Carefully consider the themes
After you have recorded the main points and taken notes that of ideas and opinions that you consider important. Follow these steps;
Themes of articles
Consider their major themes, main characters and the messages of each article – it’s likely the theme will provide the overall meaning of the article. If, for instance, both articles have the same basic theme, you could identify the similar and difference ways the articles explore that theme. Or you could compare how the themes are different and how the article is written,
Make a list of the key similarities and differences
Once you’ve considered the themes and finished taking notes, make a list of things that are importantly similar and different from each other. You could make a list with columns for things the texts share and things they don’t. During this phase, the main points, ideas, and opinions can be major or minor.
IN Process
- What major themes are discussed in each of the essays?
- What doe the writer of Article A say about the first theme, and how is this similar to or different than what the writer of Article B says about the same topic?
- What conclusions can you make about these differences
- or similarities?
Scanning Articles
Once you have have identified the general themes you need to begin recognizing the authors own research values and interests / and next identify article topic main points, ideas, and other points of view such as opinions – for example difference in research trends (prior research and current. Books written or contributed will give you an informative understanding on background history of research.
Scanning articles – identify a main idea that is directly expressed in the text. Start with methods, go to results and discussion. Then at a later time go to the theory (section 2).
- Main ideas are often found at the beginning of paragraphs. The first sentence often explains the subject being discussed in the passage.
- Main ideas are also found in the concluding sentences of a paragraph. The main idea can be expressed as a summation of the information in the paragraph as well as a link to the information in the next paragraph.
Argumentative Styles
The main idea is not always clearly stated. It is more difficult to identify a main idea when it is inferred or implied. It can be implied through other words in the paragraph. An implied main idea can be found in several ways.
- Several sentences in a paragraph can imply the main idea by introducing facts about the topic before actually stating the topic.
- Implied ideas can be drawn from facts, reasons, or examples that give hints or suggestions concerning the main idea. These hints will be clues leading you to discover the main idea in the selected text.