Implied Main Ideas

1. Implied Main Ideas Chapter 3 Ten Steps to Advanced Reading

2. What is an Implied Main Idea? An implied main ideais a main idea that is not stated directly but is strongly suggested by the supporting details in the passage. • Even though a paragraph might not have the main idea stated in a single sentence, the paragraph still has a main idea. • When the main idea is not stated, you must figure out the author’s controlling point about the topic.

3. You will need to formulate the implied main idea when you read literature. Short stories, novels, poems, and plays rely heavily on vivid details to suggest the author’s point. The Appointment in Samarra Death speaks: There was a merchant in Baghdad who sent his servant to market to buy provisions and in a little while the servant came back, white and trembling, and said, Master, just now when I was in the marketplace, I was jostled by a woman in the crowd and when I turned I saw it was Death that jostled me. She looked at me and made a threatening gesture; now, lend me your horse, and I will ride away from this city and avoid my fate. I will go to Samarra and there Death will not find me. The merchant lent him his horse, and the servant mounted it, and he dug his spurs in its flanks and as fast as the horse could gallop he went. Then the merchant went down to the marketplace and he saw me standing in the crowd and he came to me and said, Why did you make a threatening gesture to my servant when you saw him this morning? That was not a threatening gesture I said, it was only a start of surprise. I was astonished to see him in Baghdad, for I had an appointment with him tonight in Samarra.

4. Did you notice that every sentence in the previous paragraph is a supporting detail? No single sentence covers all the other ideas. To figure out the implied main idea, ask the following questions: Questions for Finding the Implied Main Idea *What is the topic, or subject, of the paragraph? *What are the major supporting details? *Based on the details about the topic, what point or main idea is the author trying to get across?

5. Suggestive Answers • What is the topic of the story? *The appointment in Samarra, which is an appointment with Death. • What are the major supporting details? *The servant of a merchant went to a market in Baghdad. *The servant was jostled by Death. *The servant saw Death make a threatening gesture at him and became afraid. *The servant tried to avoid Death by fleeing on his master’s horse to Samarra. *The merchant went to the Bagdad market and asked Death why she made a threatening gesture at his servant. *Death replied that she was only surprised to see the servant, for she had an appointment with him that night in Samarra. • What is the main idea the author is trying to get across? *We each have an appointed time of death that cannot be avoided, and our decisions lead us to our appointed time of death.

6. Finding the Implied Main Idea Pay attention to repeated words to help you point out the topic of a passage. Identify the supporting details by looking for addition/transition words within sentences. After reading a paragraph, summarize by using the topic and supporting details to make an inference. The implied central idea is the main idea suggested by the details of a passage made up of two or more paragraphs.