Main+Ideas&Supporting+Details

**Finding the Main Idea** 

What is the main point the author is trying to make? What is the author’s point? 

1. __Main idea questions__ require a broad understanding of the selection as a whole. The main idea is the author’s most general point.

2. Look for __evidence__ or __details__ that __support__ the main idea. These details will tell something specific about the major idea.

3. Pay careful attention to anything __outside the body__ of the text that might help you understand it. This could be an __introduction__ or a __picture__.

4. __Book titles__ and __illustrations__ also tell you what the book is about. Study them carefully.

5. __Special type__ and __headings__ have something important to tell you. Make sure you understand why they are used.

In each of the following groups, you are given the General Point and you will provide the statements of support.**
 * A. Determining between a General Point and a Statement of Support.

1. My friend is my best friend.

a.

b.

c.

2. I have specific goals in life.

a.

b.

c.

3. I absolutely love/hate school.

a.

b.

c.

In the following groups, one statement is the general point and the other statements are specific support for the point. Identify each point with G and underline the word or phrase that makes it general. And, on the line of each statement of support, mark an S.**
 * Practice 1:

1. a. My family has real problems.

b. My mother has cancer.

c. My sister is pregnant.

d. I lost my job.

2. a. He never gives praise.

b. He lacks a sense of humor.

c. My boss is hard to work for.

d. He times all our breaks to the second.

3. a. We had different political beliefs.

b. The date was a nightmare.

c. We were dressed completely differently.

d. Both of us were too nervous to say anything.

4. a. Last night we could hear and smell a large animal prowling outside our tent.

b. Green flies with stinging bites are in abundance around our tent.

c. The time has come to find a new campsite.

d. Nearby we came upon a nest of baby rattlesnakes.

5. a. Children are at risk at the school.

b. There are two active gangs in the school.

c. Knives and guns have been found in lockers

d. Drug busts have been made in school.

6. a. Cats are clean and do not require much attention

b. There are definite advantages to having a cat as a pet

c. Cats like living indoors and are safe to have around children

d. Cats are inexpensive to feed and easy to keep healthy.

7. a. The American food industry is serving ever larger portions of food to American consumers.

b. Fast food restaurants including Burger King, McDonald’s, and Taco Bell offer “super-sized” meals to customers.

c. Many chain restaurants in the U.S today offer “all you can eat” buffets.

d. Supermarkets now feature oversized or “family size” portions of many foods.

**B. Finding the Topic, Main-Idea Sentence, and Supporting Details.** 

1. First read the paragraph to find the __topic__. The topic of the paragraph will answer this question: __What, in a single word, is the above paragraph about__?

2.Second, authors present their main idea in a single sentence: __thesis statement__ in an essay, __topic sentence__ in a paragraph. Locate thesis statement or topic sentence.

3. Then pick out specific __supporting details.__

P ** ractice 1: Below are groups of four items. In each case, one item is the topic, one is the main idea, and two are details that support and develop the main idea. Label each item with one of the following.**

//**T – for the topic of the paragraph. MI – for the main idea SD – supporting details**// 

8. a. The creakings of a house settling may sound like a monster coming out of a grave.

b. Gusts of wind rattling a bedroom window can sound like invaders about to break in.

c. Night time noises can be frightening to children.

d. Noises at night.

9. a. People vary in the amount of daydreaming they do.

b. Around 2 to 4 percent of the population spend at least half their free tie fantasizing.

c. Almost everyone daydreams about ten percent of the time.

d. Daydreaming.

10. a. Global warming.

b. Melting ice caps will raise ocean water levels and flood coastal areas.

c. A warmer atmosphere may cause droughts that will turn farmlands into deserts.

d. Global warming may cause destructive changes to life on Earth.

**Practice 2**  In the following paragraphs, read each paragraph and do the following:

1. Ask yourself, “What seems to be the __topic__ of the paragraph?” __Underline__ the word or idea repeated in the paragraph.

2. Next, ask yourself, “What was the writer’s __main point__ about this topic?” This will be the main idea. __Circle__ the words to tell __how the author thinks or feels__ about the __topic.__ (Point of view)

3. Then highlight what you think is the main idea sentence by asking, “Is this statement supported by most of the other material in the paragraph?”

Paragraph 1:  1.Extrasensory perception, or ESP, is an area that fascinates people. 2. However, ESP is not

documented by any convincing evidence. 3.For example, it would seem that ESP would be an

excellent way of winning at games of chance, such as played at gambling casinos. 4.But casino

owners in Las Vegas and Atlantic City report no problem with “psychics” winning great sums of

money. 5.Also, although great publicity is generated when a psychic seems to help police solve a

crime, the value of such help has never been scientifically proven. 6.Psychics’ tips are usually

worthless, and a case is solved through traditional police work. 7.And while audiences may be

amazed at the feats of mind readers, the fact is that mind readers will use simple psychological

tricks to exploit their audiences’ willingness to believe.

11. TOPIC

What is the author’s purpose for writing?

WHAT IS THE MAIN POINT THE WRITER MAKING ABOUT THIS TOPIC?

Paragraph 2:  <span style="font-family: 'Lucida Console',Monaco,monospace; font-size: 107.8%;">1. Some people persist in believing that they can drink and be alert drivers. 2.Yet alcohol is

estimated to be a factor in at least half of all fatal highway accidents. 3.Another poor

attitude about driving is the refusal to wear seat belts. 4. Statistics show that the chances of

being seriously hurt or dying in a car accident are greater when a seat belt is not worn. 5.

Also, potentially deadly is the view that the best driving is fast driving. 6.Again, statistics

contradict this attitude – fast driving is more likely to be deadly driving. 7. After speed

limits are lowered, traffic fatalities fall significantly. 8.A final mistaken attitude is the

speaking on a cell phone will not detract from a driver’s attention and response time to

unexpected traffic conditions. 9.Studies prove otherwise, with the result that many have called

for a ban on cell phones while driving. 10.There is simply no question that poor attitudes about

driving contribute to the high rate of traffic accidents and their brutal effects.

12. TOPIC

WHAT IS THE PURPOSE OF THIS PASSAGE:

__W__HAT IS THE MAIN POINT THE WRITER IS MAKING ABOUT THIS TOPIC?


 * <span style="font-family: 'Lucida Sans Unicode','Lucida Grande',sans-serif; font-size: 120%;">C. Find and Use Clue Words to Lead You to the Main Idea **

<span style="font-family: 'Lucida Sans Unicode','Lucida Grande',sans-serif; font-size: 120%;">//Some authors make it fairly easy to find their main idea. They announce it using clue words or phrases that are easy to recognize. One type of clue word is a list word, which tells you a list of items is to follow. For example, “Studies reveal several reasons why some children become bullies.” The expression “several reasons” helps you zero in on your target.//

<span style="background-color: #ffff00; font-family: 'Lucida Sans Unicode','Lucida Grande',sans-serif; font-size: 120%;">A. List words: Several kinds ......................Several causes of .....................Some factors in Three advantages of ...........Five steps ................................Among the results Various reasons for ............A number of effects .................A series of <span style="font-family: 'Lucida Sans Unicode','Lucida Grande',sans-serif; font-size: 120%;">

<span style="background-color: #ff9500; font-family: 'Lucida Sans Unicode','Lucida Grande',sans-serif; font-size: 120%;">Practice 1: Box the list words in the following sentences: <span style="font-family: 'Lucida Sans Unicode','Lucida Grande',sans-serif; font-size: 120%;"> 13. American workers can be said to earn several types of income.

14. Water pollution takes two forms.

15. The purchase price of a house is only one of the various costs that buyers must consider.

16. Problem solving usually involves a series of four steps.

17.The increasing flow of women in the labor force was caused by a number of economic factors.

<span style="font-family: 'Lucida Sans Unicode','Lucida Grande',sans-serif; font-size: 120%;"> //There is another type of clue word that can alert you to the main idea. This type of clue word, called an addition word, is used right before a supporting detail. When you see this type of clue word, you can assume that the main idea of the paragraph will be the general statement that includes this detail.//

<span style="background-color: #ffff00; font-family: 'Lucida Sans Unicode','Lucida Grande',sans-serif; font-size: 120%;">B. Addition Words: One ........................to begin with................ in addition........................ last First .......................another ........................next ...................................last of all First of all ..............second ..........................moreover ...........................finally For one thing......... also ..............................furthermore <span style="font-family: 'Lucida Sans Unicode','Lucida Grande',sans-serif; font-size: 120%;">

<span style="background-color: #ff9500; font-family: 'Lucida Sans Unicode','Lucida Grande',sans-serif; font-size: 120%;">Practice 2: Read the following paragraph and cloud the addition words. Underline the repeating words and write the topic on the line. Then on the line following, write the number of the sentence containing the main idea. * Remember the sentence containing the main idea will come before all of the addition words. <span style="font-family: 'Lucida Sans Unicode','Lucida Grande',sans-serif; font-size: 120%;">

18. 1. There are several mistaken beliefs about sleepwalkers. 2. One mistaken belief about sleepwalking is that sleepwalkers drift about in a ghost-like way, with arms extended. 3. The fact is that most sleepwalkers walk around quite normally, though their eyes are usually closed or glazed. 4. It is also commonly believed that one should never wake up a sleepwalker. 5. But it is advisable to do so if the walker seems in immediate danger – for example, if he or she is going toward an open window or handling a sharp object. 6. Another popular misconception is that sleepwalkers are not “really” sleeping or are only half-asleep. 7. In fact, they are in a deep state of sleep. 8. A last commonly held belief is that sleepwalkers are easy to spot because they are in nighties or pajamas. 9. Often this is not true because sleepwalkers can do routine tasks, including getting completely dressed.

a. Topic of this paragraph:

b. Addition words used:

c. Number of the sentence containing the main idea

d. Author's purpose for writing this paragraph:

<span style="font-family: 'Lucida Sans Unicode','Lucida Grande',sans-serif; font-size: 120%;"> <span style="background-color: #ff9500; font-family: 'Lucida Sans Unicode','Lucida Grande',sans-serif; font-size: 120%;">Practice 3: The main ideas of the following paragraphs appear at different locations- the beginning, middle, or end. Box any list words and cloud any addition words. Identify each main idea by filling in its sentence number in the space provided.. <span style="font-family: 'Lucida Sans Unicode','Lucida Grande',sans-serif; font-size: 120%;"> 19. Tailgating – following too closely behind another vehicle – is a common cause of accidents. 2.Yet,

tailgating accidents could be avoided if drivers followed some clear-cut guidelines. 3.Any car that is less than

two seconds behind the one ahead is definitely too close. 4. Two car lengths is a safe following distance to

maintain in local driving. 5.Two-car accidents often become chain-reaction pileups when a number of drivers

are all tailgating in a line. 6.At freeway speeds, or in snowy, icy or foggy conditions, people should increase

following distance well beyond what is normally safe. 7.Finally, drivers who are impatient or aggressive need

to develop the self-control not to express those feelings through dangerous behaviors like tailgating.


 * a. Topic of the paragraph:

b. List words:

c. Addition words used:

d. Main idea sentence:

e. Author's purpose:**

<span style="font-family: 'Lucida Sans Unicode','Lucida Grande',sans-serif; font-size: 120%;"> 20. 1.Before the 1800’s, most Americans did not know how to tell time. 2.Most, in fact, did not even own

clocks. The seasons and the rising and setting of the sun were their time guidelines. 3. But Americans’

relationship with time changed greatly in the mid-1800’s as many New Englanders shifted from farming to

factory work. 4. Hundreds of thousands of factory workers had to adjust to a new sense of time. 5.Bells

signaled the beginning and end of work shifts and mealtimes. 6.The first dawn bell might begin their days at

4:30 a.m. 7. They were expected to go to bed when a curfew bell sounded.


 * a. Topic of the paragraph:

b. List words:

c. Addition words used:

d. Main idea sentence:

e. Author's purpose:**

<span style="font-family: 'Lucida Sans Unicode','Lucida Grande',sans-serif; font-size: 120%;">

21. 1.Research has demonstrated our self-centered tendency to rate ourselves more favorably than others rate

us. 2.In one study, members of a random sample of men were asked to rank themselves in their ability to get

along with others. 3.Defying mathematical laws, all subjects- every last one – put themselves in the top half

of the populations. 4.Sixty percent rated themselves in the top 10 percent of the population, an amazing 25

percent rated themselves in the top 1 percent. 5.In the same study, 70 percent of men ranked their leadership

in the top quarter of the population, whereas only 2 percent ranked their leadership as below average. 6.Sixty

percent said they were in the top quarter in athletic abilities, whereas only 6 percent said they were below

average.


 * a. Topic of the paragraph:

b. List words:

c. Addition words used:

d. Main idea sentence:

e. Author's purpose:** <span style="font-family: 'Lucida Sans Unicode','Lucida Grande',sans-serif; font-size: 140%;">

<span style="background-color: #00ffff; font-family: 'Lucida Sans Unicode','Lucida Grande',sans-serif; font-size: 196%;">Before you read: 1. Read ALL questions asked regarding this passage. 2. Underline any repeating words and write them in the margin.

<span style="background-color: #ff9500; font-family: 'Lucida Sans Unicode','Lucida Grande',sans-serif; font-size: 196%;">After you read: Write the main idea including all of those words.

<span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: 'Lucida Sans Unicode','Lucida Grande',sans-serif; font-size: 162.4%;">**HOW COLOR GOES TO YOUR HEAD Orange makes you Hungry; Beige Makes You Neat and Efficient Kelly Costigan**

<span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: 'Lucida Sans Unicode','Lucida Grande',sans-serif; font-size: 150.8%;">Can simply looking at a color affect your behavior or alter your mood? Although some researchers are skeptical, others suggest that color may have a significant influence on human behavior and physiology.


 * Main Idea 1:**

A recent report in the International Journal of Biosocial Research revealed that after a change in the color and lighting scheme at a school in Weaskiwin, Canada, the IQ scores of some students jumped and absenteeism and disciplinary problems decreased. The study, conducted by the visual-arts professor Harry Wohlfarth of the University of Alberta, involved substituting yellow and blue for orange, white, beige, and brown, and replacing florescent lights with full-spectrum ones.


 * Main Idea 2**:

Clinical psychologist Alexander Schauss, director of the American Institute for Biosocial Research in Tacoma, Washington, spearheaded the new widespread use of bubblegum-pink rooms to calm delinquents and criminals in correctional facilities across the country. In 1979, Schauss evaluated the effect on subjects as they looked at this pink shade on a piece of cardboard. He reported later in the Bulletin of the Psychonomic Society that the color relaxed the subjects so much that they did not perform simple strength tests as well as they did when viewing the hues. A U.S. Navy brig in Seattle took notice to Schauss’s work and permitted him to test his calming color hypothesis on its inmates. Now hundreds of institutions place individuals in pink rooms when tempers flare. “We used to have to give them drugs, even use handcuffs,” says Paul Boccumini, director of clinical services at California’s San Bernardino County Probation Department. “But this works.”


 * Main Idea 3:**

Schauss and Wohlfarth are not certain how color can have an impact on biology or behavior. But Schauss conjectures that response to color is determined in the brain’s reticular formation, a relay station for millions of the body’s nerve impulses. And there have been studies indication that when subjects look at warm hues, such as red, orange, or yellow, their blood pressure rises, brain wave activity increases, respiration is faster and perspiration greater. In the late 1970’s, a UCLA study showed that blue had the opposite affect. Given these data, researchers speculate that the perception of color by the eye ultimately spurs the release of important bio-chemicals in the body.


 * Main Idea 4:**

The human eye is sensitive to millions of colors. Each is distinctive wavelength of light that strikes color-sensitive cones on the back of the eye in a unique way. These cells then fire, sending nerve signals to the brain. Wohlfarth and others contend that the release of hormones and neurotransmitters may be triggered during this process, and in turn, influence moods and activities such as heart rate and breathing.


 * Main Idea 5:**

1. A synonym for the word skeptical is a. disbelieving b. honest c. practical d. resistant

2. This passage was most likely written to a. inform wardens of the benefits of using specific colors in correctional facilities. b. convince the audience that color directly impacts a person’s mood and behavior c. describe how the color orange makes people hungry. d. entertain others with studies focusing upon color.

3. All of the following are the result of the widespread use of bubblegum-pink rooms for criminals in correctional facilities a. the inmates became calm and relaxed b. more drugs and handcuffs had to be used to restrain inmates c. inmates were not able to perform strength tests as well as before. d. Pink rooms are now used to detain inmates when their tempers flare. <span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: 'Lucida Sans Unicode','Lucida Grande',sans-serif; font-size: 116%;">

<span style="background-color: #ff9500; font-family: 'Lucida Sans Unicode','Lucida Grande',sans-serif; font-size: 140%;">