Lesson · R.1.1
Finding the main idea
Learn the two-question method for finding a passage's main idea on the HESI A2 Reading subtest, with an original nursing example.
By the end of this lesson you can
- Name the topic of a passage and state the author's point about it in one sentence
- Tell a main idea apart from a supporting detail using the umbrella test
- Locate an unstated main idea from the details, causes, and examples the author gives
Finding the main idea means answering two questions in order: what is this passage about, and what point is the author making about it. Get both answers and you have the main idea. Miss the second question and you will keep picking a detail instead, which is exactly the wrong answer these questions are built to tempt you with.
Ask the topic question first
Start narrow. The topic is a word or short phrase, not a sentence. A passage might be "about" hand hygiene, or medication errors, or night shift fatigue. That is step one, and it is usually easy.
Step two is harder and it is where the marks are actually won. Once you have the topic, ask what the author wants you to understand about it. "Hand hygiene" is a topic. "Hand hygiene compliance drops sharply during the last two hours of a shift" is a main idea. The topic names the subject; the main idea makes a claim about it.
Tell the main idea from a detail
A detail supports the main idea; it does not stand in for it. If the answer you are drawn to is mentioned in only one paragraph while three other paragraphs are talking about something else, you have probably chosen a detail. A genuine main idea shows up, directly or indirectly, across most of the passage.
Notice the detail is true and it is in the passage, but it only supports the claim. The claim itself covers all four sentences.
Use the umbrella test
Picture the main idea as an umbrella and every other sentence in the passage as something standing under it. If a sentence does not fit under your candidate umbrella, either the sentence is a detail or your candidate is wrong. Test the passage above: does "the team's value lies in the minutes it saves" cover the vital signs sentence and the hospital data sentence? It does, so it holds up as the main idea.
Umbrella test. Ask whether every other sentence in the passage could shelter under your chosen main idea. If two or three sentences are left standing in the rain, pick again.
- Ask what the passage is about, then ask what the author is saying about it.
- A true main idea covers most of the passage, not just one paragraph.
- Check the first and last sentences first since writers often place the main idea there.
- If the idea is not stated outright, build it from the pattern of details.
- Test a candidate main idea by seeing whether the other sentences fit under it like an umbrella.
Check yourself
0 / 5Walking Soon After Surgery
Nurses on surgical wards now aim to get patients out of bed within hours of an operation rather than days. Early walking keeps blood moving through the legs, which lowers the risk of clots forming in the veins. It also encourages the lungs to expand fully, so fluid is less likely to pool and cause a chest infection. The digestive system tends to wake up sooner too, letting patients eat and drink again without delay. Muscle strength holds up better when patients are moving rather than lying still for a week. Getting patients walking soon after surgery is one of the simplest ways to speed recovery and prevent the complications that keep them in hospital longer.
1Which phrase best states the topic of this passage in a short phrase rather than a full claim?
2Which sentence best expresses the main idea of the passage as a whole?
3A learner decides the main idea of the passage is that a patient's digestive system starts working again sooner once they walk. What is the clearest reason this choice is wrong?
4A reader proposes that the passage's main idea is that clots are the main danger facing a patient after surgery. Applying the umbrella test, which detail does not fit under that candidate main idea?
5Where does this passage state its main idea most directly?