How to Find the Main Idea of a Paragraph free essay sample

How to Find the Main Idea of a Paragraph An important part of developing reading comprehension is identifying the main idea of a paragraph or passage. The main idea states the authors overall purpose for writing. Identifying the main idea and restating it in your own words develops skills of comprehension and analysis. Though there are several techniques for identifying the main idea of a reading selection, some general guidelines and strategies for both reading and checking your decision can enhance your ability to select important information from a passage. Finding the Main Idea 1) Read the title. Some paragraphs or passages will have a heading or title that describes the main idea of the passage. If a title is Popular Garden Flowers then the following paragraph will likely describe what kinds of flowers are common in gardens. 2) Read the first sentence of the paragraph. Many paragraphs begin with a topic sentence that outlines the main idea or point of the entire passage. We will write a custom essay sample on How to Find the Main Idea of a Paragraph or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page The sentences that follow the topic sentence provide supporting details. For instance, read the following passage. Roses are a popular type of flower in gardens. Roses are easy to grow and beautiful to look at. Roses give off a pleasant aroma once they are in bloom. Even though roses have thorns, they remain a common choice for gardeners. The first sentence lets us know that all subsequent sentences will be discussing the popularity of roses. 3) Read the passage from beginning to end. If the main idea is not stated in the first sentence, it may be stated in the last sentence. In the following passage, the main idea is in the final sentence. Daisies, lillies, and roses are good flowers for gardeners. They are easy to grow and look beautiful. Carnations are also a popular choice because they come in many colors. In warm climates hibiscus flowers are popular, but in cold climates grasses and hearty bushes are the plants of choice. There are many popular flower choices available to gardeners. The last sentence summarizes the list that precedes it. 4) Read the full passage. If the first and last sentences do not identify the main idea, use a highlighter while rereading the paragraph. Highlight words or ideas that repeat themselves. Highlight phrases that begin with marker phrases like, The most important aspect is or, Its most interesting that Ideas that are repeated are likely evidence of the authors main idea. The following passage repeats a concept throughout that leads to the main idea. Water, soil, sun exposure, and climate are all factors that contribute to flower growth. Choosing the right flowers for your garden should depend on these factors. There are many varieties of flowers available to gardeners. Exotic flowers require more care than popular flowers. Common flowers are usually easy to care for but still visually interesting. The repetition of the words flower, care, and common/popular suggest that the passage is about common flower varieties and the reasons they are popular. Checking Your Selection 1) After reading the passage, place it face down in front of you. Use a clean sheet of paper and rewrite what you remember from the passage. It is likely that the key ideas you remember are the authors main points. After you make your list, reread the paragraph. If there are any major points that are not on your list, you likely have not identified the main idea. 2) Rewrite the passage in your own words. Give a friend or classmate a copy of your rewrite and a copy of the original paragraph. Ask the friend to compare the paragraphs. If they are essentially the same, then you have identified the main idea. If there are large differences in meaning, then you probably have not identified the main idea. 3) Restate the main idea as a question. Replace the topic sentence with your question version of the main idea. If all subsequent sentences answer the question, then you have correctly identified the main idea. For example, read the following passage. There are many reasons why some flowers are more popular than others. Common flowers are typically easier to care for and require less water. Popular flowers come in a wide variety of colors. Many common flowers attract wildlife like butterflies and bees which help in pollination. The first sentence can be written in question form as, Why are some flowers more popular than others? Every sentence following the topic sentence answers the question. The main idea is why some flowers are more popular than others. References : ? Northern Virginia Community College: Find a Main Idea ? Columbia College of Missouri: Finding the Main Idea ? Landmark Outreach: How Can I Find the Main Idea? http://www. ehow. com/how_6538226_main-idea-paragraph. html

beyond freedom and dignity essays

beyond freedom and dignity essays In B. F. Skinners book, Beyond Freedom s point of view. That is, a point of view where man is viewed primarily as an animal, the "being" aspect of a "human being" is dropped from the picture. There is no consideration for a view of man who has mind that observes, chooses, decides and initiates action upon the environment. Basically, Skinner insinuated the idea that man has no personality, free will, responsibility, and that contemporary concepts of freedom and dignity can not be realistically applied to life experiences. I consider the question that if it is the natural stimuli that control the actions of humans, who controls the natural stimulus? Subsequently, if the natural stimuli are randomly occurring, that means that all things experienced by humans are at best, by chance or luck. I will first discuss parts of Skinners theories before I state my opinion on the validity of his work. Skinners entire system of experimentation was based on operant conditioning. While trying to comprehend Skinners explanation of operant conditioning, I visualized a person getting knocked around in a pin-ball machine. This person bouncing around in a pin-ball machine represents the idea of reaction, that is, to everything it would come into contact with. From Skinners point of view, those things a person would come in contact with are the stimulus, or the reinforcers. Specifically, the stimulus has the ability to increase the operant, or the behavior taking place right before the stimulus. Additionally, Skinner believed that the behaviors following the stimulus are consequences. Whether good or bad, those consequences have the ability to affect the tendency for a person to repeat the action. Skinner also discussed a different kind of stimulus, aversive stimulus, or something that is found uncomfortable and ...

Gender Stereotypes on Television essays

Gender Stereotypes on Television essays Gender Stereotypes on Television Television is one industry that is most guilty of perpetrating gender stereotypes. During prime time hours, men make up the vast majority of characters shown. Women characters found on television at the same time are mainly in comedies, while men are predominantly in dramas. This implicates that men should be taken seriously and women should not. Another sharp gender-stereotypical contrast on television can be seen in advertisements or commercials. Gender stereotypes are also prevalent in childrens Television does not exactly represent the real world. Since most major directors on television are males; they depict a world, which agrees with their concepts of society on their show. Women usually see womens roles on television as being submissive to men or not as intelligent as men. Many stereotypes of women are played out in the popular television show Friends. Monica is kind of neurotic, like some women have the reputation of being, or like Phoebe, who is really ditsy. But on the other hand, some shows, such as NYPD Blue, gives women new opportunities and puts them in acting positions or occupations such as police officers and detectives. This isnt a typical job for a woman, but by portraying women cops the show might actually bring in a more diverse audience. Women also have very stereotypical occupations that they often play in these shows, such as nurses, sales assistants, maids, or models. Women today on television, sometimes, are not portrayed as independent as they actually are in the real world. Women sometimes plays roles of being very dependent of men, which is not the case now as it was 50 years ago. For example, on many television programs women silently appear in backgrounds to cater to the needs of dominant males. ...

Management discussion and analysis of McDonald Company (MD&A) Essay

Management discussion and analysis of McDonald Company (MD&A) - Essay Example McDonald Company is a US based company and has branches worldwide. The company has opened several branches in order to reach out to an ever growing number of customers in other countries. The company aims in opening the branches are to achieve long-term goals, which are maximization of profits and competitiveness in the market (Connolly, 2007 P. 109). When the company has several branches, it is at a better stage of producing products at low cost of production and, therefore, maximizing their profits. In addition, opening several outlets means that other companies will not imitate the company’s product and implement them in their own countries. This enables the company to stay relevant in the market since their products will be unique due to lack of competition. Reference Connolly, B. M. (2007). International Business Finance. New York, NY: Taylor & Francis Fried, G., Shapiro, J. S. & DeSchriver, T. (2008). Sport Finance-2nd Edition. New York, NY: Human Kinetics. Question 2 I choose to take an overview of the Management Discussion and Analysis of McDonald Company (MD&A). There are several fascinating things to learn from the company. First, The Company perceives itself as a franchisor and assumes franchising is significant to providing great, locally pertinent client experience as well as driving profitability. Second, McDonald’s revenues include sales by Organization-operated restaurants as well as fees from restaurants managed by franchisees Third, the firm is operated as separate geographic sections.... A, NJ: Pascal Press Question 3 Coast leadership, differentiation, as well as, focus strategies are applicable separately regarding any organization or environment. Any attempt to combine as well as reconciling the three strategies would lead in organizations being stuck along the way. The main reason why the three may not work together is because they differ on various dimensions and brings different requirements. These include resources, industry arrangement, skills, control procedures as well as management method. However, both cost leadership and differentiation strategies are unable to coexist in some firms while reconcilable in other industries. According to various studies done by scholars on manufacturing firms, it is clear that differentiators also engaged variables commonly linked to cost leadership strategy (Brigham et al, 2011 P. 87). Cost leadership strategy on the other side, also showed characteristics normally associated with differentiators. It suggests that there are no pure strategies and that both differentiation, as well as cost leadership, must be taken into consideration. McDonald company is one of American firms that have utilized differentiation strategy. The strategy calls for the creation of both product and service, which offers exclusive attributes, which are treasured by customers. The company learnt that the parent based there purchasing decision mostly on price. The McDonalds marketing executive, therefore, did what was seen as ingenious. They attached a $.50 toy in several of their products including the hamburger, French fries as well as coke. They went ahead, named the product a happy meal, and marketed it to the children. The industry knew that some clients visit its stores only to take a short break from their days work and not

Current Event issue Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Current Event issue - Research Paper Example tries such as Iran, North Korea, Afghanistan, Iraq, Pakistan, China etc whereas Britain has many disputes with Argentina like Latin American countries. China has problems with India, Taiwan, Tibet etc. In short, interstate problems exist everywhere in this world and global governance is the only solution for these interstate problems according to Karns and Mingst. Karns and Mingst have defined global governance as follows: â€Å"Global governance is not global government; it is not a single world order; it is not a top-down, hierarchical structure of authority. It is the collection of governance-related activities, rules, and mechanisms, formal and informal, existing at a variety of levels in the world today†(Karns and Mingst, 2004, p.4). The concept of global governance put forward by Karns and Mingst seems to be good on papers and in practice it is not so. Since different types of governances are prevailing in this world, how we can expect that the collection of governance-related activities under the label of global governance may solve international problems or interstate problems. Moreover, different people may have contrasting beliefs, ideologies and customs and how we can use these things together for ensuring global peace and harmony. It should be noted that United Nations was founded immediately after WW2 to avoid or solve future interstate problems. However, we know that interstate problems are still going on at different parts of the world and UN seems to be ineffective in solving many of the interstate problems. Many people believe that in a unipolar world dominated by America, even UN like global agencies may fail to act neutrally. The on-going war on terror, Israel-Palestine crisis, the tensions between America and Iran are examples to prove the failure of UN. Under such circumstances how we can assume that the concept of global governance may ensure peace and harmony in this world. Even though the idea of global governance put forward by Karns and

Muscle Building Strength

Muscle Building Strength Muscle Building What You Need to Know When it comes to muscle building, most of us know the basics. We know that in order to build muscle we have to take in enough calories and do a lot of strength training. But what a lot of us do not know is that muscle building requires a lot of work and eating the right kinds of food and that we need to make sure that we are getting enough of the right calories in order for it to be effective. A lot of people are not aware that fruits and vegetables play a vital role in the development of muscle and in muscle building. A lot of people assume that protein is the only thing that they need to build muscle and they often overlook the importance of including a lot of fruits and vegetables into their diets. When we are doing muscle building activities, this takes a lot of energy for our bodies to be able to produce enough energy to allow our muscles to grow and increase in strength. This places a huge stress on our bodies and affects a lot of different processes that are going on in the body. The body has to still fight off illness and fight off bacteria and other harmful substances all the time. If the body is not being properly fueled, it will not have enough energy to fulfill all of the functions it has to do to keep us alive let alone build muscle. We need to give our bodies enough energy and healthy food to help keep in running the way it should. One of the big things that we can do to ensure that our bodies are going to be able to fight off disease is by giving our body plenty of fruits and vegetables. Fruits and vegetables have a lot of powerful antioxidants in them that can help defend ourselves against disease. It is important to include plenty of dark leafy vegetables and nutrient rich fruits into our diets. In addition to fruits and vegetables, when we are muscle building we also need to make sure that we are getting enough of protein and carbohydrates. Muscles require lean protein to build lean muscle and our bodies rely on carbohydrates to be able to fuel our workouts and give us the energy that we need to perform our daily functions. The sources of protein and carbohydrates can come from many different kinds of foods. The carbohydrates that we consume when muscle building should be complex carbohydrates and not too many simple carbohydrates that are found in foods like baked goods, white breads and white pastas. When looking for the best food sources for carbohydrates, you need to look for whole wheat and whole grain versions of food. There are many products on the market that come in whole wheat and whole grain food. The reason that our bodies need these types of food is because they take longer to break down in the body which gives us longer stores of energy. When we eat too much sugary or simple carbohydrate foods, our bodies cannot use all of that energy right away because it is processed quickly in the body and the excess calories and sugar turn into fat stores on our body. These fat stores are hard to turn into muscle when we are muscle building. Exercise is also a main ingredient in muscle building. A combination of strength training and cardio work is needed to get the best results possible. Some people do not recognize the importance of including cardio work into their plan and think that they will spend all of their time pumping weights. This is not the best way to go about muscle building. Our bodies need the cardio work in order to help keep our bodies working good and keeping healthy. A combination of strength work and cardio work is the best combination to employ when you are looking to do some serious muscle building. It is important to properly stretch the muscles as well, and a lot of people are turning to Pilates or yoga classes because they offer strength and stretching exercises that will help the muscles stay strong and not get to tight which could be a problem with muscle building. Following steps like having a good workout schedule and eating a healthy diet will help you reach your goals for wellness and help you reach your strength and fitness goals.

Children of Heaven Review

Children of Heaven This movie made me very thankful for everything I have in my life, including my shoes. I found it sad that All could not Just speak up for himself. If All would have asked the man working the grocery store about the shoes, then he might not go to all the trouble in the first place. I found it sad that the children had to work, and never got to play. The quality of life for this family bothered me deeply, and it made me blessed for the childhood that I had. The kids in this movie worked almost as servants to the adults, maintained pristine manors, and showed great perseverance.I noticed most of the adults in the movie were very strict, stern, and seemed like they were not afraid to beat a child. All made some of the highest grades in his class despite his hardships, he was a responsible kid. I Just don't understand why he did not speak up about the shoes to his teacher, principle, or coach. It was sad to see kids having to stick together, and share a pair of shoes t o prevent one of them from getting a beating. All's sister should have asked the other girl wearing her shoes, where she got them.The girl may have Just given them to her in exchange for the en, or when she received her new shoes. This movie was one hardship after another, heartbreaking for me to watch. It makes me want to donate shoes for children who may not have any at all. It was sad to see people In the movie live In lavish mansion, and then compare It to All's home. All's dad was paid very good for his gardening work, this money would be a precious asset to his family. When the man at the mosque gave All's dad the tools, this showed how the Islamic community supported the others In need. Overall It seemed Like a rough situation to me.