Lesson 9 | The main point

Now, let's get on to the MAIN POINT.

In order to do so, we'll need to review.

What we learned this lesson

1. Clarifying what we mean by "main point"
2. The main point of a passage is often not the most important point.
3. There is a difference between the main point of a passage and my favorite point.
4. The process of combining main points
5. Use the logical relationship to identify the primary proposition in a pair.
6. The primary proposition will be indicated by a grey circle as well as a star.
7. When the primary proposition doesn't get a label, the grey circle will appear on its own.
8. To edit which proposition is the main point, move the circle to the other relationship label.
9. Leaving the subordinate propositions aside, relate the two primary propositions together with a logical relationship.
10. Keep going until you have a bracket over the entire passage of study.
11. The supporting point may be needed to complete the idea of the main point.
12. You may need to bring in the idea of a supporting proposition if two primary propositions taken together make no sense.
13. You may need to bring in the idea of a supporting proposition if leaving them aside alters the meaning of the text or obscures its logic.
14. To bring in the idea of a supporting proposition, summarize the piece either in your head or using dot notes.
15. With a coordinate relationship, no proposition is supporting another, so summarize each part of the relationship.
16. Writing out a main point summary
17. Identify the main point proposition by noting the longest horizontal lines.
18. Consider what the most important one or two primary supporting relationships are.
19. See if you can incorporate the primary supports to capture the ways they are supporting the big idea.
20. Keep your main point summary succinct.
21. Frame the main point summary in the voice of the text.