The English Corner at Richland College
Reading Comprehension
Since college writing tends to be more complex, reading and comprehending the material you
come across in college courses poses new challenges. Improving your capacity to read difficult
material requires proficiency in the following skills:
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Identifying explicitly stated main ideas within a passage
Identifying explicitly stated supporting details
Recognizing implied main and supporting ideas
Recognizing an author’s purpose and tone
Understanding transitions
Understanding techniques of development
Main Idea
The main idea of a passage or a paragraph is what the text is primarily about. Typically, the main
idea will be stated outright in the form of a sentence (also known as the topic sentence). The
topic sentence usually occurs at or near the beginning of a passage or paragraph, but occasionally
the writer may include the topic sentence at the end of a paragraph or passage. To determine if a
sentence is the topic sentence, you must confirm that every part of the passage relates back to
that sentence.
Roosevelt had many reasons to advocate for national unemployment insurance. The
sheer number of people who were unemployed and starving during the Great Depression
made it necessary to provide some relief. Furthermore, Roosevelt began to entertain
economic theories that promoted active government intervention in improving the
economy. Whether the government spent money on unemployment insurance or on
something else, the point was to spend money to fix the economy. The fact that people
began to agitate for a communist revolution further underscored Roosevelt’s realization
that the federal government had to do something to help the unemployed.
In the example above, the first sentence is the topic sentence. It indicates that the main idea of
this paragraph is that Roosevelt had a number of reasons to make unemployment insurance
available nationally.
Supporting Details
While the main idea focuses on what the text is primarily about, the supporting details in a
passage further expand, explain, or prove/justify the main idea. The main idea can be a claim,
while the supporting details prove that claim.
Roosevelt had many reasons to advocate for national unemployment insurance. [1] The
sheer number of people who were unemployed and starving during the Great Depression
made it necessary to provide some relief. [2] Furthermore, Roosevelt had begun to
entertain economic theories that promoted active government intervention to improve the
economy. [3] Whether the government spent money on unemployment insurance or on
something else, the point was to spend money to fix the economy. [4] The fact that
Handout created by Topher Garay
www.richlandcollege.edu/englishcorner
people had begun to agitate for a communist revolution further underscored the point to
Roosevelt that the federal government had to do something to help the unemployed.
In this example, the sentences numbered 1-4 are supporting details. Each sentence supports the
main idea stated in the topic sentence that begins the paragraph.
Implied Statements
Not every passage or paragraph will include a topic sentence, but every passage or paragraph
will have a main idea. When a passage lacks a specific topic sentence, the main idea of the
passage is unstated and implied. When a main idea is implied, the reader must draw a conclusion
about what the main idea actually is. There is always the possibility that the reader’s conclusion
is incorrect, so that an implied main idea is what the main idea is most likely to be.
[1] Rex will always bark when the mail carrier comes but [2] gets incredibly happy and
excited whenever friends come over. [3] Rex will chase after anyone on a bicycle who
comes riding by, but [4] he also likes to play a game where we throw a ball or stick, and
he runs after it and brings it back to us. [5] At night, Rex likes to sprawl out at the foot of
my bed, but [6] don’t wake him up. He doesn’t like that.
In this example, statements 1-6 are supporting details, but there is not a main idea stated outright.
Since the main idea is implied, it is up to the reader to determine what the main idea could be
based upon the clues. In this case, one likely candidate would be the following: Rex behaves like
most dogs.
Purpose and Tone
One important aspect of reading comprehension is the practice of reading to understand the
author’s purpose and tone. An author’s general purpose for composing a text tends to focus on
one or more of the following possibilities:
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To persuade an audience to take action or adopt a belief
To express the author’s feelings or ideas
To describe or explain something to an audience
To entertain an audience
In addition to a general purpose, an author will usually have a more specific purpose or purposes
and an attitude toward his or her subject as well. Understanding an author’s attitude requires the
reader to observe details and word choices.
Orange juice is so sweet, so succulent that it is the nectar of the gods.
Orange juice is only a slight step above the sweat squeezed out from gym socks; I loathe
its smell, its taste, and even its sickly orange color.
In the first example, the author reveals an extreme love of orange juice through the use of words
such as sweet and succulent, as well as through the suggestion that orange juice was divinely
created. The second example shows that the author truly detests orange juice through the use of
words such as loathe and through the comparison of orange juice to gym socks’ sweat.
Handout created by Topher Garay
www.richlandcollege.edu/englishcorner
To complicate the process of determining tone further, authors are not always straightforward
when presenting their intentions or their attitude. If an author intends a text to be satirical or
sarcastic, readers might miss the real purpose and take the work seriously unless they pay close
attention to the details that the author includes and the words he or she uses to communicate
those details.
I don’t care how noble the goals of the feminist movement are; should joining that cause
require me to strangle every man I care about until the life slowly drains from his
body, I just don’t want to be a part of it.
This example, taken from the article “I Don’t Support Feminism If It Means Murdering All
Men” by Katherine Adams from the Onion, a satirical website, shows how details and word
choice can reveal an author’s purpose. In this case, going into excessive and explicit detail about
the way in which she would have to murder “every man I care about” if she became a feminist
helps Adams convey sarcasm. She uses this sarcasm to critique the ways in which opponents
have misrepresented feminism.
Aside from considering details and word choices an author uses, readers can also find clues to
the author’s purpose based upon the author’s background and where the text was published. In
the previous example, the fact that the article comes from the Onion clues the readers in that they
should not take everything on the surface as the author’s true intent.
Transitions
Writers use transitional language to help readers understand how the different supporting details
relate to each other and the main ideas in a text. Transitional words and phrases fall into two
broad categories: time/sequence and relationship
Some transitions show either chronological time or sequential development. These include terms
such as during, before, after, first, next, etc.
Time example: During the 1960’s, youth focused their energy on social and political
issues such as the Civil Rights Movement and the Vietnam War, while in the 1970’s,
they focused more on themselves and their immediate desires for free love and drugs.
Sequence example: First, research your topic in the library databases. Next, read and
annotate the sources you want to use in your essay. Finally, create an outline before even
writing.
Other transitions show the manner in which different ideas relate to each other. These include
words and phrases that function in the following ways:
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show additions, such as furthermore, moreover, additionally
show contrasts, such as on the other hand, in contrast
show exceptions, such as yet, nevertheless, however
show conclusions, such as consequently, therefore, thus
Addition example: Writing a research essay requires organization. Furthermore, writers
must be prepared to edit and revise many times before turning in the final draft.
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www.richlandcollege.edu/englishcorner
Contrast example: Fossil fuels allow humanity to travel across the globe. On the other
hand, the burning of fossil fuels damages the environment.
Exception example: Neil Young has enjoyed a musical career that has spanned multiple
decades, yet he has only had one number one hit in the United States during his
legendary career.
Conclusion example: Football players must learn how to tap into their aggression in
order to succeed on the field; consequently, it is not surprising when they are unable to
turn off this aggression in their private lives.
Development
Writers use several strategies to develop their writing. Understanding which strategies an author
uses can help readers to further comprehend the text as a whole. Common strategies for
development include the following:
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Narration: describes the sequence of events and their consequences
Description: provides specific and often concrete sensory details of a person, place,
thing, or situation
Illustration: provides concrete examples of a broad concept or claim
Definition: explains what something is or is not by including characteristics of the thing
being described
Classification: shows how a thing does or does not fit with other things
Comparison and contrast: shows how one thing is like or different from another thing
Cause and effect: shows how one thing can lead to or determine the nature of another
thing
Handout created by Topher Garay
www.richlandcollege.edu/englishcorner