Locating the main ideaSupporting detailsImplied main idea

Location of main ideaMain idea

Details

Much of perception is based on prior experience. For instance, Colin Turnbull tells of the time he took a Pygmy from the dense rain forests of Africa to the cast African plains. The Pygmy had never before seen objects at a great distance. Hence, the first time he saw a herd of buffalo in the distance, he thought it was a swarm of insects. Imagine his confusion when he was driven toward the animals. He concluded that he was being fooled by witchcraft because the “insects” seemed to grow into buffalo before his eyes.

Location of main ideaDetails

Main idea sentence

A college professor was attacked by an actor in a staged assault. Immediately after the event, 141 witnesses were questioned in detail. Their descriptions were then compared to a videotape of the staged “crime”. The total accuracy score for the group (on features such as appearance, age, weight, and height of the assailant) was only 25% of the maximum possible. This incident dramatically demonstrates why witnesses to crimes so often disagree. As you can see, impressions formed when a person is surprised, threatened, or under stress are especially prone to distortion.

Location of main ideaDetails

Main idea sentence

Details

Harness yourself to a hang glider, step off a cliff, and soar. No matter how exhilarating, your flight still wouldn’t provide a true “bird’s eye” view. Many birds see the world in ways that would seem strange to a human. For example, pigeons, ducks and humming-birds can see ultraviolet light, which adds an extra color to their visual palette. Homing pigeons and many migrating birds perceived polarized light, which aids them in navigation. The American woodcock can survey a 360-degree panorama without moving its eyes or head.

Location of main ideaMain idea sentence

Details

Main idea sentence

Psychologists are gradually convincing lawyers, judges, and police officers of the fallibility of eyewitness testimony. Even in broad daylight, eyewitness testimony is untrustworthy. After a horrible DC-10 airliner crash in Chicago on 1979, 84 pilots who saw the accident were interviewed. Forty-two said the DC-10’s landing gear was up, and 42 said it was down! As one investigator commented, the best witness may be a “kid under 12 year old who doesn’t have his parents around.” This and other incidents are being used by psychologists to demonstrate to legal professionals the unpredictability of eyewitness testimony.

Location of main idea

Main idea not directly stated

Remember Dollah, that bully from your secondary school? He made your nine-year-old life a total misery- constantly looking for opportunities to poke fun at you and beat you up. Now, when you meet someone name Dollah, you notice that your initial reaction is negative and that it takes a whole before you warm up to him. Why?

ExerciseIn a literal sense, language may color how we see the world. Researchers Berlin and Kay have noted that humans possess the physical ability to make millions of color distinctions, yet language differ in the number of colors that are recognised. The English language distinguishes between yellow and orange, but some other languages do not. In the Dugum Dani language of New Guinea’s West Highland, there are only two basic color terms- modla for “white” and mili for “black”. By contrast, there are 11 basic terms in english. Russian and Hungarian, though, have 12 color terms. Russians have terms for light blue and dark blue, while Hungarians have terms for two different shades of red.

Exercise

We convey a great deal about how we feel in our facial expressions, but this can be a real problem when people of different cultures interpret facial expressions differently. Curious about cultural differences, researchers Tang and Shiori decided to experiment by showing medical students in Japan and the United States photos of seven basic emotions: anger, contempt, disgust, fear, happiness, sadness and surprise. They discovered that the two groups agreed on only one facial expression: surprise. About 96% on both sides came to that conclusion.

Exercise

Journalist Naomi Wolf has used the term the beauty myth to refer to an exaggerated ideal of beauty, beyond the reach of all but a few females. When females carry adherence to “the beauty myth” to an extreme, they develop eating disorders such as anorexia or undertake costly but unnecessary cosmetic surgery procedures. In a People magazine “health” feature, a young actress stated that she knows it is time to eat when she passes out on the set. Unrealistic standards of appearance and body image can have a destructive effect on young girls and adult women.

Implied Main Ideas

• An implied main idea is a main idea that is not stated directly but is strongly suggested by the supporting details in the passage.

• Some college textbooks use details to imply the main idea.

• Short stories, novels, poems and plays often rely on vivid details to suggest the author’s point, which is left unstated.

Questions for Finding the Implied Main Idea

1. What is the topic, or subject, of the paragraph?

2. What are the major supporting details?3. Based on the details about the topic,

what point or main idea is the author trying to get across?

Using Supporting Details and Thought Patterns to Find Implied Main Ideas

• The implied main idea must be general enough to cover all the details, but it can not be so broad that it becomes an overgeneralization or a sweeping statement that suggests details not given.

• Implied main ideas must be neither too broad nor too narrow.

• To find the implied main idea, you should create a summary from the supporting details.

What is the implied main idea? Fear drains color from our faces, makes our teeth chatter,

our hearts pound, our breath quicken, and our knees knock. Fear churns our stomachs, raises goose bumps, and causes jitters. Fear also raises feelings of anxiety and distrust, and may even cause us to change our behaviors. Obsessive fear can become a phobia that keeps us from enjoying life.__Phobias keep us from enjoying life.__Fear affects us in several ways.__Fear is the result of distrust and anxiety.__Fear affects many people.

What is the implied main idea? Fear drains color from our faces, makes our teeth chatter,

our hearts pound, our breath quicken, and our knees knock. Fear churns our stomachs, raises goose bumps, and causes jitters. Fear also raises feelings of anxiety and distrust, and may even cause us to change our behaviors. Obsessive fear can become a phobia that keeps us from enjoying life.__Phobias keep us from enjoying life. X Fear affects us in several ways.__Fear is the result of distrust and anxiety.__Fear affects many people.

What is the implied main idea?

Green tea has been used for thousands of years in Asia as both a beverage and an herbal medicine. This herbal tea contains catechin, which is a type of tannin that acts as an astringent. Research suggests that men and women in Japan who drink five to six cups of green tea each day have much lower rates of cancer than people who do not. Green tea is also thought to lower cholesterol and blood sugar, control high blood pressure, stop tooth decay, and fight viruses. Green tea has even been credited with the power to slow down the aging process.

__Green tea is an ancient herbal drink.__Green tea has caught the attention of medical researchers.__Green tea has many positive properties as a health drink.

What is the implied main idea?

Green tea has been used for thousands of years in Asia as both a beverage and an herbal medicine. This herbal tea contains catechin, which is a type of tannin that acts as an astringent. Research suggests that men and women in Japan who drink five to six cups of green tea each day have much lower rates of cancer than people who do not. Green tea is also thought to lower cholesterol and blood sugar, control high blood pressure, stop tooth decay, and fight viruses. Green tea has even been credited with the power to slow down the aging process.

__Green tea is an ancient herbal drink.__Green tea has caught the attention of medical researchers.X Green tea has many positive properties as a health drink.

The Implied Central Idea

• The implied central idea is the main idea suggested by the details of a passage made up of two or more paragraphs.

• Refer to the examples in your textbook for practice in finding the implied central idea.

Supporting Details

What are supporting details and why is it important to be able to identify them?

 Supporting details:

Additional information that helps you understand the main idea completely.

Supporting details are also known as support or details. 

A paragraph consists of more than a topic and a main idea.The supporting details provide additional information that helps you

understand the main idea completely.

Supporting details are related to the main idea of a paragraph. Supporting details provide specific information,

such as examples, descriptions, and explanations.

Why is it important to identify supporting details?

1. The supporting details in a paragraph have an important relationship to the main idea because they explain or tell more about it.

2. Listing the supporting details after you read a textbook assignment can help you study more efficiently.

Instructors often ask test questions based on supporting details.

Noting supporting details will make it easier for you to • mark your textbooks effectively.• take notes.• remember the material.

3. Identifying the supporting details will help you grasp the pattern of organization of a paragraph. 

Along with determining the topic and the main idea, identifying supporting details will help you become a more successful reader and student.

What is the method for identifying supporting details?

 Once you have determined the stated or implied main idea of a paragraph, and you

have identified the supporting details, you can ask yourself the comprehension monitoring question,

“What additional information does the author provide to help me understand the main idea completely?”

 To determine what additional information you need to know,

turn the main idea sentence into a question by using the words who, what, where, when, why, and how.

Supporting details are often introduced by signal words:

• For example• First, . . . second, • Next• Also

 Authors also use other clues when they present details in the form of a list:

• Numbers (1, 2, 3) • Letters (a, b, c) • Bullets

Be aware that, in some paragraphs, not every detail will be introduced by a signal word or other clue.

 Including details in your notes and review cards

can be helpful to you when you study. After you read a paragraph, go back and number each detail. This is helpful because:

1. It helps you locate all the details2. It helps you remember how many details there were in the paragraph.3. It prevents you from overmarking the paragraph by underlining or highlighting it too much.

When listing supporting details, it is not necessary to use the exact words of the paragraph

or to use complete sentences. 

When you are listing supporting details, you may want to restate them in your own words

in order to keep them brief.

Restating someone else’s material in your own words is called paraphrasing.

Other ways to organize supporting details:

• Steps in a process (a sequence)

• In a table or chart that shows similarities and differences (comparisons and contrasts)

• Reasons and results (causes and effects)

• In some cases, you may include details in your study notes in the form of an outline or study map.

Things to keep in mind when identifying supporting details: 

Watch for clues that indicate a list of details.

Watch for clue phrases such as:

• There are many types of…• Five reasons that…• Two kinds of…• There are several ways…• Some symptoms include…

Things to keep in mind when identifying supporting details:

 Watch for clues that indicate a list of details.

Watch for signal words such as:

• for example• first, . . . second, . . . third . . .• next• and• in addition• moreover

Things to keep in mind when identifying supporting details: 

Watch for clues that indicate a list of details.

Watch for items identified with numbers (1, 2, 3)

or letters (a, b, c).

Watch for lists with items identified with bullets• Item 1• Item 2• Item 3