Connect Across the Curriculum

Literary Analysis: Analyze Text Structure: Main Idea and Details
Academic Vocabulary

  • • support (su-port) verb When you support an idea, you give reasons or examples for it.

No matter what topic writers choose, they want you to get the main idea, or what they are mostly saying about the topic.

How do you know if you are getting the main idea when you read the text? Sometimes writers tell you directly. They may include a main-idea statement in the text. Other sentences add details to support the main idea.

Practice Together

Read for the Main Idea Read this passage from “How Do We Use Water?” Notice that the first sentence states the main idea.

People also use water as a resource to build things. They use water to mix concrete for floors and walls. They use water to make the paint that adds color to buildings.

People use water to make metal and glass, too. They need these materials to make most buildings.

Chart the Main Idea Make a Main-Idea Chart to show how the main idea in the passage is connected to the details. Write the main idea in the top box. In the boxes below, write details that support the main idea. Copy this chart, and complete the last two boxes.

Main-Idea Chart

Main-Idea Chart

People use water when they mix concrete.

People use water when they mix concrete.

Try It!

Make a New Chart Make a Main-Idea Chart for the section on page 95. Compare your chart with a classmate’s.