Lesson 2: Locating Main Idea
Supporting details
1. Examples and illustrations 2. Cite data (facts, statistics, evidence, details, and others) 3. Examine testimony (by quoting or paraphrasing) 4. anecdote or story 5. define terms 6. Comparison and contrast 7. Evaluate causes and reasons 8. Examine effects and consequences 9. Analyze the topic 10.Describe the topic 11.Offer a chronology of an event
THREE BASIC PARTS OF A PARAGRAPH
1. TOPIC SENTENCE 2. SUPPORTING DETAILS 3. CONCLUDING* SENTENCE
Rule of thumb
One paragraph, One idea
Characteristics of a good paragraph
Unity and coherence
Paragraph
a collection of INTENTIONALLY RELATED sentences
Thesis statement
what the author is saying about it.
Topic sentence
what the text (paragraph) is about
Thesis statement
• It describes the point of an essay. • It is written in the declarative sentence. • Usually presented in the abstract or executive summary and found at the last part of the introductory. • Sometimes replaced in the form of purpose statement. Uses signal words or signal phrases
Topic sentence
• It describes the point or the main idea of the paragraph • It is usually located in the beginning, middle, and conclusion part.
Strategies in locating the Topic Statement
• Read the first sentence of the paragraphs • Browse the sentences and identify what they describe. The sentence that best describes the topic of the paragraph is the topic sentence. • Find the idea being tackled. Search for "big words." The sentence that defines the "big word" is usually the topic sentence. • Identify the purpose of the paragraph. The sentence that presents or describes the purpose is the topic sentence. • Observe the style of the writer. Focus where the writer usually discuss the topic sentence.
Supporting details
• comes in the form of SPECIFIC SENTENCES • develops the Topic Sentence
concluding sentence
• provides closure to the idea presented in the paragraph • leads to a smooth transition to the next paragraph • rehashes the topic sentence (main idea) or puts in the last comment on the topiccha
topic sentence
• usually found at the beginning (most common location), middle, or end of the paragraph • presents a GENERAL IDEA of what the paragraph is about • sets the reader's expectation about the paragraph
Strategies in locating the Thesis Statement
•Read the title and infer the purpose of the author/writer • Read the first few paragraphs •Read the conclusion where author/s sum up and review their main points
