General and Specific Ideas Read to Connect Ideas for Meaning

General and Specific Ideas: Introduction Obviously, when we read college textbooks and reading assignments, we encounter many ideas, some of which are new and some of which are familiar to us. Understanding these ideas and understanding how they connect or relate to each other is the learning goal of successful college students. In this module, we will read ideas and think about how these ideas connect, or relate, to each other. Generally, we will examine ideas to understand which ideas are GENERAL and which ideas are more SPECIFIC.

For example, take the idea of ANIMAL and the idea of TURTLE For example, take the idea of ANIMAL and the idea of TURTLE. Clearly, the idea of TURTLE is included in the idea of ANIMAL. In other words, TURTLE is a specific idea in the broad, general idea of ANIMAL. Turtles are specific members of the animal kingdom. General ideas can be quite broad and include many specific examples. Turtles, dogs, cats, monkeys, butterflies, and spiders are all specific ideas connected to the general idea of animals, because the general idea animals covers or includes all specific animals.

This concept of general and specific ideas and connections seems quite simple, but it can become quite complex when we introduce levels of specific ideas that narrow or focus the general idea. For example, if we start with the general idea ANIMAL and add the specific idea MAMMAL, we have eliminated all specific animals except those that are mammals. We can add a third specific concept with the specific concept DOG, which is an animal and a mammal. Additionally, we can add the specific concept COCKER SPANIEL, which is a specific breed of DOG. Visually, we can express the relationships and the connections of our general and specific ideas to a single specific idea, a dog named Milly. ANIMAL > MAMMAL > DOG > COCKER SPANIEL > MILLY

General Idea To sum up, GENERAL ideas and concepts in our reading are broad in scope. A general idea can refer to or include a wide variety of different things or examples. As readers, we will understand general ideas in different ways simply because they are broad and general rather than narrow and focused. The more general an idea, or the broader the idea, the greater the number of things it can refer to and the greater the differences, or variety, among those things it can refer to.

Specific Ideas In contrast to GENERAL ideas, SPECIFIC ideas are much narrower in focus and “cover” much less, include much less, and eliminate all ideas that do not fit the specific concept. Specific ideas need a general Idea to have clear meaning. For example, we know that MAMMAL is a specific idea in relation to the general idea ANIMAL. But MAMMAL is a general idea in relation to the specific idea of DOG. Because specific ideas are much narrower in scope, they help make the general idea more focused and clear. Specific ideas, words, and concepts cannot be understood in so many different ways; they are specific concepts rather than general and help clarify textbook ideas.