Understanding Paragraph; finding the main ideas.

UNDERSTANDING PARAGRAPH

(Finding The Main Ideas)

A main idea is not simply a Topic. A main idea, on the other hand, is the statement the paragraph makes about the topic. To state a main idea clearly, you usually need a full sentence.

To understand the meaning of a paragraph, readers must identify, first, the topic of paragraph and, next, the main idea being presented about that topic. The topic may be stated in only a word or two, naming a thing, person, or event discussed throughout the paragraph. The main idea, however, is a more complete statement that ties all the ideas and information of the paragraph together. The main idea of a paragraph may be stated directly in a sentence, or it may only be implied in the overall message of all the sentences. When the main idea is state directly, you need only locate the main idea sentence. When the main idea is implied, you must figure out the topic of the paragraph and the idea being stated about that topic.