A main idea question about a diary entry asks what the whole scene shows about the narrator. Name who the scene follows, then track what happens from the opening to the ending. Look for where the text turns, because the point often comes after a change in direction. Predict one sentence that includes what happens and what it shows about the narrator. Wrong choices often stop at one moment instead of covering the whole scene.
Hints
- Hint 1
Read what Anna imagined and then what she saw at Elm Street. Ask how she feels at the start of the visit.
- Hint 2
At Yet, follow the narrator inside and read to the end. How do her feelings by the end compare with her feelings at the start?
Step-by-step
Follow the narrator’s change in feeling
Step 1Find the starting feeling
Anna imagines a marble palace, but she finds a squat brick rectangle with dirty windows. How does that difference make her feel? The building falls short of her hopes, so she starts out disappointed. A main idea has to cover the whole visit, so this opening feeling is only the starting point.
- Step 2
Follow the turn and predict
What changes when she steps inside? The turn begins with Yet the moment I stepped inside, and Anna’s disappointment dissolved. Miss Whitaker guides her among books that promise adventure, and the ending calls her stack of books borrowed worlds. So our prediction is that the books change how Anna feels about the library, drawing her in until the building’s appearance no longer matters.
- Step 3
Choose the whole change
To state the main idea of the passage, a choice must cover the whole change in feeling. Which choice includes both ends of Anna’s visit? The line saying she is initially disappointed but becomes delighted does, and its treasures inside are the books she treats as adventures and other worlds. Choice C.