Identifying the Main Idea of a Paragraph

Main idea -it is the most important piece

of information that an author states
implicitly or explicitly in order to let you
know the concept of the paragraph
Topic sentence or key sentence – sentence
where you can find the main idea
To find the main idea, the first thing you
must do is to identify the topic or the subject
of the paragraph. Ask the question, What is
the paragraph all about?
The main idea may be stated in the first
sentence of the paragraph , in the last
sentence, or one has to think about the main
idea looking for clues.
The main idea is supported by details in the
paragraph.
Nouns used as subjects are either singular or
plural in number.
A verb agrees with its subject in number.
Subjects in inverted sentences come after the
verb.
Examples:
Living in the wild were the real parents of
Ryan.
Resting in the huge cage is the a native
python.
There are many birds found in the aviary.
Here is the list of animals found in the zoo.