Identifying main ideas
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The document discusses identifying main ideas in texts. It defines a main idea as the most important point the author is trying to convey in a paragraph. A topic sentence is often used to express the main idea. Main ideas are not always explicitly stated and the reader may need to infer the implicit main idea. The document provides examples of passages and asks the reader to identify the main ideas. It concludes that practicing identifying main ideas is important for comprehension and writing skills.
Identifying main ideas
- 1. Identifying Main Ideas UNIVERSIDAD PEDAGÓGICA EXPERIMENTAL LIBERTADOR INSTITUTO PEDAGÓGICO DE CARACAS DEPARTAMENTO DE IDIOMAS MODERNOS PROGRAMA DE INGLÉS CÁTEDRA DE IDIOMA LECTURA Y ESCRITURA I Prof. Alexis Maizo March, 2010
- 2. What is a Main Idea? It is the main point the writer is trying to get across in the text (the most important idea in the paragraph). Sometimes the author states the main idea in the beginning, middle, or end of the paragraph. The main idea of a paragraph may be also known as the “Topic Sentence.”
- 3. Topic Vs. Topic sentence Make sure you don’t confuse the topic sentence and the topic of a text. The topic is what the whole text is about. It may be defined in one, two or three words (a phrase), but NOT a sentence. The topic sentence is A SENTENCE. Make sure it contains a subject and verb, at least. Otherwise, it is not a topic sentence.
- 4. Is a main idea always explicit? Main ideas are not always stated explicitly in the paragraph. Sometimes the author makes his or her point in an implicit way. You are allowed to use your own words to make the idea explicit from what you understood in the text once you have read it.
- 5. Now let’s practice! A variety of methods can be used to assist people who are suffering from mental disorders. One such therapy is insight-oriented therapy. Proponents of this approach believe that success can be achieved only if the client gains insight into the experiences that led up to his or her problem. Another type of therapy is behavior therapy. This approach attempts to make changes by using scientifically tested principles of operant and classical conditioning. (Adapted from Hahn and Payne, Focus on Health ) Identify the main ideas in the following passages:
- 6. Now let’s practice! A variety of methods can be used to assist people who are suffering from mental disorders . One such therapy is insight-oriented therapy. Proponents of this approach believe that success can be achieved only if the client gains insight into the experiences that led up to his or her problem. Another type of therapy is behavior therapy. This approach attempts to make changes by using scientifically tested principles of operant and classical conditioning. ( Adapted from Hahn and Payne, Focus on Health ) Identify the main ideas in the following passages:
- 7. Many people are not good listeners. They may not even realize that they lack this skill. But almost anyone can become a better listener by being aware of certain negative listening habits. One such habit is jumping to conclusions before hearing the entire message. Another bad habit is to nod off when someone is speaking in a monotone. Turning off to speakers who are not necessarily experts is also a negative listening habit. Yet another bad habit to avoid is the habit of reacting emotionally to certain words.
- 8. Many people are not good listeners. They may not even realize that they lack this skill. But almost anyone can become a better listener by being aware of certain negative listening habits. One such habit is jumping to conclusions before hearing the entire message. Another bad habit is to nod off when someone is speaking in a monotone. Turning off to speakers who are not necessarily experts is also a negative listening habit. Yet another bad habit to avoid is the habit of reacting emotionally to certain words.
- 9. An interesting feature of body language is that we are often unaware of it. We usually do not consciously decide that we will smile, dilate our pupils, and move closer to someone to show our attraction. We may not be aware that narrowed eyes and a clenched jaw may reveal our anger or rage. Nor are we necessarily aware that eyebrows up and eye blinks reveal that we are startled. (Adapted from Worchel and Shebilske, Psychology: Principles and Applications , 3rd edition)
- 10. An interesting feature of body language is that we are often unaware of it. We usually do not consciously decide that we will smile, dilate our pupils, and move closer to someone to show our attraction. We may not be aware that narrowed eyes and a clenched jaw may reveal our anger or rage. Nor are we necessarily aware that eyebrows up and eye blinks reveal that we are startled. (Adapted from Worchel and Shebilske, Psychology: Principles and Applications , 3rd edition)
- 11. One sign of pregnancy is nausea upon awakening. Other signs are increase in size and tenderness of the breasts. Still other signs include increase in the frequency of urination and an increase in the size of the abdomen. Thus, aside from pregnancy tests, a woman can sometimes recognize the early signs and symptoms of pregnancy. (All of the passages were taken form: http://www.daltonstate.edu/faculty/mnielsen/main_idea_practice_2.htm)
- 12. One sign of pregnancy is nausea upon awakening. Other signs are increase in size and tenderness of the breasts. Still other signs include increase in the frequency of urination and an increase in the size of the abdomen. Thus, aside from pregnancy tests, a woman can sometimes recognize the early signs and symptoms of pregnancy . (All of the passages were taken form: http://www.daltonstate.edu/faculty/mnielsen/main_idea_practice_2.htm)
- 13. Conclusions Main ideas are present in every text we read, and we have to be able to identify them successfully. The process of identifying main ideas should be made a conscious one, not only to know how to do it, but also to teach such process to our own students. To foster the identification of main ideas, we need to practice constantly because it will always have an impact in our writing as well.