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Successful interaction with the text: IV. Analysis of paragraphs and passages

1. Paragraph

When analyzing a paragraph, you can boil it down to three parts: main idea, supporting detail, and sub-supporting detail. First, the main idea is usually abstract and important. The author will explain the main idea repeatedly throughout the paragraph. Secondly, the supporting ideas are used to explain the main idea, and they are often concrete. Third, the sub-supporting details are used to explain the supporting details in a more concrete ways. By pointing out these three pars of a paragraph, you can identify what the author considers important that he tries to convey to your mind.

2. Passage

A passage is composed by several or many paragraphs. To find the main idea of a passage, you have to look at the main idea of each paragraph. Then, you still need to identify supporting and sub-supporting details which explain the main ideas of the paragraphs. So what is the main idea of a passage?

The main idea of a passage is the most abstract and important concept in the passage. The author will repeatedly explain the main idea throughout the passage. Secondly, the main ideas of the paragraphs of the passage will relate to the main idea of the passage. In each paragraph, the way to analyze it is the same as described above.

Further Readings:
1. How to Analyze a Passage in a Play.
2. Comprehension Teaching Learning Activity Articles.