Central Idea
It's the most important point the author wants you to understand about a text.
What is the central idea?
The definition of theme.
What is the message or lesson the author wants you to learn?
"She finished her homework," is this kind of clause.
What is an independent clause?
When an author tries to convince you, the purpose is this.
What is to persuade?
The spoken conversation between two or more characters.
What is dialogue?
You can often find it by looking for these.
What are repeated words or ideas?
Courage, honesty, and kindness are examples of this.
What are topics?
"Because she finished her homework" is this kind of clause.
What is a dependent clause?
When an author wants to teach or explain, the purpose is this.
What is to inform?
Quotation marks should always go around this part of dialogue.
What is what's being said?
This sentence position often hints at the central idea.
What are the first and last sentences?
If Jenna's robot keeps failing but she keeps trying, the topic would best be this.
What is perseverance?
This word type replaces a noun, like he, she, or they.
What is a pronoun?
When an author writes to tell a story or amuse, the purpose is this.
What is to entertain?
What is when a new person speaks?
In the passage "Effort plays a bigger role than natural talent," this is the central idea.
What is hard work helps people succeed?
Unlike a central idea, this can often apply to many different stories.
What is a universal theme?
What is its?
"An article explaining how volcanoes erupt" has this author's purpose.
What is to inform?
In this example--"I can't find my backpack," said Lily--the comma goes inside these marks.
What are quotation marks?
A skillful reader uses this question to locate the central idea.
What is asking what the text is mostly about?
The theme of a story where a character learns from their mistakes after failing over and over.
You should never give up.
Fix this sentence using a pronoun: "Sarah wanted Sarah's pencil back."
What is "Sarah wanted her pencil back"?
You can figure out what by asking, "What does the author want me to think, feel, or do?"
What is identifying the author's purpose?
Dialogue helps reveal these three things: character's personality, emotions, conflict, and this.
What is plot or what is moving the story forward?