Main Idea dalam sebuah paragraf biasanya disebut dengan general idea. Sebaliknya, supporting
information (informasi pendukung) dalam paragraf terdiri dari specific ideas and details. Untuk meningkatkan kemampuan kita dalam finding
main ideas, kita perlu banyak latihan membedakan antara general dan specific ideas.
First, try it
on the three groups of words below. Each group of words has one general
idea and three specific ideas. The general idea includes all the specific
ideas.
Contoh 1:
Perhatikan the general word pada kelompok kata berikut ini. Then
read the Answers and Explanations that follow:
a)
jealousy hatred emotion worry
b)
bees cockroaches mosquitoes insects
c)
chemistry science physics biology
Answers and
Explanations
a) The
general idea is "emotions" because it includes all of the others as
examples.
b) The
general idea is "insects" because it includes all of the others as
examples.
c) The
general idea is "science" because it includes all of the others as
examples
Contoh 2:
Read the
following paragraph:
Pets are often
an important part of people’s lives.
Different types of animals can be pets, ranging from reptiles to
horses. One of the most common pets is a
dog. In fact, dogs serve a variety of purposes for humankind. One way dogs serve humans is they are great
just for companionship. Many an only
child has bonded with his/her “Fido,” thus having a willing and loyal friend to
play with on a daily basis. Additionally, dogs have served humans as work animals,
corralling sheep, conquering rats, and guarding the homestead. Finally, dogs are also used to serve the
disabled, for example, by leading the blind, alerting the hearing impaired, and
alerting epileptics of impending seizures.
Who or what is
this paragraph about?
Jawaban kita adalah
Dogs
The next question is
"What is
the paragraph telling me about dogs?"
Let’s look at
the paragraph again:
Pets are often
an important part of people’s lives.
Different types of animals can be pets, ranging from reptiles to
horses. One of the most common pets is a
dog. In fact, dogs serve a variety of purposes for humankind. One way dogs serve humans is they are great
just for companionship. Many an only
child has bonded with his/her “Fido,” thus having a willing and loyal friend to
play with on a daily basis. Additionally, dogs have served humans as work
animals, corralling sheep, conquering rats, and guarding the homestead. Finally, dogs are also used to serve the
disabled, for example, by leading the blind, alerting the hearing impaired, and
alerting epileptics of impending seizures.
Let’s examine
each sentence to see what’s going on:
“
Pets are often an important part of people’s lives.”
Sekarang Anda
tanyakan: Is the whole paragraph telling
me that pets are important?
Jawabannya: “NO.” Tapi ini bukan the main idea. Mari perhatikan kalimat berikutnya!
“Different
types of animals can be pets, ranging from reptiles to horses.”
Apakah
keseluruhan paragraf mengenai pets ranging from reptiles to horses?
NO
Perhatikan
kalimat berikutnya!
“One
of the most common pets is a dog.”
Tanyakan diri
Anda, Is the
whole paragraph about how common
dogs are?
NO
Perhatikan
kalimat berikutnya!
“Dogs
serve a variety of purposes for humankind.”
Tanyakan diri
Anda, Does the
paragraph tell us about the different purposes dogs serve for humankind?
YES!
Jadi
keseluruhan paragraf adalah tentang "Dogs serve a
variety of purposes for humankind", yang disebut dengan main idea!
Main Idea: Dogs serve a variety of purposes for humankind.
Sumber: Materi Kuliah Reading 1 UT Prodi Sastra Inggris Minat Penerjemahan 2016.2
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