Reading passages also contain many general ideas and specific supporting ideas which may be mistakenly confused as Main Ideas. Sometimes they are too broad and general while other times they are too narrow and specific. Look at the following example and the four statements that follow it. One statement is too Broad, one is too Narrow, one properly expresses the Main Idea, and one is unrelated to the topic. Type a letter to indicate whether the following statements are:
- Too Broad - B
- Too Narrow - N
- Main Idea - M
- Unrelated - U
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Yokoi Shoichi, a Japanese soldier during World War II, never surrendered. For twenty-seven years he hid deep in the jungles of Guam, a Pacific island battle site during the war. Shoichi stayed there, away from friends and foes alike, because he felt "shame and dishonour" after the war. Shoichi knew that Japan had lost the war, but the humiliation of defeat kept him from giving himself up. So he stayed in the jungle, living on what he could scavenge. He ate mostly insects, snails, frogs and rats. In 1972, U.S. authorities finally convinced Shoichi to "surrender." He was sent back to his homeland, Japan. Doctors who examined him there found him to be in good health, with just a touch of anaemia due to a lack of iron in his diet. Shoichi's return home attracted a lot of attention. When a department store in Tokyo exhibited his jungle clothes and tools, more than 350,000 curious people came to view them. After spending some time back in civilization, Shoichi met a forty-five-year-old widow. The old soldier and the widow fell in love and married. After their wedding, the couple took a honeymoon trip to-of all places-the island of Guam. |
| M | A soldier who refused to surrender returned to civilization after twenty-seven years. Although it does not mention the war or country, this is the Main Idea behind it. Not all Main Ideas have to include all of the specific details. |
| B | It is often difficult for soldiers to face their country's defeat. This does not deal with the specific situation of this soldier or mention his country. |
| N | Shoichi went into hiding on Guam at the end of World War II. This is one specific detail from the story and does not explain what happened next. |
| U | The United States also fought in World War 2 against the Germans in Europe. While true, this does not relate to the topic about the soldier in the Japanese war. |
Exercise
Open the exercise to begin the activity. Follow the instructions in the document.