Understanding Paragraph Structure What’s the Main Idea? Understanding Paragraph Structure

Sometimes you might have to identify the topic of a paragraph. The topic is the main idea of the paragraph. Each paragraph has one (1) main idea.

Who or what is this paragraph about? To find the main idea, you should be able to answer a very important question: Who or what is this paragraph about? Let’s read a paragraph now and decide what it’s about.

Pets play an important part of many people’s lives Pets play an important part of many people’s lives. Many kinds of animals are used as pets, from reptiles to horses. Among the most common pets are dogs. Dogs help people in many ways. First, they’re great companions. Many children love the family dog and have a loyal friend to play with every day. Older people also enjoy the company of their pet dogs. Dogs also serve humans as work animals, by corralling sheep, killing rats, and guarding homes and farms. Finally, dogs assist disabled people in various ways, such as leading the blind, alerting the deaf, and warning epileptics of impending seizures. 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. 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 deaf, and alerting epileptics of impending seizures.

What is this paragraph about? Now ask yourself the following question. Try to answer it in one word. What is this paragraph about?

dogs Your answer should have been….. Let’s look at the paragraph again and see why.

NO! Let’s look at the first sentence in the paragraph. “Pets play an important role in many people’s lives.” Now ask yourself: Is this what that whole paragraph is about? Is the writer telling me that pets are important? NO! Therefore, this is not the main idea.

No. Let’s look at the next sentence. “Different types of animals can be pets, ranging from reptiles to horses.” Is the whole paragraph about different kinds of pets? No. Therefore, this is not the main idea.

“However, among the most common pets are dogs.” Look at the next sentence. “However, among the most common pets are dogs.” Is the whole paragraph about how dogs are the most common pets? No No. Therefore, this is not the main idea.

Let’s look at the next sentence. “Dogs help people in many ways.” Does the paragraph tell us about the different ways dogs help people? YES!

The paragraph tells us about many ways that dogs can help people, so that’s the main idea! Now we need to find the topic sentence, which tells us the main idea of the paragraph.

Is one of those the topic sentence? Let’s look at the first few sentences to see if we can find the topic sentence. Pets play an important part of many people’s lives. Many kinds of animals are used as pets, from reptiles to horses. Is one of those the topic sentence? No.

That was just the introduction That was just the introduction. It didn’t tell us about the main idea yet. But let’s keep reading. Pets play an important part of many people’s lives. Many kinds of animals are used as pets, from reptiles to horses. Among the most common pets are dogs. Dogs help people in many ways. Aha!

What’s the topic sentence? Dogs help people in many ways.

You probably noticed that the rest of the paragraph gave us specific information about ways that dogs help people. Those sentences are called major supporting details because they support (or prove) the main idea. Now let’s look at those supporting details.

Pets play an important part of many people’s lives Pets play an important part of many people’s lives. Many kinds of animals are used as pets, from reptiles to horses. Among the most common pets are dogs. Dogs help people in many ways. First, they’re great companions. Many children love the family dog and have a loyal friend to play with every day. Older people also enjoy the company of their pet dogs. Dogs also serve humans as work animals, by corralling sheep, killing rats, and guarding homes and farms. Finally, dogs assist disabled people in various ways, such as leading the blind, alerting the deaf, and warning epileptics of impending seizures.

Pets play an important part of many people’s lives Pets play an important part of many people’s lives. Many kinds of animals are used as pets, from reptiles to horses. Among the most common pets are dogs. Dogs help people in many ways. First, they’re great companions. Many children love the family dog and have a loyal friend to play with every day. Older people also enjoy the company of their pet dogs. Dogs also serve humans as work animals, by corralling sheep, killing rats, and guarding homes and farms. Finally, dogs assist disabled people in various ways, such as leading the blind, alerting the deaf, and warning epileptics of impending seizures.

Pets play an important part of many people’s lives Pets play an important part of many people’s lives. Many kinds of animals are used as pets, from reptiles to horses. Among the most common pets are dogs. Dogs help people in many ways. First, they’re great companions. Many children love the family dog and have a loyal friend to play with every day. Older people also enjoy the company of their pet dogs. Dogs also serve humans as work animals, by corralling sheep, killing rats, and guarding homes and farms. Finally, dogs assist disabled people in various ways, such as leading the blind, alerting the deaf, and warning epileptics of impending seizures.

Pets play an important part of many people’s lives Pets play an important part of many people’s lives. Many kinds of animals are used as pets, from reptiles to horses. Among the most common pets are dogs. Dogs help people in many ways. First, they’re great companions. Many children love the family dog and have a loyal friend to play with every day. Older people also enjoy the company of their pet dogs. Dogs also serve humans as work animals, by corralling sheep, killing rats, and guarding homes and farms. Finally, dogs assist disabled people in various ways, such as leading the blind, alerting the deaf, and warning epileptics of impending seizures.

Let’s look at this again. Major supporting detail #1: First, they’re great companions. Major supporting detail #2: Dogs also serve humans as work animals Major supporting detail #3:: Finally, dogs assist disabled people in various ways

That extra information is found in the minor supporting details. But there’s more than just the topic sentence and those three major supporting details. We don’t just want to be told that dogs are good companions. We want to know WHY they’re good companions. We want examples! That extra information is found in the minor supporting details. Let’s look at the paragraph again.

Pets play an important part of many people’s lives Pets play an important part of many people’s lives. Many kinds of animals are used as pets, from reptiles to horses. However, among the most common pets are dogs. Dogs help people in many ways. First, they’re great companions. Many children love the family dog and have a loyal friend to play with every day. Older people also enjoy the company of their pet dogs. Dogs have also served humans as work animals, by by corralling sheep, killing rats, and guarding homes and farms. Finally, dogs assist disabled people in various ways, such as leading the blind, alerting the deaf, and warning epileptics of impending seizures.

Pets play an important part of many people’s lives Pets play an important part of many people’s lives. Many kinds of animals are used as pets, from reptiles to horses. Among the most common pets are dogs. Dogs help people in many ways. First, they’re great companions. Many children love the family dog and have a loyal friend to play with every day. Older people also enjoy the company of their pet dogs. Dogs also serve humans as work animals, by corralling sheep, killing rats, and guarding homes and farms. Finally, dogs assist disabled people in various ways, such as leading the blind, alerting the deaf, and warning epileptics of impending seizures.

Pets play an important part of many people’s lives Pets play an important part of many people’s lives. Many kinds of animals are used as pets, from reptiles to horses. Among the most common pets are dogs. Dogs help people in many ways. First, they’re great companions. Many children love the family dog and have a loyal friend to play with every day. Older people also enjoy the company of their pet dogs. Dogs also serve humans as work animals, by corralling sheep, killing rats, and guarding homes and farms. Finally, dogs assist disabled people in various ways, such as leading the blind, alerting the deaf, and warning epileptics of impending seizures.

Pets play an important part of many people’s lives Pets play an important part of many people’s lives. Many kinds of animals are used as pets, from reptiles to horses. Among the most common pets are dogs. Dogs help people in many ways. First, they’re great companions. Many children love the family dog and have a loyal friend to play with every day. Older people also enjoy the company of their pet dogs. Dogs also serve humans as work animals, by corralling sheep, killing rats, and guarding homes and farms. Finally, dogs assist disabled people in various ways, such as leading the blind, alerting the deaf, and warning epileptics of impending seizures.

Let’s look at the first major supporting detail. First, they’re great companions. How do we know they’re great companions? We have two examples to support that statement: Many children love the family dog and have a loyal friend to play with every day. Older people also enjoy the company of their pet dogs. These minor supporting details give us examples of HOW dogs are great companions.

Here’s an outline of what a paragraph looks like The Topic Sentence Major supporting detail #1 Minor supporting details Major supporting detail #2 Minor supporting details Major supporting detail #3 Minor supporting details

So remember what to look for in a paragraph! The main idea (one word, if possible) The topic sentence (not always the first!) The major supporting details The minor supporting details PAYING ATTENTION TO THIS WILL HELP YOUR READING AND YOUR WRITING!

Now it’s time to write. Pets play an important part of many people’s lives.

The End