CRCB Slide Outline C5- Main Ideas

•          Critical Reading for College and Beyond

•          CHAPTER FIVE

•          CHAPTER GOALS
After learning Chapter 5, you should be able to demonstrate:

•          What main ideas are.

•          Strategies for identifying main ideas in paragraphs and longer readings.

•          How to check whether you have correctly identified main ideas.

•          What is a Topic?

•          A topic is a word or short phrase that is the subject of a sentence, paragraph, essay, chapter or book.

•          What is the Main Idea?

•          The main idea is the major point (or points) the author makes about the topic.  It is stated in the form of a sentence.

•          The main idea serves as the controlling idea under which other ideas support.

•          What is a Detail?

•          A detail supports the main idea.

•          A detail is more specific than the main idea.

•          A detail proves, clarifies, justifies, or otherwise adds meaning to the main idea.

•          Strategies for Recognizing  Main Ideas

•          Question yourself.

•          Look in the usual spots.

•          Categorize author’s points.

•          Notice word clues.

•          Examples of Word Clues

•          Emphasis word clues

•          Support word clues

•          Contrast word clues

•          Chapter Vocabulary

•          topic

•          main idea

•          details

•          categorization

•          mind maps

•          previewing

•          word clues

•          emphasis word clues

•          support word clues

•          contrast word clues