Question

finding the main idea
the wonderful wizard of oz
by l. frank baum
l. frank baum wrote the wonderful wizard of oz in 1900. the story tells of dorothy, a girl from kansas, who gets taken by a tornado to oz, a magical land. in this passage, dorothy wants to return home to kansas, so she has gone to the emerald city to ask the wizard of oz for help.

1. the wonderful city of oz

even with eyes protected by the green spectacles, dorothy and her friends were at first dazzled by the brilliancy of the wonderful city. the streets were lined with beautiful houses all built of green marble and studded everywhere with sparkling emeralds. they walked over a pavement of the same green marble, and where the blocks were joined together were rows of emeralds, set closely, and glittering in the brightness of the sun. the window panes were of green glass; even the sky above the city had a green tint, and the rays of the sun were green.
write the main idea of the paragraph in the large oval below. write the supporting ideas in the small ovals.

Explanation:

To find the main idea, we look at the overall content of the paragraph. The first sentence tells us that Dorothy and her friends were dazzled by the city's brilliance. The rest of the sentences describe the green - themed elements (houses, pavement, window panes, sky, sun's rays) that make the city wonderful and contribute to the dazzle. For the supporting ideas, we extract the details that describe the city's features, each of these details (about the streets, pavement, window panes, sky and sun) supports the main idea about the city's brilliance and its green - themed appearance.

Answer:

Main Idea (Large Oval):

Dorothy and her friends were dazzled by the brilliance of the wonderful City of Oz, which is full of green - themed elements.

Supporting Ideas (Small Ovals):

• The streets were lined with green marble houses studded with emeralds.
• They walked on a green marble pavement with emeralds between blocks.
• The window panes were of green glass.
• The sky above the city had a green tint and the sun's rays were green.