Da VIP Academy / GED / RLA / Reading Informational Text
Main Idea & Supporting Details
Identify the central idea of a passage and the details that support it.
How it works
The main idea is the whole, not a piece
A main idea must cover the entire passage. If a choice is true but only describes one paragraph, it is a detail, not the main idea.
Details answer 'how do you know?'
Supporting details are facts, examples, statistics, and quotations that back the central claim. Ask of each choice: does this support the big point, or is it the big point?
Worked examples
A passage describes a garden that fed families and built relationships, while admitting it fixed no roofs.
- Ask what every paragraph is about: the garden's real effect.
- Reject choices that cover only one paragraph.
- Main idea: the garden's value was social connection, not physical repair.
Words to know
- Central idea
- The most important point the whole text makes.
- Supporting detail
- Evidence that backs up the central idea.
Test-day tips
- • Cover the answer choices and say the main idea in your own words first.
- • Beware choices that are too broad ('gardens help cities') or too narrow ('six people brought shovels').