1. In Concert:
An Integrated Reading and Writing Approach
by Kathleen T. McWhorter
Part Two:
Reading, Writing, and Organizing Paragraphs
Chapter 6:
Details, Transitions, and Implied Main Ideas
PowerPoint by Sarah Gilliam, Instructor of English
Mountain Empire Community College

2. Chapter 6: Details, Transitions, and Implied Main Ideas
Copyright 2014 by Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.

3. Important Terms to Remember:
1. Supporting Details
2. Transitions
3. Implied Main Ideas
Helpful Tips:
• As a reader, examine how details support a topic
sentence.
• As a writer, select the appropriate details to support
your topic sentence.
Copyright 2014 by Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.

4. Important Terms to Remember:
1. Supporting Details
2. Major Details
3. Minor Details
What are some types of details?
Copyright 2014 by Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.

5. Types of Details:
• Facts
• Examples
• Reasons
• Statistics
• Descriptions
• Steps
• Procedures
Copyright 2014 by Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.

6. How do I think critically about details?
Consider:
• Writers cannot list every possible detail
• Writers must choose the most important details
to include
Helpful Tips:
• As a reader, consider if the writer could have
chosen better details
• As a writer, try to choose the details most
relevant to your main idea
Copyright 2014 by Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.

7. Transitions are linking words or phrases that
lead the reader from one idea to another idea.
Helpful Tips:
• Recognizing and using transitions will help
guide you through a paragraph, making it
easier to read or to write.
• Transitions also alert the reader to what will
come in the next paragraph.
Copyright 2014 by Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.

8. The implied main idea is unstated, and it is up
to the reader to use details in the paragraph to
figure out the main point.
What are some strategies for identifying the
implied main idea of a paragraph?
Copyright 2014 by Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.

9. Strategies for Identifying the
Implied Main Idea:
1. Find the topic
2. Figure out what is the most important idea
the writer wants you to know about the topic
3. Express the main idea in your own words
Copyright 2014 by Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.

10. Details should be relevant and sufficient:
• Relevant details directly explain and support the
topic sentence.
• Sufficient details provide enough information to
make your topic sentence understandable and
convincing.
Copyright 2014 by Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.

11. Transitional words allow readers to move easily
from one detail to another, showing how the
details relate.
Helpful Tip:
Think of transitions as words and phrases that
guide the reader through the paragraph and
signal what is to come in the next one.
Copyright 2014 by Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.

12. Other Important Terms to Remember:
1. Time Sequence
2. Spatial Arrangement
3. Least/Most Arrangement
4. Specific Words
Copyright 2014 by Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.

13. Goal 1: Understand Details, Transitions,
and Implied Main Ideas
Review Questions
True or False:
Transitions are words or phrases that connect details and
pull a paragraph together.
True or False:
The implied main idea is directly stated.

14. Goal 1: Understand Details, Transitions,
and Implied Main Ideas
Review Questions
True or False:
True: Transitions are words or phrases that connect details
and pull a paragraph together.
True or False:
False: The implied main idea is directly stated.

15. Goal 2: Identify Supporting Details
Review Questions
Which of the following is NOT a type of detail?
A. Reasons
B. Photographs
C. Statistics
D. Examples

16. Goal 2: Identify Supporting Details
Review Questions
Which of the following is NOT a type of detail?
A. Reasons
B. Photographs
C. Statistics
D. Examples

17. Goal 3: Think Critically About Details
Review Questions
True or False:
Writers should include every possible detail they
can think of in their paragraphs.
True or False:
Good readers consider details the author of the
writing may have left out.

18. Goal 3: Think Critically About Details
Review Questions
True or False:
False: Writers should include every possible detail
they can think of in their paragraphs.
True or False:
True: Good readers consider details the author of
the writing may have left out.

19. Goal 4: Use Transitions to Guide Your Reading
Review Questions
Which of the following do transitions NOT do?
A. Lead the reader from one idea to another
B. Transition readers to the information in the
next paragraph
C. Review information in all the previous
paragraphs

20. Goal 4: Use Transitions to Guide Your Reading
Review Questions
Which of the following do transitions NOT do?
A. Lead the reader from one idea to another
B. Transition readers to the information in the
next paragraph
C. Review information in all the previous
paragraphs

21. Goal 5: Find Implied Main Ideas
Review Questions
Which of the following is an effective strategy
for identifying the implied main idea?
A. Choose the first sentence of the paragraph.
B. Look for transitions.
C. Identify the topic and try to determine the
idea the author is trying to relay.
D. All of the above.

22. Goal 5: Find Implied Main Ideas
Review Questions
Which of the following is an effective strategy
for identifying the implied main idea?
A. Choose the first sentence of the paragraph.
B. Look for transitions.
C. Identify the topic and try to determine the
idea the author is trying to relay.
D. All of the above.

23. Goal 6: Select and Organize Details to
Support Your Topic Sentence
Review Questions
True or False:
Relevant details explain the transitions in the
paragraph.
True or False:
Sufficient details provide enough information
to make the topic sentence understandable.

24. Goal 6: Select and Organize Details to
Support Your Topic Sentence
Review Questions
True or False:
False: Relevant details explain the transitions in
the paragraph.
True or False:
True: Sufficient details provide enough
information to make the topic sentence
understandable.

25. Goal 7: Use Transitional Words and
Phrases to Connect Details
Review Questions
Which of the following is a method of
transition?
A. Spatial arrangement
B. Time sequence
C. Least/most arrangement
D. All of the above

26. Goal 7: Use Transitional Words and
Phrases to Connect Details
Review Questions
Which of the following is a method of
transition?
A. Spatial arrangement
B. Time sequence
C. Least/most arrangement
D. All of the above