LASSI Prescriptions | Selecting Main Ideas Prescription #2

Prescription #2: Understanding a Main Idea

In prescription #1 you found the main idea for a paragraph about the Bill of Rights. In that paragraph the first sentence presented its main idea. That will often be the case, but it is not necessarily. A more reliable indicator for identifying the main idea depends upon determining the role of each sentence of the paragraph. One sentence is the main idea. Each other sentence is supportive of the main idea; it explains or clarifies it.

It is not enough to be able to recite a paragraph’s main idea. The main idea must be understood. One method for assuring that you understand the main idea of a paragraph is to write another sentence describing it in your own words. If that is successful, it is likely you have learned the main idea.

Main ideas are the focus of what you need to learn.

For Prescription #2, read the paragraph below which does not have its main idea as its first sentence.

A reading assignment consists of a number of paragraphs. Each paragraph contains its own main idea. The entire reading assignment contains as many main ideas as its number of paragraphs. The main idea of the reading assignment is a common topic or theme that connects the main ideas of its paragraphs.

Write your own statement for the main idea of the paragraph above. Do not copy it. Do not use the author’s words. In other words, use your own words to express that idea.

Study the other sentences of the paragraph. Does each support the sentence you wrote as a main idea?

Would the title or headline of a reading assignment be a good clue for finding its main idea?

You are finished with Prescription #2. Take a couple of days to think about main ideas and the value of expressing them in your own words. It is recommended that you logout now and practice writing main ideas from readings and lectures in your own words. When you come back, we’ll look at other ways for finding and understanding main ideas.

If you choose not to logout now, select the Next button to take Prescription #3.

Selecting main ideas separates them from less important supporting details.