THINK ABOUT THE STRUCTUREOF THE PASSAGE ANDTROLS THE TEXT. WHAT IS...

3. Think about the structureof the passage andtrols the text. What is the author trying to say? Whatwhere that information is likely to be located.point does he or she want to get across? The main idea(For a review of common writing structures andmay be explicitly stated in a topic sentence (for a para-organizational patterns, see Chapter 32.)graph) or a thesis statement (for a complete text). It canalso be implied. In literature, the main idea is called thetheme. The theme is the “sum” of all of the elements of

D i s t i n g u i s h i n g b e t w e e n F a c t

literature, including plot, character, symbolism, tone,

a n d O p i n i o n

language, and style.Here are some specific tips for finding the main idea:An important reading comprehension skill is also a crit-ical thinking skill: the ability to distinguish between fact