STEPS to IDENTIFY the TOPIC of a text

Do you read a text and find it difficult to understand what it is about? Do you have an exercise to identify the topic of a chapter in a book and you don't know how to do it? In a PROFESSOR we explain in simple language how to identify the topic of a text So that, thus, you can understand it better and perform the task correctly. To do this, we will define the concept of topic and we will indicate the steps you must follow to be able to identify it correctly. Take note!

Index

1. What is the central theme of a text?
2. First steps to identify the topic of a text
3. Tricks to identify the topic of a text

A text is understood to be a joint exposition, whether spoken / written, of a general matter, and that is develops within a coherent structure, so that the receiver knows how to obtain the information that needs to.

The theme is he general statement of what is explained within the development of the text, although it is not a summary of the text, since it has more explanatory details and is much more extensive than the statement of the topic.

It is this within the text that exercises a fundamental function, since define the central idea and with which the fundamental of the message is identified through important and specific details.

The principal function of theme it is inform the reader or listener, regardless of the level of oral, written or reading comprehension they have, about the approximate idea and the general content of the text.

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To know how to identify the subject of a text must take into account:

• The statement of the topic. The correct title by means of the writing of an objective, neutral and informative sentence that designates and synthesizes everything important in the text. This phrase or word must be concise, generally a short phrase using a noun phrase and without using verbs; in the same way, it must be clear and concrete to express and reflect globally all the content stated in the text.
• In written texts the introduction It is the explanatory paragraph, and short on what the text is about or puts the reader in the background. Its main function is to ask, anticipate, organize, synthesize and establish a field of study for a reading predisposition. A brief introduction attracts the reader's attention and curiosity.
• The content or textual body is the information that expresses and develops the main / main and secondary ideas intertwined through coherent words and sentences within the text. In this speech, and sometimes depending on the thematic development, one or more ideas may appear main, either repetitively or through the headings or subtitles in their statements. It is here where everything is said and the argument is developed or the author's intentionality on the subject is transmitted to support a message; It contains the methods, data analysis or results and evidence to support arguments, analysis and citations to give credit and veracity to the above. In linguistics it is called the rema.
• The summary or end. It is a paragraph, not very long, that presents a recapitulation of the main ideas expressed in the text (formal end), the recapitulation and recommendations. Texts can also be concluded without a summary, with general comments (open ending), or by resuming and recalling the main topic or one of the topics with which the text begins (circular ending).

The subject of the text we can say that he is summary of the abstract. You have to do without details, only the main idea with new information, through a short and nominative phrase, lacking conjugated verbs, to convey clearly, concisely and precisely the information that the text suggests or exposes. If the text also has subtitles, it will facilitate the overall idea and interpretation of it.

However, although the summary helps you identify the topic, they are not synonymous. The topic can be expressed with an abstract noun, and may or may not need to be completed with some other assessment of the author that hints at the communicative intention with which said said text.

How to distinguish one from another? Very easy! Usually, the subject of a text is stated in two lines or an idea, while the summary of the text contains more details (several ideas about the topic to be addressed).

There are times when the writing lacks its own identification, that is, an identifying review, but if the text has coherence and effective logic, in both main and secondary ideas, the reader can identify the theme and overall meaning of the text.

• If after repeatedly reading the text you do not get a clear vision, it is recommended to ask the question What is the text talking about? or What does the author intend to communicate?, to better identify the subject of which it is written.
• Can you do keyword underlining and repetitive on which the author writes, he creates on them abstract nouns: love, loneliness, marginalization, honesty, clouds, or something that is not directly perceived with the senses.
• Another tip to more easily identify the topic of a text is look for adjectives that are repeated to transform them in nouns: unjust for injustice, heavy for heaviness, brave for bravery, among others. Verbs that represent the author's vision and use them frequently in the text can also be substantiated abstractly and also give us some clues on the theme of a text: raise by lifting, order by order, interest by interest.

In order to identify the subject of a text it is necessary to avoid certain frequent mistakes: state the topic with striking, poetic or persuasive words; focus the topic on one or more secondary ideas, forgetting the main one; do not differentiate the text from other similar texts.

If you want to read more articles similar to How to identify the topic of a text, we recommend that you enter our category of Reading.

• Writing / Writing: Manual de tecnicas narrativas / Narrative Techniques Guide.
• 2007. Spanish. AND. Paez