Finding Central Idea

When reading, what is the first question you need to ask yourself?

• What is the text about?

• What am I doing?

• What does the author want me to know about the topic?

• What is the title of the text?

When reading, what is the second question you need to ask yourself?

• What does the author want me to know about the topic?

• What is this writing about?

• What is the title of the text?

• How long do I have to read?

This is what you look for when trying to determine the central/main idea.

• Clues, hints, and evidence.

• Patterns, repeated words, phrases, or related ideas.

• The bibliography

• The table of contents

These connect directly back to the central/main idea.

• Sentences

• Paragraphs

• Supporting Details

• Summaries

In a text (paragraph), this is the second most common place to find the main idea. The sentences before this sentence support the main idea.

• Near the start of a text.

• Near the middle of a text.

• Near the ned of a text.

In a text (paragraph), this is the least common place to find a main idea. The author will spend a few sentences introducing the topic, present the main idea, then spend the rest of the paragraph supporting it.

• Near the middle of a text

• Near the end of a text

• Near the beginning of a text.

What is the central idea of this paragraph?

Habit 2, Begin with the End in Mind, means developing a clear picture of where you want to go with your life. It means deciding what your values are and setting goals. Habit 1 says you are the driver of your life, not the passenger. Habit 2 says, since you’re the driver, decide where you want to go and draw up a map to get there.

• You are the driver of your life, not the passenger.

• Since you are the driver, decide where you want to go and draw up a map to get there.

• Decide on your values and set goals.

What is the main idea of the following text?

The paths you choose today can shape you forever. It’s both frightening and exciting that we have to make so many vital decisions when we’re so young and full of hormones, but such is life. Imagine an eighty-foot rope stretched out before you. Each foot represents one year of your life. Teenagehood is only seven years, such a short span of rope, but those seven affect the remaining sixty-one, for good or bad, in such a powerful way.

• It is both frightening and exciting that you have to make so many vital decisions.

• Life is short like an eighty-foot rope.

• The paths you choose today can shape you forever.

What is the main idea of the following text?

Although Habit 2 applies to many different circumstances and levels of life, the most fundamental application of “begin with the end in mind” is to begin today with the image, picture, or paradigm of the end of your life as your frame of reference or the criterion by which everything else is examined. Each part of your life—today’s behavior, tomorrow’s behavior, next week’s behavior, next month’s behavior—can be examined in the context of the whole, of what really matters most to you. By keeping that end clearly in mind, you can make certain that whatever you do on any particular day does not violate the criteria you have defined as supremely important, and that each day of your life contributes in a meaningful way to the vision you have of your life as a whole.

• Begin with the end in mind means thinking about the past and coming up with a plan.

• Begin with the end in mind means examining today's behavior, and tomorrow's behavior and aligning what you do to what matters most to you.

• Begin with the end in mind means thinking about what you want today, and how to achieve it.

This is the most common place to find the main idea in a text.

• The mddle of a text.

• The end of a text.

• The beginning of a text.