Central Idea and Argument

True or false: You do not have to read all of the supporting details to determine the central idea.

• True

• False

True or False: One supporting detail could change what your central idea says.

• True

• False

How ready do you feel to start determining and analyzing the central idea?

• Very Ready

• Somewhat ready

• I need more information

• What are we talking about?

Find the central idea

• Being a clown isn't all fun and games.

• Rodeo clowns protect cowboys by putting themselves in danger.

• Rodeos are exciting.

• Clowns are good at riding bulls.

What is a central idea?

• It's the authors point of view

• What the passage is mostly about

• It is the sequence of the story.

You should determine the central idea by combining the supporting details (AKA text evidence).

• True

• False

Central idea is ​ (a)  

• what the text is mostly about

• a summary

• the message or lesson

Which of the following best defines the central idea of a text?

• A) The main point the author wants to convey

• B) A detailed description of characters

• C) The setting of the story

• D) The author's writing style

True or False: The central idea is always explicitly stated in the text.

• A) True

• B) False

What is the primary purpose of identifying the central idea in a text?

• A) To summarize the text

• B) To understand the author's argument

• C) To analyze the text's structure

• D) To critique the author's style