You are right---'guessing' what the author believes is important is easier in non-fiction that is written a certain way...like those Time for Kids articles that little people often read. I don't think there is a main idea in fiction...there are themes...but no main idea! The text structure is different---plot---rising action, climax---resolution. But in non-fiction---there are multiple text structures. I think maybe it is possible to have a main idea/detail text structure with more than one important idea! I keep thinking about the nonfiction article about a house. What a realtor, a historian and a thief would feel was important in that article would all be different. Our purposes for reading affect what the most important ideas are in that article. YET...maybe that article is written as a description and maybe it is written main idea/detail... I think I am getting even more confused! Jennifer In a message dated 7/30/2008 9:22:53 P.M. Eastern Daylight Time, [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes:
So, Dana if you are looking at the structure of the text are you really looking at the main idea? I am a voracious reader and writer and I have always struggled with the concept of main idea on a test. I can justify my answers orally until the cows come home, but on a test...problems. I remember reading Shakespeare in high school and my teacher telling me that I was not understanding it the way that Shakespeare meant it to be. My question was how did she know how he meant it to be understood? Obviuosly there is usually a surface main idea, but upon further readings comprehension grows, which often clouds the "exact" main idea. I find it easier to identify in non-fiction informational text, but then it depends on the way the author writes. So, when we don't neccessarily agree with the author's main idea (or what the test claims that to be) what are we to do? Will teaching text structure help people like me? There seems to be many ways that an author can write the main idea. I am not sure how to best teach my kiddos. I still maintain that they have to be flexible in their thinking. Nancy **************Get fantasy football with free live scoring. Sign up for FanHouse Fantasy Football today. (http://www.fanhouse.com/fantasyaffair?ncid=aolspr00050000000020) _______________________________________________ Understand mailing list [email protected] http://literacyworkshop.org/mailman/listinfo/understand_literacyworkshop.org
