Bachiller

FOCUS C
Organizing information


A paragraph is a group of detailed sentences that develop an idea. In nearly every paragraph, there is one idea that is more important than all the others. This idea is called the main idea of the paragraph and is usually found at the beginning of the paragraph.


Sample paragraph 1
All computers, whether large or small, have the same basiccapabilities. They have circuits for performing arithmetic operations. They all have a way of communicating with the person(s) using them. They also have circuits for making decisions.


In sample paragraph 1, the first sentence, “All computers, whether large or small, have the same basic capabilities” expresses the main idea of the paragraph.


All main idea sentences have a topic and saysomething about the topic.


Example:
All computers, [topic] whether large or small, have the same basic capabilities, [about the topic]


In some of your readings, finding main ideas may serve your needs but in much of your studying you need to grasp details. It is sometimes more difficult to grasp and understand details than main ideas. You will find it helpful if you think ofdetails as growing out of the main idea. In sample paragraph 1, there are three major details growing out of the main idea. These are the major details:


1. They have circuits for performing arithmetic operations.
2. They all have a way of communicating with the person(s) using them.
3. They also have circuits for making decisions.


A major detail often has minor detailsgrowing out of it. These minor details tell more about a major detail, just as major details tell more about a main idea. In studying, you often find a paragraph that has many small details that you must grasp and remember. Breaking up a paragraph of this kind into its three components; the main idea, major details, and minor details will help you to understand and remember what it is about.Sample paragraph 2
It is the incredible speed of computers along with their memory capacity that make them so useful and valuable. Computers can solve problems in a fraction of the time it takes a man. For this reason, businesses use them to keep their accounts, and airlines, trainlines and buslines use them to keep track of tickets sales. As for memory, modern computers can storeinformation with high accuracy and reliability. A computer can put data into its “memory” and retrieve it again in a few millionths of a second. It also has a storage capacity for as many as a million items.


If you were to organize this paragraph into its three components, it would look like this:


MAIN IDEA






MAJOR
DETAILS








MINOR
DETAILSN.B. The major details in a paragraph are of about equal importance. Because minor details grow out of major details and also give information about major details, they are less important.


In making a block diagram you don’t have to write every word in the main idea sentence or in each of the detail sentences.




FOCUS I
Adding information


There aremany reasons why people read; but in an academy setting, reading is primarily done to get information on a particular subject. It is important to the reader to understand the relationship between the information given and the information which preceded it. Often information is presented in such a way as to suggest a reinforcement of what has been said, or to show a similarity to what has beensaid before.


When writers give explanations about something, they usually offer examples to support their argument in favour of a particular viewpoint. They may choose to present the information deductively, in which case a generalization in give first and then examples are given in support of the general statement or principle. Others prefer to provide examples first, and then make the...