After You Read. Finding Main Ideas & Topic Sentences

Finding Main Ideas & Topic Sentences

An important technique for reading is finding the main idea. Answer the fol­lowing questions about paragraphs from the selection.

Paragraph 4: Identifying Cues About the Main Idea.

The topic sentence, which states the main idea, is often but not always the first sentence. Which sentence in the fourth paragraph expresses the main idea? What words act as a cue or indicator to you that the main idea is coming soon?

Paragraphs 12 & 13: Identifying a Main Idea That Is Implied.

Sometimes the main idea of a paragraph is not stated directly; it is only im­plied. For Paragraphs 12 & 13, decide which of the following statements best expresses the main idea. Then explain your choices.

Paragraph 12.

Chapter One

a. Colonel Drake had become a very popular and important person in
Titusville.

b. Colonel Drake decided to use the experience of salt-makers in drilling
the oil well.

c. Colonel Drake faced a very important problem in the process of
drilling an oil well - caving in.

Paragraph 13.

a. An idea of making a casing for the well struck Colonel Drake.

b. Using an iron pipe as a casing stopped the well caving in.