WHAT’S A MAIN IDEA?

Understanding Paragraph Structure

by Barbara Belroy

There are times when your instructor will have you read a paragraph and then ask you the all-important question: “What’s the main idea?”

The first thing you should know is that in order to be called a paragraph, a paragraph needs to be about one topic.

To find the topic after reading a paragraph, ask yourself the following question:

“In general, who or what is this paragraph about?”

Read the following paragraph:

Pets are often an important part of people’s lives. Different types of animals can be pets, ranging from reptiles to horses. One of the most common pets is a dog. In fact, dogs serve a variety of purposes for humankind. One way dogs serve humans is they are great just for companionship. Many an only child has bonded with his/her “Fido,” thus having a willing and loyal friend to play with on a daily basis. Additionally, dogs have served humans as work animals, corralling sheep, conquering rats, and guarding the homestead. Finally, dogs are also used to serve the disabled, for example, by leading the blind, alerting the hearing impaired, and alerting epileptics of impending seizures.

Now that you’ve read the preceding paragraph, ask yourself the following question. See if you can answer it in one word.

Who or what is this paragraph about?

Your answer should have been (scroll down)

dogs

If you were correct—hooray!

The next question is "What is the paragraph telling me about dogs?"

Let’s look at the paragraph again:

Pets are often an important part of people’s lives. Different types of animals can be pets, ranging from reptiles to horses. One of the most common pets is a dog. In fact, dogs serve a variety of purposes for humankind. One way dogs serve humans is they are great just for companionship. Many an only child has bonded with his/her “Fido,” thus having a willing and loyal friend to play with on a daily basis. Additionally, dogs have served humans as work animals, corralling sheep, conquering rats, and guarding the homestead. Finally, dogs also assist people, for example, by leading the blind, alerting the hearing impaired, and alerting epileptics of impending seizures.

Let’s examine each sentence to see what’s going on:

“ Pets are often an important part of people’s lives.”

Now ask yourself “Is this what that whole paragraph is about? Is the whole paragraph telling me that pets are important?

The answer is “NO.” So this cannot be the main idea. Let’s look at the next sentence.

“Different types of animals can be pets, ranging from reptiles to horses.”

Is the whole paragraph trying to tell us about pets ranging from reptiles to horses?

NO.

Look at the next sentence.

“One of the most common pets is a dog.”

Is the whole paragraph about how common dogs are?

NO.

Look at the next sentence.

“Dogs serve a variety of purposes for humankind.”

Does the paragraph tell us about the different purposes dogs serve for humankind?

YES!

The whole paragraph is devoted to telling us about the variety of purposes dogs serve for humankind; therefore, "Dogs serve a variety of purposes for humankind" is the main idea!

Now examine the rest of the paragraph:

One way dogs serve humans is they are great just for companionship. Many an only child has bonded with his/her “Fido,” thus having a willing and loyal friend to play with on a daily basis. Additionally, dogs have served humans as work animals, corralling sheep, conquering rats, and guarding the homestead. Finally, dogs also assist people, for example, by leading the blind, alerting the hearing impaired, and alerting epileptics of impending seizures.

You have probably noticed that the rest of the paragraph gives us specific information about the variety of purposes dogs serve for humankind. Those sentences are called supporting details because they support (or prove) the main idea.

Now let’s analyze this paragraph—in other words, let’s look at how this paragraph is organized (or put together).

Main Idea: Dogs serve a variety of purposes for humankind.

1. One way dogs serve humans is they are great just for companionship.

2. Additionally, dogs have served humans as work animals,

3. Dogs also assist people.

You have probably noticed that this main idea is supported by three (3) points.

Those three points are called major supporting details because they are the major details that support or prove the main idea.

Let’s look at this organization another way:

•Main Idea Dogs serve a variety of purposes for humankind

Maj. SD. 1 Maj. SD 2 Maj. SD3

One way dogs                            Additionally,                        Dogs also assist people
Serve humans is                          dogs have
they are great                             served humans
for companionship                    as work animals

But is that all that’s necessary for a good paragraph?—just a main idea and two or three major supporting details?

Let’s see how this would look as a paragraph:

Dogs serve a variety of purposes for humankind. One way dogs serve humans is they are great just for companionship. Additionally, dogs have served humans as work animals. Finally, dogs also assist people.

How’s that for a paragraph! Kind of short, huh? It’s well-organized, but it needs something more.

What this paragraph needs is something called “minor” supporting details.

Remember the “major” supporting details?

One way dogs serve humans is they are great just for companionship.

Additionally, dogs have served humans as work animals.

Dogs also assist people.

Well, each of these supporting details needs more explanation and/examples.

Watch how major and minor supporting details make up the parts of a paragraph. If I said to you, “Hey, dogs serve a variety of purposes for humankind,” and then I walked away, you’d be left with some questions, like “well, what are these purposes?”

The major supporting details answer this question.

Me: Dogs serve a variety of purposes for humankind.
You: Well, what are these purposes?
Me: They are great for companionship, they serve as work animals, and they assist people.

Now you might ask the question, “How? How are they great for companionship, how do they serve as work animals, and how do they assist people?”

The minor supporting details answer these questions:

MAJOR SD 1 One way dogs serve humans is they are great just for companionship. Minor SD Many an only child has bonded with his/her “Fido,” thus having a willing and loyal friend to play with on a daily basis. MAJOR SD 2 Additionally, dogs have served humans as work animals, Minor SD corralling sheep, Minor SD conquering rats, and Minor SD guarding the homestead. MAJOR SD 3 Finally, dogs also assist people, for example, by Minor SD leading the blind, Minor SD alerting the hearing impaired, and Minor SD alerting epileptics of impending seizures.

Let’s look at the layout again:

•Main Idea Dogs serve a variety of purposes for humankind

Maj. SD. 1 Maj. SD 2 Maj. SD3

One way dogs                         Additionally,                     Dogs also assist people
serve humans is                        dogs have
they are great                        served humans
for companionship                as work animals

Minor SD Minor SD Minor SD

Only child…                            corral sheep                      lead the blind
                                              conquer rats                     alert the hearing impaired
                                             guard homestead               alert for seizures