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TEAS EXAM STUDY GUIDE
Terms in this set (1362)
The Main Idea of a Text Describes the author's main topic and general perspective on that topic. It is expressed within and throughout the text. The reader can recognize the main idea in any text by
considering the main topic and how it is addressed throughout the passage.
On this test, you will be asked not only to identify the main idea of a text, but to differentiate it from topic and theme and to summarize it clearly and concisely. The main idea is closely connected to
topic sentences and how they are supported in a text.
Questions about the main idea may
also deal with finding topic sentences, summarizing ideas in the text, or finding the supporting details of a text.
In the sections that follow, determine the distinctions between all these aspects of text and practice answering questions related to them.
To determine the topic, ask yourself what you're reading about. To determine the main idea, ask yourself how the author feels about the topic. To identify the main idea, first identify the topic The difference between the main idea and topic is simple,
The topic is the overall subject matter of the passage; the main idea is what the author wants to say about that topic.
The main idea covers the author's direct perspective about a topic, as distinct from the theme. Theme Generally true idea that the reader might derive from a text.
Most of the time, a fiction text will have a theme, while a nonfiction text will have a main idea.
In a nonfiction text, the author speaks more directly about a topic to the audience- his or her perspective is more apparent.
Analyzing details the author includes
and looking for similarities among them guides the reader to the conclusion. By identifying the supporting details the author's main idea becomes clear.
Summarizing the main idea requires
focusing on the connection between the different ideas and how that connection helps the reader draw a conclusion.
A summary is a very brief restatement of the most important parts of an argument or text.
To build a summary, start with the most important idea in a text. To continue building a longer summary, look for supporting details to add.
Even a narrative passage will have supporting details- the specific things the author says to develop the story and characters. The most important aspect of supporting details is
exactly what the name says; they must support the main idea.
Looking at the various supporting details and
how they work with one another will solidify an understanding of the author's perspective on a topic and what the main idea of the passage really is.
The supporting details contain important
information key to understanding the passage
Supporting details build the argument and contain the key ideas upon which the main idea rests.
While finding the supporting details
will help reveal the main idea, it is actually easier to find the most important supporting details by understanding the main idea first; then the pieces that make up the argument will become clear.
Besides using supporting details to understand a main idea, the reader must evaluate them for relevance and consistency. An author selects supporting details that help organize the passage and support the main idea.
Sometimes, the author's bias may
cause him or her to omit details that don't directly support the main idea or that may even support a main idea. A reader must recognize not only what the author says, but also what the author leaves out..
To understand how a supporting detail relates to the main idea,
a reader must first understand the purpose of the passage. What is the author trying to communicate? How does the author want the reader to respond? Every passage has a specific goal, and each paragraph in a passage is meant to support that goal.
For each supporting detail, the position in the text, the signal words, and the specific content work together to alert the reader to the relationship
Topic sentences and summary sentences function as
bookends to a paragraph or passage, telling readers what to think and then keeping the paragraph tightly together.
The topic sentence is
generally the first sentence or very near the first sentence in the paragraph. It introduces the reader to the topic by making a general statement about that topic, clearly and specifically directing the reader to access any previous experiences with that topic. The summary sentence of a paragraph on the other hand,
frequently (but not always!) comes at the end of a paragraph or passage, because it wraps up all the ideas the passage presents.
The summary sentence gives the reader an understanding of what the author wants to say about the topic and what conclusions can be drawn about it.
While the topic sentence acts
as an introduction to the topic, allowing the reader to activate his/her own ideas and experiences with the topic, the summary statement asks the reader to accept the author's ideas about that topic. Finding a summary sentence, will help to quickly identify the main idea. Between a topic sentence and a summary sentence,
the rest of a paragraph is built by supporting details.
Supporting details can come in many forms; the purpose of the passage dictates the type of information that will be used to support the main idea.
A persuasive passage may use specific facts and data, or it may detail specific reasons for the author's opinion. An informative passage will primarily use facts about the topic to support the main idea.
An opinion expresses a belief held by the speaker and may or may not be something each audience member agrees with.
To distinguish between fact and opinion
,ask if a statement can be proven. Look for subjectivity by asking if an observation could vary according to the situation or person observing.
The structure of a text determines how the reader understands the argument and how various details interact to form the argument.
There are many ways to arrange a text,
and varying types of arrangements have distinct characteristics.
Specific text structures include cause and effect, compare and contrast, problem and solution, descriptive, and chronological Cause and Effect the author describes a situation and then its effects Compare and Contrast the author explores the similarities and differences between two or more things Problem and Solution the author presents a problem and offers a solution Descriptive the author describes a topic Chronological The author lists events in the order in which they happened
To identify the organizing structure of a passage,
look at the order in which the author presents information and the transitions used to connect those pieces.
Structures such as problem-solution or cause-effect will use transitions that show casual relationships because, as a result, consequently, therefore.
These structures (problem- solution or cause- effect) might
use transitions that show contradiction (however, alternatively, although). The former may provide solutions, while the latter
also can explain alternative causes
Authors often use repetition to reinforce an idea. Pay attention to any repeated words, phrases or images. Then, ask why the author might have repeated them.
When analyzing a text, a reader should consider how text structure impacts the author's meaning.
Most important, readers must be aware of how
an author presents information in order to emphasize an idea. For example, including a contrasting idea makes a central idea stand out, or including a series of concrete examples strongly supports an argument
Reading text begins with making sense of the explicit meanings of information or a narrative. Understanding text occurs as readers draw conclusions and make logical inferences from a text.
To draw a conclusion, readers must first consider the details or facts. Then, they arrive at a conclusion from these details; the conclusions is the next logical point in the thought sequence
For example, in a Hemingway story,
an old man is sitting alone in a cafe. The young waiter says that the cafe is closing, but the old man continues to drink. The waiter starts closing up, and the old man signals for a refill. Based on these details, the reader might conclude that the old man hasn't understood the young waiter's desire for him to leave
An inference is distinct from a conclusion. An inference is
an educated guess that readers take based on details in the text as well as their own knowledge; it is information that enriches the reader's understanding of the literal meaning of the text.
Readers use their own
knowledge when considering what the author suggests through the details offered in descriptions of decisions or situations. Returning to the Hemingway story about the old
that assumption, a reader can discern why an author uses those words and structures and how they relate to the content.
The author of a passage sets out to communicate a specific idea to an audience with a specific goal in mind. The author's purpose is expressed by determining why an author wants a reader to understand the main idea There are 4 basic purposes to which an author can write;
within each of these general purposes, the author may also direct the audience the audience to take a clear action or respond in a certain way.
The purpose for which an author writes a passage is
In a narrative,
In an expository passage, on
the other hand, The main idea
will probably
Expository writing can come in many forms,
Similarly, in technical writing,
In technical writing,
As you read persuasive text,
The categories of writing
discussed above mostly In
contrast, in persuasive writing,
Much like expository writing,
Readers can identify these strategies in order to
Common rhetorical strategies include the
An ethos
