Question

Read the paragraph.

Keeping my mind on my writing is not easy when I stay at my grandmother's ocean-side cottage. Just about the time that I am going along pretty well, I glance out the window and see two huge bald eagles swooping and tumbling in a spectacular aerial display. Naturally, I have to leave my desk and rush to the doorway to watch the performance as long as it lasts. Then, as if a conspiracy were trying to keep me from working, two otters poke their shiny heads out of the water and hang there motionless. They watch to see what I am doing. As soon as I return to my desk, seagulls wheel into my window view and screech as they search for scraps of food. Within minutes this confusion of sounds stirs my aging St. Bernard out of a deep sleep and he hauls his massive, lumbering body over to be petted. Mickey, my cat, can't stand to see any partiality so he is soon pacing back and forth across my ankles. As I wiggle my bare toes to tease Mickey, I realize that my legs have become stiff. I remember that I have not had my daily ride. So, I slip on my sandals, step out the door, spring onto my bike and pedal off down the beach. Meanwhile the composition in my typewriter sits and grows colder.

In complete sentences name four details which develop the topic sentence.

Answer 1

1. When work is advancing well, the person looks out the window and gets distracted by one thing after another.

2. After the individual returns to their desk, the noise awakens their dog, who walks over to them to be pet. The cat becomes jealous and wants to be pet as well, disturbing the owner.

3. The person then realizes that they have not yet gone outside for their daily bicycle ride, so they leave to do that.

4. As the individual is riding their bicycle towards the beach, what they were writing within the typewriter sits alone and forgotten.

Step-by-step explanation:

The topic sentence here is that "Keeping my mind on my writing is not easy when I stay at my grandmother's ocean-side cottage". The four pieces of evidence developing that thought are supporting ideas, adding more weight to the sentence, making it more real and having it make more sense. To find out what these four sentences could be, read the paragraph carefully, perhaps multiple times, and come up with all of the events that were mentioned. Then, divide those events into four categories. Here's how I did it.

First, I came up with a list of things that happen and add weight to the argument: the person looks out the window briefly, gets distracted by what they see, their dog wants to be pet, the cat wants to be pet too, the person remembers they didn't ride their bike yet that day, and they leave, forgetting their writing in the typewriter.

Next, I divided it into 4 - the more plausible things going together. Looking out the window, that's not directly related to anything else in the list other than getting distracted by one thing after another. The dog and the cat wanting to be pet are pretty similar ideas, so I put those together as one of the details. Remembering that they didn't go biking and leaving the house are directly related, so I put those together. Then, there is only one idea left - the writing forgotten in the typewriter.

Hope this helps! And I hope it's not too late :)