1. This section shows how to recognize main ideas
Part Four, Reading Comprehension Skills
Skill Five, Recognizing Main Ideas in Paragraphs
and Short Selections
Objective
This section shows how to recognize main ideas
in paragraphs and short selections.

2. Many textbook paragraphs that you read will be made up of
the same two basic parts.
The point is usually expressed in one sentence called a main idea,
or topic sentence.
The other sentences in the paragraph contain specific details
that support or develop the main idea sentence.
Learning how to quickly recognize these two basic parts
is sure to increase your reading comprehension.

3. The value of finding the main idea
Finding the main idea is a key to understanding a paragraph or
short selection.
Once you identify the main idea or general point that an author
is making, everything else in the paragraph should click into
place.
You will know what point is being made and what evidence
is being provided to support that point.
You will see the parts relationship (the supporting material in the paragraph) to the whole (the main idea.)

4. If the main idea is difficult and abstract, you may want to read
all the supporting details carefully to help increase your
comprehension.
If the main point is easily understood, you may be able to skip
the supporting details or read them quickly, since they are not
needed to comprehend the point.
The main idea is often located in the first sentence of a
paragraph.
However, the main idea sentence may also be at the end, in the
middle, or any other place in the paragraph.

5. The main idea may appear in slightly different words in
two or more sentences in the paragraph.
The main idea in one paragraph may be the central thought
for several paragraphs that follow or precede it.
Sometimes the main idea is not stated directly at all, and the
reader has to provide it by combining parts of several
sentences or by looking carefully at the evidence presented.
To find the main idea, look for a general statement.
Then ask yourself, “Does most of the material in the paragraph
support or develop the idea in this statement?”
Get in the habit of using this question as a test for a main idea.