TOPIC, STATED MAIN IDEA SENTENCE

AND SUPPORTING DETAILS OF A

PARAGRAPH

PM DR ANEALKA AZIZ HUSSIN

ACADEMY OF LANGUAGE STUDIES
UNIVERSITI TEKNOLOGI MARA
SHAH ALAM

LEARNING OUTCOMES
At the end of the lesson, students should be able
to:
1. Define what a topic is.
2. Determine the topic of a paragraph.
3. Identify the stated main idea sentence in a
paragraph
4. Identify supporting details of the paragraph

Prepared by: Assoc. Prof. Dr Anealka Aziz Hussin

WHAT IS A TOPIC?

A topic is defined as a subject being discussed

or talked about.

Every paragraph has a topic. It is what the

author is talking / writing about.

A topic can be in the form of a word, a phrase,

or a name and it is never written as a complete
sentence.

2008 McGraw-Hill Higher

Education

Chapter 3: Determining the Topic

STRATEGIES TO DETERMINE THE TOPIC OF

A PARAGRAPH

1
2
SEARCH
FOR
3
4

A heading or title.
Words in special print, such as bold, italics, or coloror
some combination, such as bold italics.
Repeated words in a paragraph.

Something mentioned at the beginning of the paragraph and

then referred to throughout the paragraph by pronouns or by
other words.

2008 McGraw-Hill Higher

Education

Chapter 3: Determining the Topic

WHAT IS A MAIN IDEA?

A paragraph consists of several sentences. These sentences
are talking about one single idea. This single idea is the topic
of the paragraph. Among these sentences found in a
paragraph, there is one sentence that describes the most
important point about the topic. This sentence is the stated
main idea of the paragraph.
Stated main idea is a statement and never a question.

Prepared by: Assoc. Prof. Dr Anealka Aziz Hussin

WHERE TO APPLY THE SKILL?

Locating the main idea is a useful skill in:
- marking a text
- outlining important points
- making concept maps
- writing summaries

Prepared by: Assoc. Prof. Dr Anealka Aziz Hussin

MAIN IDEA SENTENCE

CHARACTERISTICS OF MAIN IDEA SENTENCE
Must always contain the
Must always make complete
topic (the word, name, or
sense by itself (even if you
phrase that tells who or
couldnt read the rest of the
what the paragraph is
paragraph)
about)

Prepared by: Assoc. Prof. Dr Anealka Aziz Hussin

Must be a general
sentence that sums up
the details in the
paragraph

LOCATION OF THE MAIN IDEA SENTENCE

Main idea can appear anywhere in a paragraph:
Beginning
Middle
Last sentence
Watch for words or phrases authors use to signal their main
idea:
The point is
It is important
Thus
etc.
Prepared by: Assoc. Prof. Dr Anealka Aziz Hussin

WHAT ARE SUPPORTING DETAILS OF A

PARAGRAPH?
Supporting details are sentences containing more
information about the subject matter found in the

stated main idea of the paragraph.

Prepared by: Assoc. Prof. Dr Anealka Aziz Hussin

1
Supporting
details can be in
the form of:

Examples

Explanations

Descriptions

4
5

Proof

Statistics

Prepared by: Assoc. Prof. Dr Anealka Aziz Hussin

Who?

2 What?
3 When?
4 Where?
5 Why?

Supporting
details answer
these questions:

How?

Prepared by: Assoc. Prof. Dr Anealka Aziz Hussin

SUMMARY
There is one topic per paragraph. A topic is a word/phrase
and never a complete sentence.
A main idea is a sentence that describes the most important
point about the topic. A main idea is in a form of a complete
statement and never a question.
Supporting details are sentences that provide more specific
information about the main idea. Supporting details can be
in the form of examples, explanations, descriptions, proof,
statistics and answer questions like Who, What, When,
Where, Why, How?
Prepared by: Assoc. Prof. Dr Anealka Aziz Hussin

REFERENCES & LINKS

Elder, J. (2008). Exercise your college reading skills. NY: McGrawHill.
Teoh, S.A., Chai, M.H., Azlina Abd. Rahman & Paul-Evanson, C.
(2010). Reading and critical thinking. KL: McGraw-Hill.
Summers, D. (Ed.) (2009). Longman dictionary of contemporary
English (4th ed.). London: Pearson Education.
http://www.advanced-english-grammar.com/suffixes-list.html
Prepared by: Assoc. Prof. Dr Anealka Aziz Hussin