Main Idea and Supporting Details

Definition

The main idea is the central point or theme of a text, while supporting details are specific pieces of information that provide evidence or examples to support the main idea.

Analogy

Think of the main idea as the star of a movie, while supporting details are like the actors and actresses who help bring the story to life. Just like how actors support and enhance the main character's role, supporting details strengthen and reinforce the main idea.

Related terms

Topic Sentence: A topic sentence is a sentence that expresses the main idea of a paragraph.

Evidence: Evidence refers to facts, statistics, examples, or quotations that support an argument or claim.

Analysis: Analysis involves examining something in detail to understand its components and their relationships to each other.