specific More Specific Very Specific Earth North America The United States California Los Angeles A book A famous novel from the 1800 s A famous novel by Herman Melville “Moby Dick” by Herman Melville, written in 1851, is one of the most famous novels of all time. Stuff Hung out with friends downtown Went clubbing with Sarah and Peter at “The Vault” Weird I feel anxious I’m concerned about the about money future after college I’m worried about making enough money with my communications degree after college because I have a lot of student debt. It’s cool I like the way The picture it looks has a lot of interesting detail The picture shows a color image of London in the present in the background, and a black and white image of London from 1921 in the center. The picture shows how a place looked in the present and the past.

Different ideas require different levels of specificity: this will depend heavily upon your audience. Stranger I was late I’m sick I need money I’m in love New desks will cost $8000 The party was great last night Best Friend Doctor Boss

For essays, look at the following guidelines: Specific General Essay Topic Thesis Evidence For the most part, your paragraphs will start out being general and end up being specific, but there are multiple ways to do this. For example: Intro Body Conclusion Introduce topic Narrow focus State thesis Preview main points Topic sentence Introduce evidence Tie evidence back to thesis Summarize main points Restate thesis Look at the bigger picture