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Finding the Central Idea

Learning Target: I can identify central idea and analyze how the writer develops it.

What is a refutation?

The denial or taking down of the counterargument

Topic

Vs.

Central Idea

The TOPIC of a selection is the
subject matter, what it is about. It is often just one or two words.

The CENTRAL IDEA of a selection
is a statement that tells the essential point(s) that the author is trying to convey through the entire text.

Wait. . .isn’t central idea the same as theme?

Central idea is the author’s message in non-fiction.

A central idea in The Boys Who Challenged
Hitler is

Even small acts can prove heroic.

Theme is the author’s message in fiction.

A theme in Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone is

Humility and loyalty are essential characteristics
of finding success.

So. . .YES

central idea = theme

We just use different language

for fiction vs. non-fiction

Steps to identifying the central idea:

1.

Identify the topic

2.

Look at the title

3.

Read the first and last paragraph (or sentence)

4.

Ask yourself: What is discussed throughout the
whole selection?

5.

Ask yourself: What do all the details help to
explain, illustrate, or elaborate upon?

6.

Look at captions, pictures, words in bold,
headings. What do they all have in common?

7.

What is repeated throughout the selection?

8.

Ask yourself: what does the author want
readers to know for sure after they have read
the piece?

Topic

Central Idea

Detail

Detail

Detail

Detail

Remember . . .

●Not every central idea is explicitly stated.

●The central idea can be at the beginning, in the middle, or at the end of a text.

●As an active reader, you must search for the sentence that states the central point, the gist of the paragraph.