Main Idea
In a passage, these support the main idea. They give the reader more information about the main idea.
What are the supporting details?
A message is woven through the text, often about important topics such as human nature, life or society.
What is the theme?
The three main reasons for author's purpose.
What is to entertain, persuade, inform?
The way authors organize information in the text.
What is text structure?
The repetition of initial consonant sounds in neighboring words.
What is alliteration?
A sentence in a passage that states the main idea of a passage.
What is the topic sentence?
True or false: Theme is rarely directly stated in a story.
What is true?
Usually the author's purpose for writing a non-fiction text.
What is to inform?
A list of unusual or difficult words and their meanings connected with a particular subject or particular piece of writing.
What is a glossary?
An exaggeration or overstatement (e.g., I was so embarrassed I could have died.).
What is a hyperbole?
The general subject that the passage is about. Usually one or two words.
What is the topic?
What are (one of any of the following): love, freedom, power, justice, good vs. evil, friendship, family, hope, faith, beauty, survival, death, bravery, kindness
The author's purpose in this paragraph:
Slouched at a corner table in a forgotten diner in a quiet part of town, Rowan Shaw looks as if he just rolled out of bed. Shaw, who is known as the "difficult one" in the boy band Momentum, is wearing a pair of heavily ripped jeans and a white T-shirt. His black leather jacket looks as if it might have been run over by a bulldozer. A faded straw fedora is pulled low over his forehead, casting a shadow across brown eyes fringed with ridiculously thick eyelashes.
What is: To help the reader create a visual of what Rowan looks like?
An alphabetical list of subjects, names, or other information in a book, with page numbers given for each item.
What is an index?
A comparison of two unlike things in which a word of comparison (like or as) is used.
What is a simile?
Identify the main idea of the passage:
African Wild Dogs: Ultimate Predators?
Many books, papers, and television shows have created an image of the African wild dog as the ultimate predator. According to these sources, the dogs' coordinated teamwork and their unusual endurance help them catch about eighty percent of their prey. A 2012 study tested that notion. Researchers fit a pack of wild dogs with special collars that recorded the dogs' positions and speeds. The data that the collars recorded allowed the researchers to learn what the dogs did when they weren't being observed. The results provided a surprising contrast with the dogs' fierce reputation. The dogs never used teamwork in their hunts; they chased their prey over short distances as opposed to long runs; and instead of eighty percent, they brought down only about sixteen percent of their prey.
What is: African wild dogs have a reputation as fierce hunters who work in teams, but new data suggests otherwise.
Quotation from the Secret Garden:
"Colin had become more and more fixed in his feeling that the mystery surrounding the garden was one of its greatest charms. Nothing must spoil that."
Which is the theme:
a. A secret can make something feel more valuable
b. Gardens can be a magical place.
What is: a. A secret can make something feel more valuable?
Name the author's purpose:
Load the laundry into the washing machine and close the door tightly. Make sure not to overload the machine. Next, slide open the detergent drawer, add detergent, and then slide the drawer shut. Select the wash setting (whites or darks), temperature (hot, warm, or cold), and load size (small, medium, or large). Then, press the start button. The washing machine will stop automatically when the wash cycle is complete.
Where the reader finds the Table of Contents.
What is the beginning of the book?
An object or abstract idea given human qualities or human form (e.g., Flowers danced about the lawn.).
What is personification?
Eat Carrots, See Better?
Carrots contain high amounts of vitamin A and are good for general eye health. However, carrots will not improve night vision. That myth goes back to British propaganda during World War II. In 1940, the German Luftwaffe, or air force, began bombing Britain at night. In response, the British government ordered people to turn off their lights; the government wanted to make it difficult for German pilots to hit their targets. A new technology, radar, allowed the British air force to track and shoot down the German planes without light. To keep the technology secret, the government told the media that their pilots could see the German planes because they consumed so many carrots. Consequently, people began to believe that eating carrots would help them see better in the dark.
What is the main, or central, idea of the passage?
What is: Because of a British media campaign, people thought that eating carrots would improve their night vision.
Name the theme:
Jenny Puchovier was so excited. She had a pack of Starburst in her lunch and she had been looking forward to eating them all morning. Lunch finally came and Jenny sat down to eat her Starbursts when her friend Yudy sat next to her. "Let me get the pink ones," said Yudy. Jenny liked the pink ones best, but she thought Yudy was funny and Jenny wanted Yudy to like her, so Jenny gave Yudy all of her pink Starbursts. Before Jenny was done giving Yudy the pink ones, Carry sat on the other side of Jenny. Let me get the red and the orange ones, Jenny. Remember when I gave you that Snickers?" Jenny didn't remember that, though she did remember when Carrie ate a whole Snickers in front of her, but Jenny thought Carrie was cool, so she gave her the red and the orange Starbursts. Now that she only had the yellow ones, Jenny wasn't so excited about eating starbursts anymore.
What is (any of the following):
You can't buy friends.
You have to take care of yourself.
Not everybody is your friend.
State the author's purpose:
Tomatoes were once considered poisonous. Some brave people finally took a bite of a tomato, and they survived. Now, we use tomatoes in our salads and sandwiches. Do you ever use tomato sauce or ketchup? These products are made of tomatoes. If it weren't for these brave individuals, you might not be able to enjoy ketchup with your french-fries.
What is to entertain?
A mini-headline or text that is found under the main headline to give further insight or support for the headline.
What is a sub-heading?
The organizational chunk of a poem; group of lines; like a paragraph.
What is a stanza?