Supporting Main Ideas
Writers usually focus on a few main ideas in a piece of writing. Then they use interesting details and example to support these main points. These supporting details and examples help the reader to understand and appreciate the writer's main ideas.
Example
It could be worse. (main idea) In some languages most nouns have different forms for different sexes. (supporting detail) For example, in Spanish, a male lawyer is an abogado, and a female lawyer is an abogada. (supporting example)