Main Ideas and Themes

1. Main Ideas and Themes

2. Prior Knowledge • Write down the steps you usually take to determine or identify the main idea or themes in a passage. • Rate this process: • 5 very successful, I get the answer right every time • 4 somewhat successful, I get the answer right most of the time • 3 fair, I get the answer right sometimes, but I also get it wrong sometimes • 2 poor, I rarely get the right answer • 1 nothing to mention, I get the answers wrong all the time

3. Prior Knowledge • What have you found to be the most difficult in identifying the main idea of a passage in the past?

4. Unit Vocabulary • Topic/Subject • Main idea • Details • Imply/Implicit • Explicit • Purpose • Theme

5. Prior Knowledge Revisited Topic/Subject Main Idea Supporting Details Connection

6. Topic/Subject • Recognize general and specific words • Reduce the selection to a short list of keywords. • Water is an amazing resource. Everyone in the world depends upon it. Every creature needs water to survive. Without water, we would not last long. Water makes our world beautiful.

7. Topic/Subject • Topics of passages are more often stated as phrases rather than single words. The following list contains a phrase that is a general topic and three specific ideas related to that topic. Identify the general topic that could be the subject. • Turn on the ignition. • Press the accelerator. • Insert the key. • Start the car.

8. More Subject Practice • Totaling yearly income • Subtracting for dependents • Filing an income tax return • Mailing a 1040 form • Paying fees • Buying books • Starting college • Going to class

9. More Subject PracticeRead the lists of specific details and write a general phrase that could be the subject or topic for each group. • Separate the white and dark clothes • Add one cup of detergent • Insert quarters into the machine • General topic:______________________________ • Pull up alongside car • Back into space • Straighten out • General topic:_______________________________________________

10. Main Idea • The particular point the author is trying to convey. • The main idea can be stated directly (explicit) or implied (implicit). • The main idea must be expressed as a complete sentence not just a word or a phrase

11. Explicit • Colonial Williamsburg is a great place to visit. In Williamsburg, you can see how people lived in colonial times. There are guides in costumes who can show you to taverns, shops, and houses. You can even sample some colonial food at the restored taverns. One visit to Williamsburg will make you feel as if you have been transported to the 1700’s. • What is the main idea?

12. ImplicitWhat are the main ideas? • We’re often told “He who hesitates is lost,” but we’re also warned to “look before you leap.” Most of us have heard the saying, “Out of sight, out of mind,” but then we hear ‘Absence makes the heart grow fonder.” Everyone talks about “love at first sight,” but then someone reminds us, “Marry in haste, repent at leisure.” It’s all very confusing. • The United States calls its basic unit of currency the “dollar”. Australia and New Zealand also measure their currency by “dollars”. The money in Great Britain is called the “pound”. Korea uses the ‘won”. In Russian you spend “rubles”. Mexico and the Philippines use a ‘peso”. And the country of Zaire calls its money unit a “Zaire”.

13. Identify the subject and then the main idea. • An accountant who prefers to work alone rather than as a team member may be an important part of the organization but will not become a leader. • A CEO who steers a company into increased profits but exhibits poor people skills by yelling at employees and refusing to listen will not keep their job. • Companies now demand of the their employees a high level of emotional intelligence (EI), which refers to skills in adaptability, self-control, conflict management, and teamwork. • What is the subject? • Which sentence is the main idea? Why?

14. Supporting Details • Sentences the help support the main idea. • African American and Hispanic teens are not as likely to use tobacco as Caucasian adolescents. • Each day approximately three thousand teens start smoking, and eventually one third of them will die from smoking. • Despite the proven danger, in the past decade tobacco usage among teens has increased. • What is the topic/subject? • Which sentence is the main idea?

15. Supporting Details Practice • Four hundred Navajos were recruited as marine radio operators, and the codes based on the Navajo language were never broken by the enemy. • During World War II, over 25,000 Native Americans served in the armed forces and made amazing contributions toward the war effort. • The most famous Indian GI was a Pima Indian, the marine Ira Hayes, who helped plant the American flag on Iwo Jima. • What is the topic? • Which sentence is most likely the main idea?

16. From: “The Birds Peace” • On the day Kristy’s father went off to war, she burst out the back door and ran down the path to the woods. Her eyes hurt. Her chest burned. She crossed the bridge over the purling stream and dashed into the lean-to she and her father had built near the edge of the flower-filled woodland meadow. • Subject: • Main Idea: • Detail #1: • Detail #2: • Detail #3: • Connection:

17. Example

18. Tips for Identifying the Main Idea • Preview the passage and predict what it will be about • Summarize the passage in your mind. • Determine the subject of the passage. • Sometimes the main idea will be stated explicitly. • Sometimes the main idea will be implicit. • Beware of answer choices that are merely details from the passage. • Make connections between the critical details and the main idea. • Titles and subheadings often help point out the main idea of a passage.

19. “Life in Camps”Susan McCarty • Define these words on the paper: internment, sparsely, conscientious, rescinded. • Write the subject at the top of the passage. Circle words or phrases that helped you identify the subject. • Write the main idea of the passage in the margins. Block off the sentence(s) that helped you determine the main idea. • Highlight sentences that support the main idea you identified. • Connections: what supporting details best conveys the idea that Americans supported the internment camps? • Give the last paragraph a subtitle/heading • At the bottom summarize the passage. (1 or 2 sentences) • Write a theme statement at the bottom of the passage. (Remember it should be universal).

20. “Eveline”James Joyce • Define vocabulary on the paper: harmonium, consented, melancholy, sixpence, quay. • Write the subject of the passage at the top of the paper. Circle words or phrases that helped you identify the subject. • Write what the main idea is for paragraph 5. • Highlight sentences that support the idea that Eveline is unhappy living at home. • Write the main idea of the passage in the margins. Block off the sentence(s) that helped you determine the main idea. • At the bottom summarize the passage. (1 or 2 sentences)

21. Wednesday Homework Homework: Give students the speech “Are Women Persons” by Susan B Anthony. They will annotate and analyze the speech to determine if Anthony was effective towards her audience or not. They will cite evidence to support their claim. They will also read and annotate Frederick Douglass’ speech on Women Suffrage. Students will determine if he was effective towards his audience or not. They will cite evidence to support their claim. Students will also answer the following questions to be prepared for a Socratic Seminar on Friday:

22. Socratic Seminar Questions • What is Anthony’s main argument in her speech? What evidence does she give to support her argument? • What is Douglass’ main argument in his speech? What evidence does he give to support his argument? • Who conveyed their argument the best and why? • In a flee map, bullet point a response to this question: Does simply ending an injustice result in justice, or does achieving true justice require something more? And if it requires something more what is that something more? Be sure to state a thesis statement and give at least three reasons.

23. Friday Prep • http://abcnews.go.com/ABC_Univision/page/video-kids-explaining-injustice-world-19758528 • While you watch identify the subject, the main idea, the supporting details, and the connections. • After watching discuss your conclusions with a neighbor • What are some other injustices that plague our world today? • Begin the Socratic Seminar discussing the injustice of not allowing women to have the right to vote.

24. If time Permits • Have the student’s problem solve the injustice of unfair quality of education in the United States. How would they go about solving this injustice? Have them challenge each other’s suggestions. Where are the loop holes in their thinking? Are they oversimplifying the issue, are they offering slippery slopes, and are they making hasty generalizations?

25. Logical RelationshipsUnit Vocabulary • Inference • Conclusion • Generalizations • Unsupported Inferences • Supported Inferences

26. Infer • To make an educated guess based on incomplete information or to “put two and two together.” • Tip 1: Read between the lines • Ex. April’s mother doesn’t come right out and say how she feels about her daughter’s eyebrow ring, but she gives April some pretty strong hints. She tells her daughter that the new style is “very nice.” Then she rolls her eyes and smiles, hoping that April will read between the lines. • How does April’s mother feel about April’s eyebrow ring?

27. Conclusion • A reasoned judgment that is made after all the available information has been considered. • Unsupported inferences: wild guesses • Supported inferences: careful guesses based on known facts. • Inferences are made based upon details and clues found in the passages.

28. “Go Home Again”Rick Zollo • Tip 2: Making an inference requires detective work. • Underline details in the passage that explain why they residents of Asheville, North Carolina, were embittered against Thomas Wolfe during his lifetime.

29. Why were the residents of Asheville, North Carolina, embittered against Thomas Wolfe during his lifetime? • Wolfe’s middle-class family sent him to a private school and gave him a privileged upbringing. • After graduating, Wolfe moved to New York City to teach English at New York University. • Wolfe’s autobiographical novels portrayed Asheville and its people in an unflattering manner. • Thomas Wolfe’s poetic writing style was a result of his sensitive and brooding nature.

30. Why did Asheville’s residents feel honored to receive Wolfe’s remains after he died, even though he had angered many of them? • Residents want to honor the memory of the world-famous writer and to enjoy the fame and revenue his birthday celebration brings Asheville. • People angered by Wolfe’s novels are no longer living, and later generations of Ashevillians want to correct the wrong they feel was done to him. • Many of Asheville’s residents read Wolfe’s novels and realized the significance of their town on his writing. • Wolfe’s descendants still live in Asheville, and they organized his birthday celebration in order to keep Wolfe’s fame alive.

31. Inferences • Tip 3: Support your inferences with information from the passage. • A valid inference must be based on something in the passage, such as details, the author’s tone, or other text clues.

32. Based on the passage, what can the reader infer about Wolfe’s relationship with AlineBerstein? • AlineBerstein was like Wolfe in being sensitive and brooding and leading a turbulent life. • In addition to supporting Wolfe in his writing, AlineBerstein probably gave Wolfe greater stability in his life. • AlineBerstein was an established autobiographical novelist whose work greatly influenced the young Wolfe. • AlineBerstein was the model for many of the heroines in Wolfe’s autobiographical novels. What clues from the passage support the inference you chose?

33. Logical Predictions • Tip 4: Make logical predictions as you read. Ask yourself: • What will happen next? • Where is the author going with this idea? • What will happen if this character does such and such? • Making predictions will help you keep your mind focused on the passage and will help you better remember what you read.

34. Based on the passage, which of these predictions seems most likely? • Wolfe’s personal life will become more important to scholars than his novels. • Due to their length, fewer people in the digital age will actually read all of Wolfe’s novels. • Research will show that Thomas Wolfe’s editors did most of the writing of his books. • Wolfe’s style of writing, with its long meandering sentences, will become the model for many young writers.

35. Conclusions • Tip 5: Add up details and inferences to draw conclusions. • Generalizations: putting specific details together to come up with a general statement or principle that applies broadly. • Why was Wolfe unable to find happiness in his lifetime? List the ideas you find in the passage. • What can readers infer about the importance or lack of importance of editors to Wolfe’s writing?

36. “Canyon Diablo: A Hundred Miles from the Law”Steven Ramirez • Read the passage. • Answer the questions • Cross out the choices that the answer cannot possibly be • Go over the answers

37. Text Structures • In order to find out important information when reading nonfiction, it helps to identify the text structure, i.e., how ideas have been developed and organized within the text.

38. Types of Structures • Chronological order/Sequence/Time Order • Cause and effect • Problem and Solution • Compare and Contrast • Description • Classification • Exemplification (giving examples)

39. Text Structure Activity • Each group will be assigned a type of structure. • In those groups students will make a list of signal words to help determine that type of structure • Students can jigsaw out and complete the list or each group can present and students can write down the information.

40. Signal Words Exemplification Cause and Effect Problem and Solution Because Since Therefore Consequently As a result This led to So that Nevertheless Accordingly If…then Thus One reason for that For this reason • For instance • In fact • Specifically • To illustrate • Such as • For example

41. Signal Words Question and Answer Compare and Contrast However Like Unlike Likewise Both As well as On the other hand Not only…but also Either…or while Although Unless Similarly Yet In Contrast As opposed to • How • When • What • Where • Why • Who • How many • The best estimate • It could be that • One may conclude

42. Signal Words Description Sequence or Time Order Chronological order On (date) Not long after Now Before After When Since Until First Following At the same time Finally During At last • Sensory details • What we: see, hear, taste, smell, and feel

43. Signal Words Classification • Grouped • Categories • Subgenres • Similar • Sort • Same • Divide • Join • types

44. Name that Structure • “Drug abusers often start in upper elementary school. They experiment with a parent’s beer and hard liquor and they enjoy the buzz they receive. They keep doing this and it starts taking more and more of the alcohol to get the same level of buzz. As a result, the child turns to other forms of stimulation including marijuana. Since these are the initial steps that usually lead to more hardcore drugs such as Angel Dust (PCP), heroin, and crack cocaine, marijuana and alcohol are known as “gateway drugs.” Because of their addictive nature, these gateway drugs lead many youngsters who use them to the world of hardcore drugs.”

45. Name that Structure “The carrying capacity of a habitat refers to the amount of plant and animal life its resources can hold. For example, if there are only 80 pounds of food available and there are animals that together need more than 80 pounds of food to survive, one or more animals will die – the habitat can’t ‘carry’ them. Humans have reduced many habitats’ carrying capacity by imposing limiting factors that reduce its carrying capacity such as housing development, road construction, dams, pollution, fires, and acid rain. So that they can maintain full carrying capacity in forest habitats, Congress has enacted legislation that protects endangered habitats from human development or impact. As a result, these areas have high carrying capacities and an abundance of plant and animal life.”

46. Name that Structure “Middle school gives students more autonomy than elementary school. While students are asked to be responsible for their learning in both levels, middle school students have more pressure to follow through on assignments on their own, rather than rely on adults. In addition, narrative forms are used to teach most literacy skills in elementary school. On the other hand, expository writing is the way most information is given in middle school. “

47. Name that Structure “Astronomy came a long way in the 1500s and 1600s. In 1531, Halley’s Comet appeared and caused great panic. Just twelve years later, however, Copernicus realized that the sun was the center of the solar system, not the Earth, and astronomy became a way to understand the natural world, not something to fear. In the early part of the next century, Galileo made the first observations with a new instrument – the telescope. A generation later, Sir Isaac Newton invented the reflecting telescope, a close cousin to what we use today. Halley’s Comet returned in 1682 and it was treated as a scientific wonder, studied by Edmund Halley.”

48. Homework • “The Rights and Responsibilities of Freedom” by Amy Charles • Read the passage • Answer the questions, highlight signal words to determine the structure, remember an author can use a combination.

49. Activity Match • Each group will receive a text structure. • Groups will have 25 minutes to write a passage using the structure and using the prompt. • Ex. Chronological order: Making the perfect breakfast.