Guide to College Reading, 6/e Kathleen T. McWhorter

Guide to College Reading, 6/eKathleen T. McWhorter Chapter 7 Understanding Paragraphs: Stated and Implied Ideas PowerPoint by JoAnn Yaworski © 2003 Pearson Education, Inc., Publishing as Longman Publishers

This Chapter Will Show You How to: • Identify topics • Identify main ideas in paragraphs • Recognize topic sentences • Understand implied main ideas © 2003 Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Longman Publishers

General Idea: A broad idea that applies to a large number of individual items. Ex: Clothing Specific Idea: Refers to an individual item. Ex: Pants, suits, blouses, shirts, scarves, etc. General & Specific Ideas © 2003 Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Longman Publishers

Identifying the Topic • The topic is the subject of the entire paragraph. • Every sentence in a paragraph discusses the topic. • The one or two words you would choose as a title of the paragraph are the topic. • Ask yourself: What is the one thing the author is discussing throughout the paragraph? © 2003 Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Longman Publishers

Topic Sentence in the Middle The sentences before the topic sentence lead up to or introduce the main idea. Those that follow the main idea explain or describe it. Detail Detail Topic Sentence Detail Detail © 2003 Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Longman Publishers

Topic Sentence First & Last The main idea will appear at the beginning of a paragraph & again at the end. • To emphasize an important idea. • To explain an idea that needs clarification. © 2003 Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Longman Publishers

Creative Learner: Looking away from the paragraph and state its main point in your own words. Find a sentence that matches your statement. Pragmatic Learner: Reading through the paragraph, sentence-by-sentence, evaluation each sentence. Learning Style © 2003 Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Longman Publishers

What Does Implied Mean? • Imply - means to suggest an idea but not state it directly. • Ex: “If that blue plaid shirt is back in my closet by noon, I’ll forget that it was missing.” • Infer - means to reason out something based on what has been said. • Ex: I wouldn’t feed that cake to my dog. © 2003 Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Longman Publishers

Figuring Out Implied Main Ideas What larger idea do these details point to: • The wind was blowing at 35 mph. • The wind chill was 5 degrees below zero. • Snow was falling at the rate of 3 inches per hour. © 2003 Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Longman Publishers

Figuring Out Implied Main Idea (cont.) Writers sometimes leave their main idea unstated. StatedUnstated Detail MAIN IDEA Detail Detail Detail Detail © 2003 Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Longman Publishers

Implied Main Idea Yellow is a bright, cheery color; it is often associated with spring and hopefulness. Green, since it is a color that appears frequently in nature (trees, grass, plants), has come to suggest growth and rebirth. Blue, the color of the sky, may suggest eternity, or endless beauty. Red, the color of both blood and fire, is often connected with strong feelings such as courage, lust, and rage. © 2003 Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Longman Publishers

Implied Main Idea (cont.) Topic:Colors Details: General Idea: Yellow - Spring DIFFERENT COLORS HAVE DIFFERENT MEANINGS Green – Growth Rebirth Blue - Eternity Red – Strong Feelings © 2003 Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Longman Publishers

Visit the Longman Companion Website http://www.ablongman.com/mcwhorter Be sure to visit the Reading Road Trip CD-ROM for multimedia tutorials, exercises, and tests. © 2003 Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Longman Publishers

Guide to College Reading, 6/e Kathleen T. McWhorter