What is the theme and main idea. What is the topic of the text and how to determine it

§ 1 Highlighting the topic in the text

A text is an utterance that consists of two or more sentences that are interconnected in meaning. A certain order of sentences in the text allows you to convey the development of thought. All sentences in the text are united by a common theme. We will learn to highlight in the text its main idea as the main one for which it was written.

Read the text.

Spring in the forest

In early spring a stormy life begins to awaken in the forest. Melts away winter snow... Above the head, thin branches of birches covered with resinous buds are visible. More and more bird voices are heard in the forest.

What does this text say? About spring. So the theme of the text is spring or, more precisely, spring in the forest.

What general idea do all the sentences of the text develop? The most important, basic idea of ​​this text is expressed in the first sentence: In early spring, a stormy life begins to awaken in the forest. And the rest of the proposals develop it, i.e. awakening is seen in the melting of snow, the appearance of buds, the singing of birds.

§ 2 Main idea of ​​the text

The main idea can be stated at the beginning of the text (in this case, subsequent sentences develop it), and can also be a conclusion from the entire text.

Read the following text.

An old moose woman dozed off in the sun. She sensitively hears every rustle, every disturbing sound. A small calf frolics carelessly at her feet. He knows that neither gray wolf, neither a sensitive and strong mother will give him offense to an evil lynx robber ”.

(after I. Sokolov-Mikitov)

Who is this text about? That's right, about the old moose cow and her calf.

What is the main idea the author wants to convey to us, why does he tell this story? The author tells us that a moose cow will always protect her calf. This thought is expressed in the last sentence and is the conclusion from the entire text: He knows that a sensitive and strong mother will not give him to the gray wolf, nor the evil robber-lynx.

So, in order to find the topic of the text, you need to ask the question: who or what is this text about?

And in order to find out its main idea, you need to ask the question: why was the text written?

The title of the work can correspond to its theme, or it can express the main idea.

The text can be written both to express some basic idea, and to convey some main experience, impression.

Read an excerpt from the fairy tale by Sergei Kozlov, which is called "Winter's Tale":

“Snow fell in the morning. The bear cub was sitting at the edge of the forest, on a stump, with its head raised and counting and licking the snowflakes that fell on its nose. Snowflakes fell sweet, fluffy, and before falling completely, they stood up on tiptoe. Oh, how fun it was! "

It is clear from the text that the Bear's mood was joyful, cheerful. This can be seen from the last sentence: Oh, how fun it was! It is exclamatory in intonation.

This sentence does not express the main idea, but the main experience of the text. Who perceives so winter morning: author, teddy bear or snowflakes? Of course, Teddy Bear, because it is he who examines, tastes the snowflakes, rejoices. And the title does not correspond to the theme, but to the main experience.

§ 3 An example of highlighting a topic and main idea

Let's consider another excerpt from the tale of Sergei Kozlov, find its theme and main experience.

“It was the most extraordinary spring of all that the Hedgehog remembered. Trees blossomed, the grass turned green, and thousands of rain-washed birds sang in the forest. At first, blue snowdrops bloomed. Then the dandelions bloomed. Even the old tree stump released green shoots. "

The theme of this text is: the beauty of spring nature. The main thing in it is the feeling of admiration for spring, the experience of the beauty of the awakening forest. This is stated in the first sentence: It was the most extraordinary spring of all that the Hedgehog remembered. The main experience of the hero of the fairy tale, the Hedgehog, is conveyed. Therefore, the passage could be titled Extraordinary spring that will correspond to the experience of the Hedgehog.

List of used literature:

1. Russian language: 2 classes: Textbook: 3 hours / N.A. Churakova; ed. M.L.Kalenchuk. - M.: Akademkniga / Textbook, 2012. - Part 1.
2. Russian language: 2nd class: Textbook: 3 hours / M.L. Kalenchuk, O.V. Malakhovskaya, N.A. Churakova - M.: Akademkniga / Textbook, 2012. - Part 2.
3. Russian language: 2 cl. Toolkit/ M.L. Kalenchuk, O.V. Malakhovskaya, N.A. Churakova - M.: Akademkniga / Textbook, 2012.
4. Secrets of spelling: Book for students of grades 5-7 / G.G. Granik, S.M. Bondarenko, L.A. Kontsevaya. - M .: Education, 1991

Images used:

Studying a text, be it a fiction novel, a scientific dissertation, a pamphlet, a poem, an anecdote, the first thing the reader asks, sorting out words and sentences, is what is written here, what did the author want to express with a set of these particular words? When the writer managed to fully reveal his intention, it is not difficult to understand it, the main idea of ​​the text is clear already in the process of reading, and the leitmotif passes through the entire narrative. But when the idea itself is ephemeral, and even expressed not literally, but with metaphors, figurative descriptions, it is quite difficult to understand the author. Each reader will see in the main idea of ​​the text something of his own, close, depending on his worldview, the level of position in society. And it is very likely that what is recognized and understood by the reader will be far from such a concept as the main idea of ​​the text, which the author himself tried to put into the work.

The importance of defining the main idea

In most cases, the general impression is formed even before the last phrase is read, and the author's high ideas, with which he set to work, remain incomprehensible or completely unknown. In this case, it is very difficult for an average person to understand the enthusiasm of his friends or the positive reviews of respected experts on this work. Confusion about the fact that someone found something special in him, and someone did not, is capable of best case to puzzle, at worst - to form a certain The latter concerns especially impressionable readers, and there are many of them. The works that have caused polar reviews should be paid Special attention and understand what caused these impressions.

It is necessary to define the main idea of ​​the text. How to do it? To begin with, you should answer a few questions: "What did the author want to express and convey to the reader in his work, what made him take up the pen?" It is possible to determine the tasks that the writer, journalist or publicist set for himself, relying on a comparison of the time of writing the text and the time where the author moved the events described in it.

Typical examples of the definition of the main in the text

A rather typical example of this method of cognition is the immortal and brilliant work of Mikhail Bulgakov “ dog's heart". Each sentence, a whole passage, contains the allegorical attitude of the writer to the events taking place in the country after the 1917 revolution. Here is the topic and the main idea texts are veiled under the implausible transformation of one living individual into another under the influence of interference external factors... Bulgakov's attitude to global transformations in the state and the minds of its citizens is expressed as accurately and frankly as possible. He conveyed his position to the reader through the stylistic presentation of the text, coverage of the entire range of problems that arose in the country at that time, using the example of the private life of the inhabitants of a single apartment and their relations with others. Comparing the important and secondary events described in the story and taking place in the country, you can understand how to find the main idea of ​​the text through the presentation of these events by the author.

Aligning to the author

In addition to the above example of defining the main idea in a work, there are several general methods, without reference to a specific author and his work. The most common one is to carefully read the text and highlight several main associations that have arisen in the process of reading. If from the first time you managed to understand the author and what he writes about, you should not rush to the assertion that the main idea of ​​the text has been found. It is better to convey your understanding of the topic in one or two sentences, and then re-read the work again. If the conviction that everything was understood correctly from the first time is confirmed, then the main idea of ​​the text is presented intelligibly and with an ideal presentation. But if, with each subsequent reading, more and more new associations arise, you should try to penetrate deeper into what has been stated and, along the way, familiarize yourself with the reviews of this work by the author. It is likely that besides himself, no one else understood anything. And in this case, it is impossible to choose a method of how to find the main idea of ​​the text.

Fortunately, there are very few works for the general public that are not amenable to analysis and reasonable perception, and similar difficulties can arise when familiarizing with topics of a narrow specific nature, but they, as a rule, arouse interest among a certain circle of readers whose way of thinking and life is close the main theme of these works.

If the theme is set by the author

So back to general rule definitions of the main idea of ​​the text. After re-reading a work two or three times, if the opportunity, desire and necessity require it, it is important to understand exactly what it is about. in question and retell its essence. Sometimes the main thing in the text is hidden by the layering of excessively lush and flowery phrases, it all depends on the style of presentation of the topic by the author. But if it was possible to formulate the main thing in one short and laconic phrase, it means that the author managed to convey to the reader his attitude to the described events or heroes.

From heading to text

Sometimes the main idea of ​​a work is contained in its table of contents. This is quite common. Sometimes the title is the key to the whole work, and in this case the method of how to determine the main idea of ​​the text is to express the expanded For example, the theme of the novel by Nikolai Chernyshevsky "What is to be done?" is determined by a direct answer to the question posed in its table of contents or in characteristic chapters describing the dreams of Vera Pavlovna. The title of the novel at the end of the phrase is the key to finding the main idea. If the title of the text contains proper names, the attitude to them that has developed after reading is also the keys to determining the main thing in the stated.

Read and think

And finally, one more characteristic way how to determine the main idea of ​​the text. To do this, you need to understand what conclusions from what the story was about, the author himself draws. This can be framed as some kind of result, to which the author was leading the reader, and at the end of the work he drew a line under his idea in a few phrases. The example of morality in fables shows that in such cases the main idea is determined by the author himself, and the reader can either agree with it or not.

To the question what is the basic theme and the main idea of ​​the text asked by the author BEKA______ the best answer is In linguistics, there is still no generally accepted definition of the concept of "text". The reason for this is that scholars, as a rule, highlight those aspects of the text that, in their opinion, are the main ones, without pretending to be complete.
The question of the relationship between the text and the sentence is of great importance. Most scholars believe that some texts may consist of one sentence (simple or complex). These cases are quite rare and exist only in such sentences where you can find signs of the text.
So, a text is a group of sentences that are related in meaning and grammatically.
A topic is what (or about whom) is said in the text: a circle of events, phenomena, problems, concepts, etc. Each text is created on a specific topic. All of his proposals are united by a common theme. The unity of the topic ensures the integrity of the text, regardless of the number of parts into which it is divided. The theme determines the content of the text. The general theme is divided into a number of micro themes, which are subordinate to it, reveal it. The subject of a text can be expressed in its title.
The main idea, the idea is the main thing, the author of the text wanted to say. The theme and the main idea are related. In addition, the main idea also determines the content of the text. It can be formulated in one of his sentences. But more often than not, the main idea needs to be formulated by yourself, having thoughtfully read the text. The main idea (like the topic) can be expressed in the title of the text.
Structure of the text
The external structure of the text, as a rule, can be characterized by three parts: introduction, main part, conclusion. Its internal structure is often much more complicated, since it represents the deployment of a composition. In addition, when creating a text, its stylistic affiliation is also taken into account. For example, it is obvious that the official text of the statement and the artistic text of the story are not identical in terms of internal organization... Thus, there are texts composed according to a predetermined scheme, and texts characterized by relative freedom of construction, depending on the individual manner of presentation of the author.
Paragraph. The structure of the text is characterized by the fact that it is divided into units larger than sentences - paragraphs.
Each paragraph has its own micro theme, which plays the role of the main connecting beginning in the named segment of the text. Not all paragraphs are of the same color. Sometimes they are multi-dark.
The main sign that signals the border between paragraphs is the transition from one micro theme to another. In addition, paragraphs are characterized by intonation of the beginning and end: its end is marked, as a rule, by a significant decrease in tone and a final long pause; the beginning of the next paragraph is determined by the increase in tone.
Sentences not included in paragraphs. Not all sentences of text are included in a paragraph. Most often, they are the first and last sentences of a speech work (which do not refer to any one paragraph, but to the text as a whole), as well as author's deviations. Such proposals are relatively semantic independent.

In tests in Russian, there are often tasks like "Read the text. Determine its topic." It would seem that it could not be easier, but for some reason it is on such elementary questions that many graduates "stumble" when passing the Unified State Exam and even university students.

Definition

In order to understand how to determine the topic of the text, you first need to find out what it is. Definitions from textbooks, as a rule, are formulated too cleverly, but everything is extremely simple.

Let's try to practice. Think about how you can summarize the themes of famous works? Here are some examples:

• L. N. Tolstoy, "Anna Karenina"- the love story of a married noblewoman and a young officer Vronsky.
• G. Troepolsky, "White Bim Black Ear"- life through the eyes of a dog that has lost a loving owner.
• M. Bulgakov, "Heart of a Dog"- experience in transplanting the human pituitary gland to a dog and its consequences.
• A. Green, "Scarlet Sails"- the life of the girl Assol, who lives in anticipation of the prince, who, according to the prediction, should sail to her on a ship with scarlet sails.
• A. Dumas, "The Three Musketeers"- the adventures of the three Musketeers and D'Artagnan, who arrived in Paris to join the ranks of the elite royal guard.

As you can see, if you at least roughly know what the book or article is about, there will be no problems with how to determine the topic of the text. In addition, the answer is often found right in the title (for example, "War and Peace", "Three Comrades", "Romeo and Juliet", "The Adventures of Tom Sawyer").

Theme, idea, problem: what's the difference?

And now we got to the most difficult moment. Even a child intuitively understands how to determine the topic of the text, then where does the confusion come from? The fact is that in the literature there are also concepts of "main idea" and "text problem", which are very similar in meaning. Moreover, in Everyday life we often use them interchangeably.

How to stop confusing these concepts? We forget the long and confusing formulations from textbooks and try to understand the meaning of these terms.

It's actually pretty easy to remember what the difference is between topic, main idea, and problem of the text. For convenience, we have drawn up the main points in the form of a table.

"Eternal" themes

People always write about what is happening around them, so each historical period has its own characteristic themes. So, now few people will undertake to describe the events of the October Revolution or the hardships of the life of serfs.

However, speaking about how to determine the main theme of the text, it should be noted that there are so-called "eternal" themes - those in which at all times readers will recognize their experiences and problems:

• love, the birth of tender feelings and the bitterness of parting;
• fathers and children (clash of values ​​and views of different generations);
• confrontation between good and evil;
• friendship and betrayal;
• growing up and becoming a person - how life circumstances change character and attitudes.

These themes can be traced in one way or another in almost all literary texts... Therefore, while performing the analysis, think about what universal values ​​and problems the author touches upon.

How to determine the subject of a text in 5 minutes

1. Re-read the title... It may contain hints to help you understand what the text is about. Especially it concerns small stories and articles in which the author immediately gets to the point. That being said, remember that headlines can be associative, metaphorical, or paradoxical.

2. Study the text. Mentally highlight the main semantic blocks for yourself and determine how they are related to each other (in time, logically, etc.). For convenience, you can sketch out a small plan.

3. Write down key sentences... In each paragraph, highlight the phrase that contains the most useful information necessary for understanding the material.

4. Reduce... Now your task is to "throw out" everything unnecessary from these proposals. Artistic techniques, additional details, complex turns, actions. As a result, only the main keywords and phrases.

5. Distribute phrases by importance... To determine the main topic of the text, you need to write them out in a column in descending order of importance. That is, first of all, we write those words and phrases, without which it is impossible to understand what the text is talking about.

6. Formulate the topic... We take as a basis the keywords that we collected in the previous step. Unlike an idea, the topic should be extremely laconic. Don't stretch it out into a full sentence - ideally try to put it in 5-6 words (for example, "How to Learn to Forgive" or "The Healing Power of Classical Music").

Russian language. Grade 3.

Primary school teacher Blagova T.V.

What is the theme and main idea of ​​the text?

Target: to teach to determine the theme and main idea of ​​the text.

Planned results: students will learn to identify the topic, the main idea of ​​the text; title text; reasoning to answer, to prove their opinion.

During the classes

I. Organizing time

II. Knowledge update Spelling minute

(There is a note on the board.)

The cat, u, Tishka, lived, Misha. Fragrant, meadow, on, grass. Pears, babies, juicy, ate.

- Make a sentence from the words of each line.

- Can we say that you got the text?(No, the sentences are not related in meaning.)

- Underline spelling in words. (Children emphasize the combinations ЖИ, ШИ, ЧН, proper nouns.) - Find a word in which there are more vowels than consonants.(They ate.)

- In what words are all consonants deaf?(Cat-, Tishka.)

III. Self-determination to activity

(Text on cards.)

Elephants are intelligent animals.Their they teach, and they do all the work: they drag the logs, and they dig the earth, and they drag the water. They even go for a walk with the children and see that no one offends the children.

(According to B. Zhitkov)

- There are cards in front of you. Read it and tell me if it can be argued that the text is written here?(This is a text. It consists of three sentences. They are related in meaning. The theme of the text is elephants.)

- Why did B. Zhitkov write this text? What did the author want to say with this text? (Answers of the children.)

- Title the text.("Clever Animals", "Clever Elephants".)

- Each text has a main idea. What do you think it is? (Answers of the children.)

IV. Work on the topic of the lesson Control. 15 (p. 13).

- Read the text.

- Find a sentence that says the most important thing the author wanted to say.("A good acquaintance is a profit for us",)

- How do you understand these words? (A person gets a lot from a good acquaintance.)

- Prove that the headline reflects the main point.(You will behave with a good man, you will learn good yourself.)

- Write down the sentence that expresses the main point. (The children write off the last sentence.)

- Read what the main idea of ​​the text is.(This is the main thing that the author wanted to say.)

V. Physical education

Lean to the left, bend to the right,Way down come down, come up. Now jump a little, To the left, to the right, bend over And sit down quietly.

Vi. Consolidation of the studied material

1. Work on the textbook

Control. 16 (p. 19).

(Children read the text on their own.)

- Decide on the topic of the text.(The ant got caught in the rain.) ~ What is the main idea of ​​the text.(Thanks to his resourcefulness, the ant escaped the rain and went home.)

- Which sentence talks about how the ant took shelter from the rain?("An ant climbed ...")

- Write off this sentence.

(Checking. Self-checking, checking against the text of the textbook.)

Control. 17 (p. 19).

- Read the assignment.

- What assignment will you be doing in writing?(Write off the proposal.)

- Write down and check what you have written.

- What spelling should you pay special attention to? Check if you wrote them correctly.

- Read the oral work assignments.

- Why do they say that there is no September without fruits?(Vegetables and fruits ripen in September.)

- Prove that this is not a text, but a sentence.(The text consists of several sentences, but here is only one sentence.)

- Compose orally by including this sentence. (2-3 students answer. Children define the main idea of ​​the text.)

2. Dictionary Work

- What spelling should we remember?(September.)

- Write down a word, put an emphasis, underline the letter you want to remember.

- Give a definition: what is September?(This is the first fall month.)

Vii. Reflection

- There is text in front of you on the pieces of paper. Read it and write down the sentence that contains the main idea of ​​the text.

A blue puddle poured out from the night rain. The curls swam in it. For them, a puddle is like a lake.

They climbed fearlessly into the middle, falling with their chest on the bottom, whipping it with their wings, flying up ... Splashing over a puddle - a fountain.

Starlings squeak so desperately that you can immediately understand: the morningbathing for them - pleasure.

(The children write off the last sentence.)

VIII. Lesson summary

- What have you learned about the text?(Each text has a main point.)

- What is the main idea?(This is the main thing the author wanted to say.)

- Can there be a text without the main idea?(No. This will be nonsense.)

Homework

Draw a picture on the theme "September".Software level. Write a text of three or four sentences on the topic "September".