LASSI Prescriptions | Selecting Main Ideas Prescription #3

Prescription #3: Asking Questions about Main Ideas

Your college courses provide a wealth of information. Identifying the main ideas is a crucial factor in narrowing that amount of information so it can be more easily studied. Finding main ideas will prioritize the information you receive. Main ideas deserve your intense study. Supporting information is of less importance after they broaden your understanding of main ideas.

A good way to assure your understanding of a paragraph’s main idea is the following. Find the paragraph’s main idea and write a question that can only be answered by an understanding of it.

Main ideas are not simple. They require explanation.

For Prescription #3, read the following paragraph:

Buying stocks “on margin” is a risky venture. Some investors have made themselves rich with that process; others have lost everything. Buying on margin is actually taking out a loan to purchase stock that is otherwise unaffordable. When the stock increases in price, the investor earns far more because more was invested. But when the stock loses value, the investor loses far more than what was invested.

Write a question that can be answered by the paragraph’s main idea.

You have finished Prescription #3. You now know the value of writing a question that can only be answered by a paragraph’s main idea. It is recommended that you logout now and take a few days to practice writing questions for paragraphs in your readings and/or lectures. When you come back, we’ll look at another aspect of selecting main ideas.

If you choose not to logout now, select the Next button to take Prescription #4.