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Course: Praxis Core Reading > Unit 1

Lesson 2: Quick guides
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Praxis Core Reading
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Main idea | Quick guide

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Main Idea Questions

The first question in many Reading sets will ask you to identify the statement that best expresses the main idea or primary purpose of the passage as a whole.
Examples:
Which of the following statements best summarizes the main idea of the passage?
The main idea of the passage is...
In the passage, the author is primarily concerned with which of the following?
The primary purpose of the passage is to...

What’s the “big idea”?

  • The main idea is what the passage says
  • The primary purpose is why the author wrote the passage
To answer these questions correctly, you have to be able to identify the most important idea that the passage is trying to establish—the idea that all other ideas and information in the passage are there to support.
Top tip for primary purpose questions: Ask "So what?" After you finish reading the passage, it can be very helpful to ask yourself "So? What's the point?" and answer that question in your own words.
For example, a passage might describe how CD's were manufactured in the 1990's, but the author might be making a larger point about the music industry. A passage might explain how honeybees communicate with a waggle dance, but the larger point might be about animal intelligence.

Strategies

Prediction

When you say something in your own words, you gain control of the content and prove to yourself that you understand what's going on.
With that in mind, it can be helpful to summarize the main idea in your own words before heading to the choices. Then, see which choice most closely matches your prediction.
Of course, there is more than one way to express the main idea of any passage, so you may not find an option that matches your phrasing exactly. But if you have a good grasp of the passage, the correct choice should come closer to your prediction than the other choices do.

Active reading strategies

Here’s a short list of ways you can actively engage with a passage:
  • Restate the thesis in your own terms
  • Identify the point of view of the author, and note how it differs from other views presented in the passage (e.g., the perspectives of other individuals or groups)
  • Take special note of contrast language: yet, but, although, however, etc.
  • Jot quick notes to yourself on the scratch paper provided
  • After every paragraph, check your comprehension by saying the main idea of that paragraph back to yourself in your own words
  • Look at the first and last sentences of each paragraph to find big ideas

Common wrong choice types

For main idea questions, it's especially important to check all the choices before moving on to the next question. If you find a choice that looks good, it’s still worthwhile to see if there’s another that’s even better.
Some common wrong choices you’ll encounter on main idea questions include:
  • Too narrow: Choices that are too narrow will accurately describe a part of the passage, but they’ll exclude the broader point. The main point of a passage won't show up in just one place.
  • Too strong or extreme: Some distractors will draw upon a point that is made in the passage, but take it further than can be directly supported. Be wary of “blanket” words like “always” “any” “all” “ever” and “never.”
  • Beyond the scope: These wrong options bring in content that, while related, is ultimately outside of the scope of the passage. These choices feature ideas or information that you might reasonably expect to find in a larger excerpt from the same source that the passage was taken from, but the statement simply can't be supported by information in the text in front of you.
  • Conflicts and contradictions: Some options contain language that is in direct conflict with information presented in the passage. These wrong choices can be the easiest to rule out, but many students find themselves drawn to strong statements on the opposing sides of arguments. It can also be easy to overlook negations like "not" or "isn't", so read choices closely to avoid these tempting distractors!
  • True statements: Just because a choice contains a true statement doesn't make it a correct statement of the idea or purpose of the passage!
  • Things that the author might agree with Don’t select a choice just because you think the author would agree with the idea expressed; that may not be the main point the author was making in the passage.
  • Sounds familiar? Be careful with choices that use words found in the passage. Read the passage and every choice carefully—a quick skim of the passage may not be enough to determine the main idea or primary purpose.

Your turn!

Practice these strategies with the example below!
Example
Shakespeare wrote four types of plays: histories, comedies, tragedies, and tragicomedies. Some scholars contend that Shakespeare's choice of three of these types of dramatic forms reflects his various psychological states. As a young man making a name for himself in London, he wrote comedies. Then, saddened by the death of his son, he turned to tragedies. Finally, seasoned by life's joys and sorrows, he produced tragicomedies. But a look at the theater scene of his day reveals that Shakespeare was not so much writing out of his heart as into his pocketbook. When comedies were the vogue, he wrote comedies; when tragedies were the rage, he wrote tragedies; and when tragicomedies dominated the stage, he produced tragicomedies.
The primary purpose of the passage is to
Choose 1 answer:

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