How to Find the Stated Main Idea

By Kelly Roell

Sometimes, a reader will get lucky and the main idea will be a stated main idea, which is the easiest to find in a passage. It is written directly in the text. Authors sometimes come right out and write the main idea in the passage for a variety of reasons – they don’t want you to miss the point, they are new writers and have not figured out the art of subtlety, they like clear, informational writing. Whatever the reason, it’s there waiting for you; you just need to find it.

Read the passage of text
Ask this question to yourself: “What is this passage mostly about?”
In your own words, explain the answer in one short sentence. Do not include details or examples from the text. Do not extend your idea beyond what is written in the text, even if you know a ton about the topic. It does not matter for this exercise.
Look for a sentence in the text that most closely fits with your brief summary

Stated Main Idea Example

Because the Internet exists in a world that is already regulated with policies and laws, government officials, upholders of current laws and the voice of the people, should be ultimately responsible for the regulation of the Internet. With this responsibility comes the enormous task of managing the protection of First Amendment rights along with honoring social and public interests across the world. That being said, the ultimate responsibility still rests in the hands of Internet users who vote – they, along with the officials elected to serve them, make up the global community. Voters have the ability to elect responsible individuals to the appropriate posts, and the elected officials have the responsibility to act on the will of the people.

The main idea here is “…government officials…should be ultimately responsible for the regulation of the Internet.” That is a stated main idea because it is directly written in the text. The sentence fully encapsulates the passage’s meaning as a whole. It does not go beyond the text making inferences outside the scope of the passage, nor does it use the specifics of the passage inside it, either.