Nursing Entrance Exam

Nursing Preparation Study Guide

Chapter 1: Reading 1.1 Key Ideas and Details 1.1.1 Topic, Main Idea, Supporting Details, Genres, and Themes A topic is the general subject matter of the text. For example, a book titled Eating Clean: A Simple, Healthy Dieting Solution is about a new type of diet for healthy eating. What is the book’s topic? There are several answers which include dieting, healthy eating, and cooking healthy meals. All these answers are correct, but some are more general than others. The main idea of a text is its specific message. It is also the reason why the text was written. For the dieting book in the example above the main idea can be expressed as, “In order to live a healthy lifestyle, eating a healthy, clean diet is imperative.” The supporting details of the text explain the main idea. These details give the reader reason to believe themain idea. The supporting details for the dieting book in the example could include studies conducted on healthy eating, specific foods which are good for your health, and examples of healthy recipes. A genre is a category of literature (or art/music) characterized by similarities in form, style, and or subject matter. Comedy, Sci-Fi, Romance, Fantasy, Action & Adventure are just a few forms of a genre. Genres are typically defined based off of the content or intention of a story. For example, comedies are meant to be humorous and elicit laughter. While anything in the horror genre should scare the audience. A theme is an idea, subject, or concept that a text refers to over and over. Eating Clean: A Simple, Healthy Dieting Solution might have the following themes: achieving good health, self- improvement, and positive body image. 1.1.2 Topic and Summary Sentences Topic sentences reveal the main point of a paragraph, essay or book. It makes a statement that will be explained, discussed or elaborated. Supporting sentences follow the topic sentence and contain ideas that support the topic sentence. Summary sentences are at the end of a paragraph, chapter, section or document. They often summarize the main point and draw a conclusion based on the topic. 1.1.3 Predictions, Inferences, and Conclusions An inference is a logical conclusion that is not actually written in the text. Instead, it is thought of by the reader based on information found in the text. Inferences are also known as reading between the lines and can be thought of as predictions. Predictions, conclusions and inferences are based on personal judgment and prior experiences.

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