Task : Major & Minor Details

MAJOR AND MINOR DETAILS

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

a. Major Details

General ideas that support the stated main idea of text.

• Reasons

• Points in an argument

• Points of a comparison

• Further elaboration of main idea.

b. Minor Details

Specifics that illustrate or support the major details of a text.

• Examples

• Specific Details

• Specific Instances

• Statistics

Key Questions

-          Who or what is this 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)

Signal Words

a.       Major Details : First, Second, Third¸ One¸ Another¸ Furthermore¸ Moreover¸ Next¸ Also¸ Finally.

b.      Minor Details : For example¸ An example is¸ For instance¸ To be specific¸ That is¸ This means¸ Case in point¸ To illustrate.

            Not all details¸ however¸ are of equal importance. Some lend direct support to the main idea and are called major details. Others¸ called minor details lend direct support to the major details but only indirect support to the main idea. In the other words¸ major details explain main ideas more specially¸ and minor details explain the major details more specially.