1. Chapter 3: Thesis, Main Ideas, Supporting Details, & Transitions
Reading Across the Disciplines: College Reading and Beyond, 2/e Kathleen McWhorter
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2. In this chapter you will learn how to:
Identify the thesis of a reading assignment.
Distinguish main ideas and supporting details.
Recognize transitions that writers use to link ideas together.
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3. Identifying the Thesis
The thesis is what the entire reading selection is about; it is the one most important idea that the entire article is written to explain.
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Main Ideas
A paragraph is a group of related sentences that express a single idea about a single topic—the main idea.
Main Idea
Detail
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5. The topic sentence is the one sentence that expresses the main idea.
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6. The Topic Sentence First
The author first states his or her main point and then explains it.
Main Point
Detail
Most common
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Topic Sentence Last
The author leads up to the main point and then directly states it at the end.
Detail
Main Point
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8. Topic Sentence in the Middle
Some details lead up to or introduce the main idea while others follow the main idea to further explain or describe it.
Detail
Main Point
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9. Topic Sentence First & Last
Writers may emphasize an important idea at the beginning and then again at the end. Or, the first and last sentence together express the paragraph’s main point.
Main Point
Detail
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10. Finding the Implied Main Idea
Identify the topic.
Decide what the author wants you to know about the topic (main idea) and look at the supporting details.
Express this idea in your own words.
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11. Recognizing Supporting Details
Supporting details are those facts and ideas that prove or explain the main idea of a paragraph.
Identify the main idea.
List supporting points for the main idea.
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12. Recognizing Transitions
Transitions are linking words or phrases used to lead the reader from one idea to another.
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Common Transitions
Time-Sequence—first, later, next
Example—for instance, such as
Enumeration —first, second, next
Continuation—also, in addition
Contrast—however, in contrast
Comparison—similarly, like
Cause-Effect—because, therefore
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14. Visit the Companion Website
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