What are the central ideas of a text?

The main idea, sometimes referred to as the central idea, is the most important thought of a text. From elementary school on up, we’re taught to discuss and analyze pieces of writing in terms of the main idea. Knowing how to identity the main idea in a piece can help us become better readers—and writers.

What is a main idea?

The majority of details in a text reference the main idea. Basically, it’s the topic that comes up over and over again in an article, book, or other piece of nonfiction. The term main idea is generally associated with informational, nonfiction texts like newspaper articles.

The main idea tells the reader what the paragraph, article, or other section of a text is going to be about. Often the main idea is explicitly provided in a declarative statement, which is a statement of fact ending in a period:

Every year, hundreds of children prepare to compete in the Scripps Spelling Bee. Along with their family members, these would-be competitors memorize thousands of dictionary entries. They are hoping to win as much as $52,000. Of course, they are also hoping for bragging rights!

Every sentence in this paragraph is about the hundreds of children who compete in the Scripps Spelling Bee. The main idea is explicitly stated in the first sentence of the paragraph. The following sentences give specific details about these contestants—how they prepare and what they hope to win.

Here’s another example in which the main idea is explicitly stated in the paragraph. In this case, though, the main idea is stated at the end of the paragraph instead of the beginning:

There is a ceaseless murmur of people practicing tricky words. Contestants pace the hallway with their parents. A voice comes over the loudspeaker announcing that there are 10 minutes until the start, causing a ripple of excitement to go out. It is the first day of the Scripps Spelling Bee and the tension is electric.

Every sentence in the paragraph describes a detail about the morning of the first day of the Scripps Spelling Bee. The details give a sense of how tense the morning is. That’s how we know that the last sentence of the paragraph, It is the first day of the Scripps Spelling Bee and the tension is electric, is the main idea of the paragraph.

But what if the main idea is not so obvious?

Sometimes, the main idea is shown implicitly. In those cases, you have to find the main idea by determining what the majority of details in the paragraph or section are about. For example:

The first step to making a pie is to make the dough. While the dough is chilling, you can make your filling. Next, roll out the dough and bake it a little bit. Finally, add the filling and bake your pie.

None of these sentences say explicitly what the main idea is. However, every single sentence is about how to make a pie. That is the main idea of this paragraph.

Just like paragraphs have main ideas, paragraphs build to make the main idea of an article. Sometimes, the main idea of an article is stated in the first or second paragraph. Often, it’s implicit, meaning a majority of the paragraphs are about a particular topic.

Knowing the main idea is important for writing a summary of a text. A good summary of a nonfiction text includes the main idea, as well as the major contributing details:

The article is about the annual competitive spelling bee in the United States. First, the organizers are profiled. Then, the article details the lives of the children who are preparing to enter the spelling bee and the people who live with them. Finally, we learn what the day of the competition itself is like.

What is a theme?

While finding the main idea of a text is typically associated with informational, nonfiction texts, there are associated concepts for argumentative texts and fictional texts. When reading an argumentative text, you might be looking for the main argument. For a fictional text, you might be looking for a theme.

The process for finding the main idea, the main argument, or theme of a text is roughly the same. You have to pay attention to what a majority of details in a paragraph or the majority of paragraphs in an article are about. Sometimes, this is given explicitly.

Often, you have to read between the lines to figure it out. There’s no novel that just states, “the theme of this novel is how to overcome hardships.” Instead, the protagonist learns to face their fear of spelling with lots of practice throughout the story. That’s how we know that overcoming hardship is the theme shown in the story.

Whether the main idea is implicit or explicit, expect to see questions about main ideas when it comes to reading informational texts in school. These questions are asking you to look for what the majority of details in the paragraph or section of text are all about.

Once you know what you’re looking for, finding the main idea becomes a lot easier. After all, it is the core of what the author is trying to tell you—the reader—about.

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The central idea or main idea of the text is the main theme around which the topic revolves. The central idea tells you a lot about the text. It gives you knowledge and information regarding the topic. It enlightens you more on the subject and lets you know what the text is really about. It can also be termed as the main message that the author might be trying to give to its readers. There is no use of reading a text and not understanding the central idea of it. The central idea or main idea should be thoroughly understood by all the readers so that they can get the most out of the text. A good way to do so is by outlining all the central ideas whenever you feel like you have encountered one. Here are some ways to outline the central ideas of the text to understand it better.

The Beginning

The best place to find the central idea of the text is to look for it in the beginning. Most authors reveal the main idea or central idea in the very starting of the text. This is because it helps readers in understanding the context of the text in a better way. Look for the topic sentence or the introductory line in the beginning because that is where the central idea lies mostly.

The Conclusion

If the written text is a story or any other narrative, then the author can mention the central idea in the last few lines. This is because the concluding part has the most effect on the readers. They tend to remember that more. This is the reason why some authors will mention the central idea or message in the end so that they can conclude in a powerful way that would have some effect on the reader.

How to Determine the Central Idea?

The central idea is the main concept or a theme that is being introduced by the text. Sometimes, the central idea of a text is introduced directly but most of the times, the central idea of the text is hidden and has to work out. In such texts, the readers have to read between the lines to determine the central idea. A reader needs to determine the central idea of what they read as it helps to understand the purpose of the content. Given below are some techniques that will help you in determining the central idea of the content accurately and efficiently:

Reading Carefully

A careful reading of any text is very significant to locate its main idea. A detailed and microscopic reading of any text can bring ease in the process of determining its central idea. The first and last paragraphs of any text are very important for the central ideas’ determination and these must be read with more care.

Summarizing the Text

If the central idea cannot be directly identified by reading a text, then summarizing the whole text will help. Try to make the summary as short as possible consisting of no more of two or four sentences. If you have carefully summarized all the important points, then this summary will help to determine the central idea of the text easily.

Answering Wh- Questions

Ask yourself all five Wh- questions including what, when, why, where and how about the content and answer them in your own words. Combining all your answers will help one a lot in determining the main idea of the content.

Looking for Repetitions

As the main idea is an important part of any content, the writer does use it several times during their content. Try to locate the idea being repeated and use the repeated idea to determine the main idea of the content.

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The central idea is the essential and unifying element in writing.

It captures the essence of the piece. Unlike the theme, there’s a central idea to both fiction and non-fiction texts.

What Is a Central Idea (Definition)?

The central idea communicates the general truth of the article. It’s often understood as the main point or the keypoint.

What Are Its Main Characteristics?

Unifying element of the text;
The dominant impression one gets after reading;
The main idea of the writing;
Can be written in one sentence;
Different from theme;
Often found in the first sentence of the article;

Difference Between Central Idea and Theme

A central idea should serve a specific purpose in the text and shall not apply everywhere like a universal theme.

Take this children's short story, for example:

It was an incredibly hot day, and a lion was feeling very hungry. He came out of his den and searched here and there. He could find only a small hare. He caught the hare with some hesitation.

“This hare can’t fill my stomach” thought the lion. As the lion was about to kill the hare, a deer ran that way. The lion became greedy.

He thought “Instead of eating this small hare, let me eat the big deer.” He let the hare go and went behind the deer. But the deer had vanished into the forest.

The lion now felt sorry for letting the hare off.

It was an incredibly hot day, and a lion was feeling very hungry. He came out of his den and searched here and there. He could find only a small hare. He caught the hare with some hesitation.

“This hare can’t fill my stomach” thought the lion. As the lion was about to kill the hare, a deer ran that way. The lion became greedy.

He thought “Instead of eating this small hare, let me eat the big deer.” He let the hare go and went behind the deer. But the deer had vanished into the forest.

The lion now felt sorry for letting the hare off.

In this story, you can say the theme is greed (general theme), but you may write the central idea in one sentence as, "Lion lets go of prey in hand to catch the bigger prey, loses both."

However, you can’t write a central idea as a generic truth found in the story. For example, "A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush."

Themes are often instructional; central ideas are the specific purpose statement;
A theme can be applied to fictional texts; a central idea statement can be applied to non-fictional texts as well;
Themes help students understand the moral of a story; the central idea has the general purpose of unifying a text;
Theme can be found after reading the entire book; the central idea can be found in the first sentence of an article;
Themes can be applied outside of the story; central idea is text-specific;

Four-Step Process to Identify Central Idea

You can generally find a central idea in the topic sentence and the concluding sentences of an article.

Here’s a four-step process to identify the central idea:

1. Looking for the primary text aspects

The central idea most often will be found in the main heading of an article. However, every section or paragraph of a text can have its central idea. You can unify these main ideas from each division into one main point or the meta central idea.

However, you should be cautious not to confuse it with supporting details. An example of supporting details is analogies, quotes, or other contextual information.

2. Analyze the content structure

Look for contrasting elements, chronological order, the framework of scenes and events, problems, and solutions.

Understanding the content structure and asking questions along these topics will usually reveal the central idea.

Once the article's main subject is determined, ask what the writer has tried to convey about the text. The answer is the central idea.

3. Overlooking supporting details

Elements specific to the text should be omitted to emphasize the central idea. These are not part of the larger picture the text wants to demonstrate and are unnecessary to understand a central idea.

Although these details help the reader perceive the main idea, they are not essential to identifying the central idea.

4. Finding thesis statement

If you’re still unable to figure out the central idea, you can generally find it in the concluding passages of the text. More or less, every closing paragraph has a clear, concise thesis statement.

However, not all pieces have a thesis statement. In such cases, you must deduce the central idea by reading the text several times.

Two Examples of Well-Written Central Ideas

Here are examples of well-written central ideas:

The story's central idea is how a young girl goes through immense struggle and sacrifice to build a successful career for herself. (connects all dots of the story)
The central idea of this text is how women are systematically discriminated against in workforces, which are essentially men-centric. (summarizes women's struggle in the workforce)

Two Examples of Badly-Written Central Ideas

The central idea of the story is friendship. (incomplete statement)
Don't judge a book by its cover. (avoid using cliches, proverbs, idioms)

How to Use Central Idea as a Tool to Explain the Big Picture Concept to the Reader

Here’s the formula for finding a central idea: [subject] + [writer's idea about it].

An easy way to find out the central idea statement is to determine the subject and then add to it what the author has said about this subject.

Every writer has a perspective in mind while writing a text, a stance they want to take, a feeling they want to convey.

All of these components that make up the content combine to produce concentrated ideas. If you’re an author and are wondering how to make a point of conveying a successful central idea, here are some.