Meeting 3

Reading for main ideas

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

Following this meeting, you should be able to

◼ determine the key ideas of sentences;
◼ determine the main ideas from paragraphs; and
◼ determine the main ideas of reading materials.

 Activity 1: First thing first in the reading for main idea

Individually
Read the following paragraph and answer the questions:

A number of recent books with titles like Raising Cain, Real Boys, and Lost Boys
all focus on the same issue: Today’s teenaged boys are feeling more anxiety than ever
before about their physical appearance. Bombarded by advertising featuring well-
muscled, semi-clad young men, teenage boys are experiencing what teenage girls have
been coping with for years. They are afraid that they cannot possibly live up to the
media’s idealized image of their gender. Young boys below the average in height, weight,
or both suffer the most. Often, they are brutally teased by their brawnier peers. Some
react to the ridicule by heading for the gym and lifting weights. Yet even those who
successfully “bulk up” don’t like feeling that they are considered worthless if they lose
their hard-won muscle tone. Others, convinced that no amount of body building can help,
often withdraw from social contact with their peers. This is their way of avoiding taunts
about their size or shape. Still, they are understandably angry at being badly treated
because of their body type. Although school psychologists generally recognize that boys
today are having severe body image problems, they are at a loss about what to do to solve
those problems.

Source: Flemming (2006)

Questions:
1. What is the main idea of the above paragraph?
2. Do you have difficulties getting main idea of the above paragraph? Explain!

TERM: MAIN IDEA

The main idea of a passage or reading is the central thought or message. In contrast to
the term topic, which refers to the subject under discussion, the term main idea refers to
the point or thought being expressed. The difference between a topic and a main idea
will become clearer to you if you imagine yourself overhearing a conversation in which
your name is repeatedly mentioned. When you ask your friends what they were
discussing, they say they were talking about you. At that point, you have the topic but
not the main idea. Undoubtedly, you would not be satisfied until you learned what your
friends were saying about this particular topic. You would probably pester them until you
knew the main idea, until you knew, that is, exactly what they were saying about your
personality, appearance, or behaviour. The same principle applies to reading. The topic
is seldom enough. You also need to discover the main idea.

KEYS IDEA IN SENTENCES

A paragraph, an essay or a book consists of sentences. To get the main idea from those
reading material, you must start learning from sentence.
Wiener & Bazerman (1988) stated that although a sentence may give a great deal of
information, it usually offers one key idea. Readers must be able to find key ideas in
order to understand sentence meanings clearly.

The key idea of a sentence usually tells:

❑ Who a person or what an object is
❑ What a person or an object is doing

Look at the following sentence:

A tall girl in a white dress rushed away into the trees just beyond the
gate to Stevens Park.
This sentence tells about a girl. We know that the girl rushed away. All the information
about her appearance, about where she ran, and about the name of the park adds
details. These are helpful in completing the scene for the reader, and very often we need
to rely on details to make the main text clearer. But the key idea, the main thought, in the
sentence is simply a girl rushed away.

Here is how to find key ideas in sentences:

❑ Ask who or what the sentence is about.
❑ Ask what the person or object is doing or what is happening to that person or object.
❑ Learn to separate minor details from the main idea. Many words in sentences
describe about the subject of the sentence and merely add details around it. If you
ask when, what kind, where, or why, you will find details. This makes it easier to
separate the key idea. Notice the following sentence:

(why) (what kind) (where) (when)

Because of new laws, most foreign automobiles in the United States now offer safety

(how)
features at no extra charge.

Who or what is the sentence about? Automobiles

What do the automobiles do? Offer safety features
The key idea is automobiles offer safety features

In stating a key idea, elements influence sentence meanings. In stating a key idea, you
may have to summarize parts of the sentence, and the sentence, and you may have to
put some of the writer’s words into your own words.
The starting point for determining the key idea in a sentence, however, is finding who or
what the sentence is about and what the person or object is doing.

 Activity 2 : Getting key idea from sentence

Individually
A. In each of the following sentences, underline the words that give the key idea.
Example: Children who live in a ghetto find fun in the street even when they
have no toys.
1. Even teenagers with good driving records pay higher insurance rates than adults.
2. While the prices have steadily declined, personal computers are still too expensive
for the average consumer.
3. Neighborhood action groups make a major difference in the quality of life in most
cities.
4. The mayor’s aides canceled a scheduled meeting with an active community group
that supported the mayor’s reelection.
(Adapted from Wiener & Bazerman, 1988, pp. 81)

B. In the space provided after each sentence, write the key idea of the sentence.
Example: A recent issue of Time magazine contained an article about attempts by
environmental groups to stop the worldwide slaughter of whales.
Time reported on efforts to save whales.

1. Recent high school students have shown improvement in their SAT scores, after
nearly twenty years in which performance on these tests declined.
2. Local teenagers on the north side of the city developed a plan for patrolling the
streets during the day and in the evening so that senior citizens could leave their
homes in safety.
3. Thomas Wolfe’s play Welcome to Our City, written fifty years ago and published
a few years ago for the first time, deals with the modern American South and
some of the strange, passionate, and greedy people who live there.
(Adapted from Wiener & Bazerman, 1988, pp. 82)

MAIN IDEA IN THE PARAGRAPH

A paragraph is a group of sentences about some related subject. As you read a

paragraph, you look for the key idea that each sentence presents. Adding up these key
ideas, you see that each sentence helps build the main idea of the paragraph, the basic
subject that all the sentences are related to. Readers must know what the main idea of
the paragraph is in order to understand the information that they are reading (Wiener &
Bazerman, 1988).
Often one sentence in the paragraph tells the reader, exactly what the rest of the
paragraph deals with and therefore gives the main ideas. This main idea sentence (it is
often called a top sentence or topic statement) may appear in one of several places.
Main idea in the Beginning

Main idea in the

beginning
As the sun went down, the scene from the bridge was
beautiful. It had been a perfect day. Up and down on either
side of New York the bright blue water lay gently rippling,
while to the south it merged into the great bay and
disappeared toward the sea. The vast cities spread away on
both sides. Beyond rolled the hilly country until it was lost
in the mists of the sky. All up and down the harbor the
shipping, piers, and buildings were still gaily decorated. On
the housetops of the both Brooklyn and New York were
multitudes of people
- David McCullough

main ideas

The main idea of this passage is the view from the bridge was beautiful. All the
sentences in the paragraph illustrate that idea by providing many details.

Main Idea in the Middle

Main idea in
There are 74.5 million television sets in the United States, at least the middle
one set for 98 percent of all American homes. Forty-eight
percent of all U.S. homes have more than one set, and some
families even have a set for every person in the house. Yet,
despite the fact that the number of sets in the United States has
virtually reached a saturation point, the amount of time spent
watching television has declined steadily since 1976.
Explanations vary from the increasingly poor quality of networks
shows to the rising popularity of home video equipment, but
some the fact remains that are owning more sets but enjoying
them less.

The main idea of this paragraph is despite the fact that the number of sets in the United
States has virtually reached a saturation point, the amount of time spent watching
television has declined steadily since 1976.
Main Idea at the End

Although the buildings are tall, none of them blots out the sky.
People rush about as in New York, but someone always stops
to answer a question about directions. A person will listen will
listen when he or she is asked a question. Often a sudden
smile will flash from the crowds of strangers pushing down
State Street. It is a smile of welcome and of happiness at the
same time. And traffic: it is tough, noisy, active; but a person
never feels as if he takes his life in his hands when he crosses
the street. Of course, there is always the presence of the lake,
the vast, shimmering lake that shines like an ocean of silver.
Something about lake each time it spreads out around a turn in
Lakeshore Drive says, “Hello. It’s good to see you again.”
Chicago is a fine, friendly city.

Main idea at
the end

The main idea of the paragraph is Chicago is a fine, friendly city. All the sentences in
paragraph support that idea with details. By stating the main idea at the end, the author
summarizes the pint of the paragraph.

 Activity 3 : Getting main idea from paragraph

Individually
A. Choose the appropriate option to identify the sentence that is the main idea of the
paragraph.
Example:

Financial genius James "Big Jim" Fisk (1834-1872) died of gunshot wound when he was
only thirty-seven years old. During his brief lifetime, Fisk earned and lost huge sums of
money, much of it through bribery and theft. During the Civil War, he smuggled cotton
from the South to the North. He also printed and sold phony bonds to gain control of the
wildly profitable Erie Railroad. Then he bankrupted the railroad while gaining a personal
fortune for himself. In 1869, Fisk’s attempts to take over the gold market led to financial
panic and the collapse of the stock market. Oddly enough, Fisk seemed rather proud of
his wicked ways, saying "Some people are born to be good; other people to be bad. I was
born to be bad." A lover of the ladies, Fisk was killed in a fight with a rival over the
affections of actress Josie Mansfield.
Main Idea:
a. Big Jim Fisk liked pretty women a little too much for his own good.
b. In his pursuit of wealth, James Fisk never let law or morality stand in his
way.

c. James Fisk did not have a long life, but that did not stop him from
making a great deal of money.
 For the ancient Romans, taking a bath was a very special occasion. Because they considered
bathing a social opportunity, they constructed huge public baths that put our modern-day
indoor pools and spas to shame. Not only were the baths themselves lavishly decorated, they
were also surrounded by shops, libraries, and lounges so that a person could shop, read or
1
chat after bathing. The famed Baths of Caracalla, for example, offered Roman citizens
.
massages and saunas in addition to a gymnasium and gardens for after-bath walks in lovely
surroundings. Art lovers that they were, the Romans also frequently built art galleries into
their bathing facilities. There were also kitchens, where food was prepared to serve hungry
bathers. Although initially men and women bathed separately, mixed baths became the
fashion until 500 A.D., when the coming of Christianity brought the public baths to an end.
Main Idea:
a. The ancient Romans were the first to lead a life of pure luxury.
b. If the Romans had spent more time governing and less time bathing, the
Roman Empire would still exist today.
c. The ancient Romans made luxury and socializing a part of bathing.

Birds have long played a central role in superstitions. However, the role birds have
played varies greatly. While crows were thought to be in league with the devil, blue birds
were usually considered signs of good fortune. Blue jays, in contrast, were seldom
assigned a positive role in superstition and legend. Most of the time, they were
2. considered companions to the devil. According to one ancient superstition, blue jays were
never seen on Fridays. Friday was their day to meet with the devil and pass on any useful
gossip about souls who might be ready to go astray. Owls, in contrast, have played a
number of different roles, some good, some bad. In several superstitions they are
portrayed as wise counselors; in others they are a sign that death is near.
Main Idea:
a. Despite having the same color, blue jays and blue birds have played
very different roles in superstitions.
b. Birds turn up frequently in superstitions as signs of both good and evil.
c. Hardly a superstition exists that doesn’t have a bird in it.

B. Read each passage. Write the main idea in the blank space.
Example : In several states across the nation, there has been successful drive to end “social
promotion.” In other words, children who do not achieve the required score on a
standardized test will no longer be promoted to the next grade. Instead, they will
have to repeat the grade they have finished. Yet despite the calls for ending social
promotion--many of them from politicians looking for a crowd-pleasing issue--
there is little evidence that making children repeat a grade has a positive effect. If
anything, research suggests that forcing children to repeat a grade hurts rather
than helps their academic performance. In 1989, University of Georgia Professor
Thomas Holms surveyed sixty-three studies that compared the performance of
kids who had repeated a grade with those who had received a social promotion.
Holms found that most of the children who had repeated a grade had a poorer
record of academic performance than the children who had been promoted
despite poor test scores. A similar study of New York City children in the 1980s
 revealed that the children who repeated a grade were more likely to drop out
upon reaching high school. The call to end social promotion may have a nice ring
to it in political speeches. Yet there is little indication that it does students any
real good.

Main Idea: Across the country, many states have abolished the policy of “social promotion”

Source: http://dhp.com/~laflemm/reso/mainIdea.htm

1. Functional organization is efficient, but there are two standard criticisms. Firstly,
people are usually more concerned with the success of their department than
that of the company, so there are permanent battles between, for example,
finance and marketing, or marketing and production, which have incompatible
goal. Secondly, separating functions is unlikely to encourage innovation.
(Adapted from MacKenzie , 1997, p.18)

2. In discussing people’s relationships with their boss and their colleagues and
friends, Trompenaars distinguishes between universalists and particularists. The
former believe that rules extremely important; the latter believe that personal
relationships and friendships should take precedence. Consequently, each
group thinks that other is corrupt. Universalists say that particularists’ cannot be
trusted because they will always help their friends’, while the second group says
the first ‘you cannot trust them; they would not even help a friend’. According to
Trompenaars'
(Adapted from MacKenzie, 1997, p.31)

3. Manual and service industry workers are often organized in labour unions, which
attempts to ensure fair wages, reasonable working hours and safe working
conditions for their members. British unions are known as trade unions because,
as in Germany, they are largerly organized according to trade and skill: there is
an engineers’ union, and electrician’s union, a train-drivers’ union, and so on. In
other countries, including France and Italy, unions are largely political: workers in
different industries join unions with a particular political positions.
(Adapted from MacKenzie, 1997, p.39)

MAIN IDEA IN READING MATERIALS

In everyday lecturing, you will be assigned to read different kinds of reading material
such a book, essay, journal, articles, thesis etc in order to know the main idea from those
reading material. The following are tips of getting main idea from reading materials.

Tips of getting main idea :

1. As soon as you can define the topic, ask yourself “What general point does the
author want to make about this topic?” Once you can answer that question, you have
more than likely found the main idea.
2. Most main ideas are stated or suggested early on in a reading; pay special attention
to the first third of any passage, article, or chapter. That’s where you are likely to get
the best statement or clearest expression of the main idea.
3. Pay attention to any idea that is repeated in different ways. If an author returns to the
same thought in several different sentences or paragraphs, that idea is the main or
central thought under discussion.
4. Once you feel sure you have found the main idea, test it. Ask yourself if the
examples, reasons, statistics, studies, and facts included in the reading lend
 themselves as evidence or explanation in support of the main idea you have in mind.
If they do, your comprehension is right on target. If they don’t, you might want to
revise your first notion about the author’s main idea.
5. The main idea of a passage can be expressed any number of ways. For example,
you and your roommate might come up with the same main idea for a reading, but
the language in which that idea is expressed would probably be different. When,
however, you are asked to find the topic sentence, you are being asked to find the
statement that expresses the main idea in the author’s words. Any number of people
can come up with the main idea for a passage, but only the author of the passage
can create the topic sentence.
6. If you are taking a test that asks you to find the thesis or theme of a reading, don’t let
the terms confuse you, you are still looking for the main idea.

 Activity 4 : Getting main idea from reading materials

Individually
A. Read the following article and find the main idea of each paragraph and the main
idea of this article.
COMPANIES
Individuals, and groups of people doing business a partnership, have unlimited liability for
debts, unless they form a limited company. If the business does badly and cannot pay its
debts, any creditor can have it declared bankrupt. The unsuccessful business people may
have to sell nearly all their possessions in order to pay their debts. That is why most people
doing business form limited companies. A limited company is a legal entity separate from its
owners, and is only liable for the amount of capital that has been invested in it. If a limited
company goes bankrupt, it is wound up its assets are liquidated (i.es sold) to pay the debts,
they remain unpaid. The creditors simply do not get all their money back.
Most companies begin as private limited companies. Their owners have to put the capital
themselves, or borrow from friends or a bank, perhaps a bank specializing in venture capital.
The founders have to write a Memorandum of Association (GB) or a Certificate of
Incorporation (US), which states the company’s name, its purpose, its registered office or
premises, and the amount of authorized share capital. They also write Articles of Association
(GB) or Bylaws (US), which set out the duties of directors and the rights of shareholders
(GB) or stockholders (US). They send documents to the registrar of companies.
A successful, growing company can apply to a stock exchange to become a public limited
company (GB) or listed company (US). Newer and smaller companies usually join ‘over-the
counter’ markets, such as the Unlisted Securities Market in London or Nasdaq in New York.
Very successful businesses can apply to be quoted or listed (i.e. to have their shares traded)
on major stock exchanges. Publicly quoted companies have to fulfil a large number of
requirements, including sending their shareholders an independently-audited repost every
year, containing the year’s trading results and a statement of their financial position.
The act of issuing shares (GB) or stocks (US) for the first time is known as floating a
company (making a floatation). Companies generally use an investment bank to underwrite
the issue, i.e. to guarantee to purchase all the securities at an agreed price on a certain day, if
they cannot be sold to the public.
Companies wishing to raise more money for expansion can sometimes issue new shares,
which are normally offered first to existing shareholders at less than their market price. This
is known as a right issue. Companies sometimes also choose to capitalize part of their profit,
i.e. turn it into capital, by issuing new shares to shareholders instead of paying dividends.
This is known as bonus issue.
 Buying a share gives its holder part of ownership of a company. Share generally entitle their
owners to vote at a company’s Annual General Meeting (GB) or Annual Meeting of
Stockholders (US), and to receive a proportion of distributed profits in the form of dividend –
or to receive part of the company’s residual value if it goes into liquidation. Shareholders can
sell their shares on the secondary market at any time, but the market price of a share – the
price quoted at any given time on the stock exchange, which reflects (more or less) how well
or badly the company is doing – may differ radically from its nominal value.

(Adapted from MacKenzie, 1997, pp.75-76)

REFERENCES

Flemming, L. (2006). Reading resources. Retrieved January 29, 2009 from

http://dhp.com/~laflemm/reso/mainIdea.htm

Herszenhorn, D.M. (2009, January 28). Components of Stimulus Vary in Speed and Efficiency .
The New York Times. Retrieved from
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/29/us/politics/29assess.html?_r=1&scp=5&sq=how%20eff
ective%20the%20huge%20program%20of%20tax%20cuts%20&st=cse
MacKanzie, I. (1997). English for business studies. Cambridge: Cambridge University
Press.
Stolberg, S. G. (2009, January 29). White house unbutton formal dress code. The New
York Times. Retrieved from
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/29/us/politics/29whitehouse.html?hp
Wiener, H. S. & Bazerman, C. (1988). Reading skills handbook. (4th ed.). Boston:
Houghton Mifflin.