Paragraph Main Idea Versus Whole-Text Main Idea

Each paragraph has its own point, and together they build the main idea of the whole text.

A longer text has a main idea for the whole piece and a main idea for each paragraph. The paragraph main ideas are like building blocks that support the big one. Imagine an article about the moon. Paragraph 1: the moon's gravity pulls on the oceans, causing tides. Paragraph 2: moonlight helps some animals hunt and travel at night.

Paragraph 3: the moon steadies Earth's tilt, which keeps seasons more stable. Each paragraph has its own main idea, but together they support the whole-text main idea: 'The moon has important effects on life on Earth. ' A common mistake is picking one paragraph's main idea and calling it the main idea of the whole article.

To find the big one, list each paragraph's point, then ask what they add up to.

• 1Each paragraph has its own main idea.
• 2Paragraph ideas support the whole-text main idea.
• 3List each paragraph's point, then combine them.