Major and minor details

What are major and minor supporting details and how to identify them.

1. Major and Minor Details
An introduction

2. Supporting Details
There are two types of supporting
details in a text:
Major Details
Minor Details
Not all texts have both major and
minor details.

3. Major Details Minor Details
General ideas that
support the main
idea of the text.
Reasons
Points in an argument
Points of a comparison
Further elaboration of a
main idea
Specifics that
illustrate of support
the major details of
a text.
Examples
Specific Details
Specific Instances
Statistics

4. Key Questions
Who or what is the passage about? (Topic)
What is the author trying to convey about
the topic? (Main Idea)
What reasons or points support the main
idea about the topic? (Major Details)
What examples, details, or statistics illustrate
the ideas in the text? (Minor Details)

5. Signal Words
Major Details
First, Second, Third
One
Another
Furthermore
Moreover
Next
Also
Finally
Minor Details
For example
An example is
For instance
To be specific
That is
This means
Case in point
To illustrate

6. 1One writer spent nine hundred hours over the course of
eight years watching the action in singles bars and learning
about male-female relationships. 2Although men think of
themselves as the aggressors, says this writer, it is really the
women who make the decisions when a courtship is beginning.
3He has observed that women are the ones who pick a
potential mate out of the crowd. 4They position themselves
near the man they have selected and, with a glance or a smile,
invite him to make contact. 5Similarly as conversation begins,
the woman initiates each increasingly intimate stage. 6Her
continuing eye contact, moving closer, and touching the man
all signal her permission for him to make further advances. 7In
most cases, the woman’s signals are so subtle that the man is
only subconsciously aware of them.

7. Outline
Preparing an outline shows a relationship
between the main idea and the supporting
details.
Outlines start with a main idea followed by
supporting details: Major and Minor

8. Outlining Tips
Look for words that
tell you a list of
details is coming.
Common List Words:
Several kinds
A number of
Four steps
Various causes
A series of
Among the results
A few reasons
Three factors
Several advantages

9. Tip: Look for words that
signal Major Details
One
First (of all)
Second(ly)
Third(ly)
To begin with
For one thing
Also
Another
Next
In addition
Moreover
Further
Furthermore
Last(ly)
Final(ly)

10. Topic Main Idea
Male-Female
Relationships
Although men think of
themselves as the
aggressors, says this writer, it
is really the women who
make the decisions when a
courtship is beginning.

11. Major Details
He has observed that women are the ones
who pick a potential mate out of the crowd.
Similarly as conversation begins, the woman
initiates each increasingly intimate stage.
Locate the final major detail

12. Minor Details
They position themselves near the man they
have selected and, with a glance or a smile,
invite him to make contact.
Locate the final minor detail