Chapter 5: Understanding Implied Main Ideas

1. Chapter 5: Understanding Implied Main Ideas Active Reading Skills, 2/eKathleen McWhorter Brette McWhorter Sember PowerPoint by Gretchen Starks-Martin

2. What Does Implied Mean? • When an idea is implied, it is suggested, but not stated outright. • Example: You couldn’t pay me to eat in that restaurant.

3. Remembering General Versus Specific Ideas • A general idea applies to many items or ideas. • A specific idea refers to a particular item.

4. General: colors Specific: purple yellow red General:jewelry Specific: ring bracelet earrings necklaces Remembering General VersusSpecific Ideas

5. How to Find Implied Main Ideas in Paragraphs • Find the topic. • Figure out what is the most important ideas the writer wants you to know about that topic. • Express the main idea in your own words. Ask yourself: “Does it apply to all of the details in the paragraph?”

6. How to Find Implied Main Ideas in Paragraphs • Topic: Friendships • Details: • Men’s friendships are based on shared activities. • Women’s friendships are based in shared feelings. • Similarity is important in men’s friendships, but not in women’s. • Implied Main Idea: Men and women have different criteria for building friendships.

7. Working With Paragraphs • Paragraphs always have a topic and a main idea. • In some paragraphs, the main idea is stated directly in a topic sentence. • In other paragraphs, the main idea is implied or suggested. • In all paragraphs, the main idea is backed up by details.

8. Evaluating Your Progress Use the “Main Idea-Maine Woods” module in the Reading Skills section on the MyReadingLab Web site at http://www.ablongman.com/myreadinglab.

9. For more practice visit the Companion Web site. http://www.ablongman.com/mcwhorter