Finding the Main Idea

1
Finding the Main Idea

• How to Read
• Smarter

2
The Point

• The main idea is the big point (big picture) that
  the writer is communicating to the reader.
• Often the reader can approach the main idea just
  by looking at the title.
• For example, a passage titled Why Doctors
  Deserve More Dollars will include reasons for
  that idea.

3
The Roof Figure

• Try to see the main idea as a roof.
• It should be big enough to include everything in
  the reading passage.
• But it shouldnt be too big for the text.

4
Main Idea
ma

• Main Idea - is like the heart
• of the text or a paragraph.
• It is the controlling idea.
• All the other supporting details in the text or
  within a paragraph should tell us more about the
  main idea.

5
General Versus Specific

• The main idea is a general one.
• The supporting ideas in the passage are specific
  ones.
• Which word is the most general
• Potato or Vegetable?

6
What about the topic?

• The topic is the general subject of a reading
  passage.
• To find the topic, just ask yourself Who or
  what is this passage about?
• The topic can be expressed in a word or a phrase.

7
The Topic Sentence

• Many paragraphs have topic sentences that
  indicate what their about.
• Find the topic sentence in this paragraph
• Homeless people have many problems. In
  winter, its hard to stay warm and it gets too
  hot in summer. Its also hard to keep things
  safe without a home. Worst is the lack of
  privacy.

8
Supporting Details

• Supporting details prove the value of the main
  idea. What are they here?
• Homeless people have many problems. In
  winter, its hard to stay warm and it gets too
  hot in summer. Its also hard to keep things
  safe without a home. Worst is the lack of
  privacy.

9
Get the Point?

• Read this short paragraph
• Engineers create wealth for society. So, tennis
  is a game and the resources of the earth are
  scarce. Have you gone mad? Thus the only solution
  is to educate the public on being socially
  responsible.

10
Get the Point?

• We would go crazy if texts were written like this
  all the time.
• It was difficult to understand because it was
  made of different ideas that did not link. There
  was no common thread.
• The good news is that normal passages have main
  ideas!