Transcript Locating the Main Idea

1 GED Reading Skills
Locating Directly Stated Main
Ideas
ABE/ASE Content Standard
4.01.1 Determines the main idea (stated
and implied) and identifies relevant
materials
Definition
• A stated main idea is the sentence that tells
the most important point the author wants
you to understand about the paragraph.
• The stated main idea sentence is also called
the topic sentence.
Steps to Determine the Stated Main
Idea Sentence:
1. Read the paragraph carefully.
2. Determine the subject matter of the paragraph
by asking yourself, “Who or what is this passage
about?”
3. Ask yourself, “What is it that that author wants
me to understand about this subject?”
Steps, continued:
4. Search for a single sentence in the paragraph
that answers the question, “What is it the
author wants me to understand about this
subject?” A sentence that answers that
question is the main idea of the paragraph.
* This can be difficult. If so, then stop, reread,
and think; any extra steps needed?
The mental process used to determine
the main idea is…
the same as the mental process you use in
conversation.
The main idea of a paragraph…
• Is often stated as a
sentence.
• Always contains the subject
matter
• Always states the most
important point about the
subject matter.
• Is general enough to cover
all the important info in the
paragraph.
• Is never stated as a
question.
• Is never stated as a
word or phrase.
Effective readers always seek the main
idea.
• Why? To identify the
most important idea in
each paragraph.
• Why else? To
understand how the
information in the other
sentence relates to the
main idea of the
paragraph.
After determining the subject matter
of a paragraph…
• Ask yourself, “What does the author want
me to know or understand about the
subject matter?”
• The answer to this question is the main
idea of the paragraph
The importance of determining the
main idea:
1. Helps you focus your concentration on what
you are reading.
2. Helps you recall more details, since the main
idea is the “glue” that holds all the details
together.
3. Helps in studying; take better notes; outline
more efficiently.
More advantages:
4. Helps you write effective summaries.
5. Helps you write more complete and
intelligent essay answers on test.
Example Passage
•
Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin were
the first men to walk on the surface of the
moon, but they were not the last. That was
Gene Cernan, the last man to step off the
lunar surface. In total there have been twelve
men who have walked on the moon, all of
whom had done so between 1969 and 1972,
which is the most recent non-Michael Jackson
moon walking.
Locating a Main Idea at the Beginning of the Paragraph:
The first sentence often states the main idea. Read to
answer the question, “What does the author want me to
understand about Charlie Chaplin’s tramp costume?
Perhaps the most famous costume in film history is
Chaplin’s Charlie the tramp outfit. The costume is an indication
of both class and character conveying the complex mixture of
vanity and dash that makes Charlie appealing. The moustache,
derby hat, and cane all suggest the fastidious dandy. The cane is
used to give the impression of self-importance as Charlie
swaggers confidently before a hostile world. But the baggy
trousers several sizes too large, the oversized shoes, the too-tight
coat-all these suggest Charlie’s insignificance and poverty.
Chaplin’s view of mankind is symbolized by that costume: vain,
absurd, and –finally-poignantly vulnerable.
Another example of main idea at the beginning:
The electronic nature of computers gives them several
important attributes. First, computers are extremely fast at
processing instructions, that is, at performing calculations and at
making logical comparisons. Second, computers are extremely
accurate in their processing; rarely does a computer make an
electronic mistake that it does not catch and signal to the computer
operator. Almost all errors in computer data processing are
caused by faulty programs prepared by humans. Third, computers
are extremely reliable; being primarily electronic and without
moving parts, they seldom have failures.
Subject Matter: the electronic nature of computers
What is the most important point the author wants me to
understand about the electronic nature of computers?
Locating a Main Idea at the End of a Paragraph:
Sometimes the last sentence of a paragraph states the main idea.
What does the author want me to understand about forgetting?
How much do you remember of what you learned over the
past academic year? How many of your high school classmates
could you call by name right now? How many times a week do
you forget appointments, chores, and other details of everyday life?
Before you groan in self-disgust, take heart at how normal you are.
We all forget all kinds of things all the time.
*Remember- When searching for the main idea, you can eliminate
questions, because the main idea is never stated in a question form.
You can eliminate the first three sentences of this paragraph. So,
the main idea has to be one of the two that are left.
Another example of the main idea at the end of the
paragraph:
Osmosis
The diffusion of water across a selectively
permeable membrane has been given a special term: it
is called osmosis. Osmosis is defined as the net
movement of water molecules from the area of
greater concentration of water to the area of lesser
concentration of water across a selectively
permeable membrane.
When the Last Sentence of a Paragraph is a Stated
Conclusion:
Sometimes an author will state an important conclusion that is
based on information in the paragraph. It is so important that s/he
wants you to recognize it and understand it.
The conclusion is typically at the end.
It is often the main idea of the paragraph.
It is frequently signaled by such words as:
-In conclusion
-thus
-consequently
-therefore
-as a result
-so
-finally
-for these reasons
Example of conclusion sentence that is the main idea sentence:
Energy in its various forms, from heat to gasoline, plays a
larger part in the budget of poor families than well-to-do families.
This is because energy is largely used for essentials. For families
in the lowest ten percent of households, energy accounts for a full
third of household expenditures; whereas for households in the
top ten percent, it absorbs only five percent of household
expenses. Therefore, a jump in energy costs will penalize the
poor much more severely than the rich.
Subject matter: the effect of energy costs on poor and rich
families
Main idea sentence: _____________________________
Locating a Main Idea Sentence Within the Paragraph:
Occasionally, the main idea sentence is neither the first or the
last sentence, but somewhere in the middle. What does the
author want me to understand about victimless crimes
In white-collar or index crimes people’s economic or
personal well-being is endangered against their will (or without
their direct knowledge). Sociologists use the term victimless
crimes to describe the willing exchange among adults of
widely desired, but illegal, goods and services (Schur,
1965;169). Many Americans view gambling, prostitution,
public drunkenness, and use of marijuana as victimless crimes
in which there is no victim other than the offender.
Another example of main idea within the paragraph:
What does the author want me to understand about
status?
When we speak of an individual’s “status” in casual
conversation, the term usually conveys connotations of influence,
wealth, and fame. However, sociologists use status to refer to any
of the full range of socially defined positions within a large group of
society-from the lowest to the highest position. Within American
society, a person can occupy the status of president of the United
States, fruit picker, son or daughter, violinist, teenager, resident of
Minneapolis, dental technician, or neighbor.
No Shortcuts!
• Don’t try reading just
the first and last
sentences.
• Don’t depend totally
on conclusion signal
words or bold faced
words.
• Do read the whole
paragraph.
Helpful Hints
• Eliminate questions.
• Eliminate connecting
sentences between
paragraphs.
• Eliminate detail
sentences, or isolated
facts, or examples.
• Sometimes you can
eliminate introductory
information.
Practice
in The Kaplan GED Preparation Book
Reading pp. 62-62
Social Studies pp. 417
Science pp.