Main Idea in A Passage or Article

 

MAIN IDEA IN A PASSAGE

Finding the Main Idea

The main idea is the central point or thought the author wants to communicate to readers. The main idea answers the question, “What does the author want me to know about the topic?” or “What is the author teaching me?” Often the author states the main idea in a single sentence.

In paragraphs, a stated main idea is called the topic sentence.

 In an article, the stated main idea is called the thesis statement.

When the author does not state the main idea directly, it is called an implied main idea. An implied main idea requires you to look at the specific statements in the paragraph and consider what idea they suggest.

Why is identifying the main idea important?

            Finding the main idea is key to understanding what you read. The main idea ties all of the sentences in the paragraph or article together. Once you identify the main idea, everything else in the reading should click into place. The rest of the reading is the evidence provided to support that main idea.

Finding the Main Idea

  Find the topic first. You have to know the topic before you can determine the main idea. Preview your text and ask yourself,

Ø  What is the text about?

Ø  Who is the writer?”

Ø  What is the author teaching me about?

Ø  How did the author provide his information?

Ø  Why did the author write the passage or article?

  You can answer this by finding the idea that is common to most of the text. Use these clues to help find the main idea:

1.                 Read the first and last sentences of the paragraph. Authors often state the main idea near the beginning or end of a paragraph.

2.                 Pay attention to any idea that is repeated in different ways. If an author returns to the same thought in several different sentences, that idea is the main or central thought under discussion.

3.                 Look for a sentence that states the main idea. This is the stated main idea or topic sentence.

4.                 Look for reversal transitions at the beginning of sentences. These signal that the author is going to modify the previous idea. When a reversal transition opens the second sentence of a paragraph, there’s a good chance that the second sentence is the topic sentence e and a stated main idea.

Some samples of reversal transitions:

But

 Nevertheless

 Still

 Conversely

Nonetheless

 Unfortunately

 Even so

On the contrary

 When in fact

 However

 On the other hand

 Yet

 In contrast

 Regardless

 5.        At times the main idea will not be stated directly. This is called an implied main idea.  Read all of the specific statements, not just the ones that open the paragraphs. Think of a general statement that could sum up the specifics.

6. Once you feel sure that you have found the main idea, test it. Ask yourself if the sentence could act as a summary of the other sentences in the paragraph.

 After Finding the Main Idea

Do the examples, reasons, and facts explain or give evidence supporting the main idea you have in mind?

If they do, then you are right on target. If they don’t, revise your main idea.

Paragraph 1 Stated Main Idea

What is motion? Consider a ball that you notice one morning in the middle of a lawn. Later in the afternoon, you notice that the ball is at the edge of the lawn, against a fence, and you wonder if the wind or some person moved the ball. You do not know if the wind blew it at a steady rate, if many gusts of wind moved it, or even if some children kicked it all over the yard. All you know for sure is that the ball has been moved because it is in a different position after some time passed. These are the two important aspects of motion: (1) a change of position and(2) the passage of time.

Find the topic first.

Ask: “What is this paragraph about?” In Paragraph 1, the first sentence asks, “What is motion?”                                     

The general topic is motion.

 Ask yourself. “What does the author want me to know about the topic?”

What does the author want me to know about motion?  

Read the first and last sentences of the paragraph. The last sentence appears to answer the question “What is motion?” Does this mean that sentence is the stated main idea?  

Once you feel sure that you have found the main idea, test it.

The topic is motion, and the paragraph describes a ball being moved over time.

The other sentences repeat “moved” and “time.” The last sentence includes both of those ideas.

Stated main idea of the above passage:

 “These are the two important aspects of motion:

 (1) a change of position and

(2) the passage of time.”

Paragraph 1 is actually the start of an article. Not only is the sentence a stated main idea and the topic sentence of the paragraph, but it is also the thesis for an article that explains how position and time, and equal motion.

See Another Example of the Stated Main Idea

 

Old people say that childhood is the best part of Man’s life. They look back at their childhood and remember all its happy days—the jolly games, the long rambles in the country, the fun they had at school, the kind father and mother and little sister and brothers, the old homes, the sweets and cakes they used to eat, the children’s parties, the jokes they used to play, and the presents they got. When they were children, they did not work hard to get something to eat; their mothers gave them all they wanted. The world to them was a very beautiful place, and they did not know that men could be cruel and hard. They did know how false and dishonest people could be. So, they sometimes sigh and wish they could be children again.

Topic sentence: ­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­____________________________________________________

What does the author want me to know about the passage? ________________

__________________________________________________________________

Read and first and Last sentence of the passage and compare them___________

_________________________________________________________________

Test the main idea_______________________________________

Summarize the passage

____________________________________________________

___________________________________________________

___________________________________________________

__________________________________________________

Answer the Questions from the passage

1.    What do people remember about their childhood?

2.    How did they get something to eat when they were hungry?

3.    Why was the world to them a beautiful place to live?

4.    What did they not know about the character of the people?

5.    Why did the old people sometimes sigh?

 

Paragraph: Reversal Transitions

 Enormous energy, enthusiasm, and organization drove the reform efforts in America in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, much of it a result of social crises and political movements in the United States. But the “age of reform,” as some scholars have called it, was not an American phenomenon alone. It was part of a wave of social experimentation that was occurring throughout much of the industrial world. “Progressivism” in other countries influenced the social movements in the United States. And American reform, in turn, had a significant influence on other countries as well.

Look for reversal transitions at the beginning of sentences.

 In this Paragraph, the second sentence begins with “But” and signals that the author is modifying the previous idea. There’s a good chance that the second sentence is the topic sentence and a stated main idea.

 To test this,  read the third sentence. Since it supports the second sentence, It is the main idea.

Stated main idea:

But the “age of reform,” as some scholars have called it,

was not an American phenomenon alone.

Paragraph 4: Implied Main Idea

The very name of our country, the United States of America, suggests both unity and division. To the modern citizen, it is the unity that counts, with Americans generally thinking of themselves living in one country divided mainly by geography. But there was a time when many Americans thought in distinctly different terms. In 1774 when John Adams spoke of "our country," he meant Massachusetts. Even Thomas Jefferson took a while to move beyond his own region of birth and in his early years, "my country" usually meant Virginia to him. Consider, too, the original heading for the Declaration of Independence, which was described as "The Unanimous Declaration of the Thirteen United States of America." As Daniel Boorstein has written in The Americans, "An unsuspecting historian a thousand years hence might assume...that the Declaration brought into being thirteen new and separate nations...." In 1787, Oliver Ellsworth of Connecticut participated in making plans for a federal government that would have power over the entire country. However, his words suggest that his head and heart were at war with each other. Like many others, Ellsworth knew that the states should strive for unity. Yet for him, it was his home state that inspired the strongest patriotic feeling, as he publicly declared "my happiness depends as much on the existence of my state government, as a newborn infant depends upon its mother for nourishment." Ellsworth was not alone in these sentiments.

Implied Main Idea

At times the main idea will not be stated directly. This is called an implied main idea.  Identify the topic.

The first sentence in the Paragraph  introduces “United States of America” as suggesting “unity and division.” A preview of the paragraph shows “state,” “unity,” and “country” repeated throughout. My general topic is state unity.  

Ask yourself.

“What does the author want me to know about the topic?”

 What does the author want me to know about state unity?  

Read all of the specific statements, not just the ones that open the paragraphs.

Be aware of transitions that show relationships or a reversal.

The reversal transition “But” is in the third sentence. It states

“there was a time when many to Americans thought in distinctly different terms.”

What was the thought and when was that time?  

Pay attention to any idea that is repeated in different ways. The author gives several examples of the founding fathers and their love of their states.  

Think of a general statement that could sum up the specifics as effectively as any stated topic sentence.

As there is no topic sentence, you will have to write one. The main idea you write must be a complete sentence that contains a subject and a verb and expresses a complete thought.

Subject	Verb	Critical Information
Who or What is this paragraph about?	What is the subject doing in the paragraph?	How, Why, When, or Where?	= Main Idea

 

Once you feel sure that you have found the main idea, test it.

1.    Ask yourself if the sentence could act as a summary of the other sentences in the paragraph.

2.    Be sure that none of the sentences contradicts your general statement.

3.    Do the examples, reasons, and facts included in the reading explain or give evidence supporting the main idea you have in mind?  

Implied Main Idea: Early in the history of the United States, many Americans were more devoted to their own home states than the idea of a common country.