FROM TOPIC TO CONCEPT MAP Hand Out

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UNDERSTANDING THE MEANING FROM THE AUTHOR’S PERSPECTIVE

This part offers a step-by-step strategy for getting to the author’s meaning.

1. The topic is the person, place, idea, object, or event the author wants to explore with readers

2. The main idea is the general comment or point the author wants to make about the topic. It’s
the overall message readers are expected to take from a reading. Like the topic, the author refers
to the main idea in almost every sentence.

3. The topic sentence is the sentence the author uses to sum up the main idea. Other people can
use their own words to summarize the main idea, but their summary would not be a topic
sentence. Only the author can supply that part of a paragraph.

4. Supporting details are more specific sentences that explain or prove the topic sentence by
providing reasons

5. Major details define key terms and clarify general words or phrases in the topic sentence.
They are less general than topic or introductory sentences and provide the examples, reasons,
statistics, and studies that help make the topic sentence clear and convincing.

6. Minor details help make major ones more specific. They can also repeat a key point for
emphasis or add a colorful fact to hold the reader’s interest. are the most specific sentences in the
paragraph.

1. Determining the topic

To make sense of paragraphs, particularly difficult ones, you first need to determine the
topic, or the subject under discussion. The topic is the person, place, idea, object, or event the
author wants to explore with readers. Because paragraphs usually mention several people,
places, and events, you need a strategy for figuring out which one of those is actually the
paragraph’s topic.

The strategy recommended here is as follows

a. Repetitive Words: Look for the word or phrase most frequently repeated or referred to
throughout the paragraph. Once you identify the word or words receiving the most
repetition and reference throughout, you’ll also know the paragraph topic.

Take this example:

In the nineteenth century, baseball emerged as the most popular new urban sport. The
game first appeared in its modern form in the 1840s when a group of wealthy New
Yorkers organized the Knickerbocker Club. Then in 1862, in Brooklyn, William H.
Cammeyer built the first enclosed baseball field in the country. However, it was not until
1869 that teams began to charge admission and pay players. In 1876, eight teams—New
York, Philadelphia, Hartford, Boston, Chicago, Louisville, Cincinnati, and St. Louis—
came together to form the National League of Professional Baseball Clubs. 6By the late
1880s, annual attendance at National League games had reached eight million, while men
and boys in vacant lots and empty streets were emulating professional players. (Adapted
from Gillon and Matson, The American Experiment, p. 747.)

Writers don’t just repeat a word or phrase to keep the topic threading its way through a
passage. Often they rely on substitutes. Take the second sentence of the baseball
paragraph. Here the writers develop the topic—and avoid tedious repetition—by using a
general category word, ―game,‖ to represent baseball. Because context eliminates any
questions about which game the writer has in mind, the word game acts as a substitute or
stand-in for ―baseball.‖ Writers use general-category substitutes like this to create chains
of repetition and reference that keep the topic before readers’ eyes without repeating the
same words or phrases over and over again. Notice, too, that in sentence 4 of the baseball
paragraph, the authors mention the word teams. In the context of this paragraph, the word
teams is clearly associated with the word baseball and, therefore, implies, or suggests, the
topic. This implied, or suggested, presence of a word or phrase is another common device
writers use to refer to the topic: A word or phrase associated with the topic implies its
presence and keeps the subject of the paragraph front and center in readers’ minds.

b. Reference Through Examples

Another way of identifying the topic, author keeps the topic in front of readers through
examples, which illustrate the topic, ―Charles Lindbergh’s independent character‖:
Charles Lindbergh’s strong and independent character shaped every event in his
altogether spectacular life. In 1927, when he decided to fl y nonstop over the
Atlantic, everyone said it was impossible. But Lindbergh didn’t listen. He fl ew
anyway, becoming an international hero. In 1933, when the public demanded that
he return a medal given to him by the Nazis, Lindbergh refused. No matter how
unpopular his decision, he was not about to bend to the opinion of others. True to
character, Lindbergh also planned his own funeral.

Typically, he refused to leave such an important event in anyone else’s hands. Charles
Lindbergh wanted to die just as he had lived—on his own terms. In this case, four
examples of Lindbergh’s behavior evoke, or call up, the topic of the paragraph—
Lindbergh’s independent character or spirit.

c. Reference through Pronouns

In the following example, the authors use pronouns that repeatedly refer to George
Washington, the topic of the paragraph. The pronouns have been italicized to make them
stand out.

By February 4, 1789, the election of senators and Congress members was just
about complete. Now it was time for electors* in each state to meet and choose
the nation’s first president. To no one’s surprise, their choice was George
Washington, a former general in the revolutionary army. Although Washington
had not sought the position, he knew the nation expected him to serve, and he was
willing and ready to do so. The general was among the very few in the
revolutionary generation to have a national reputation. He was hailed as the hero
of the Revolution. He also looked and acted the part of the dignified, virtuous
patriot. Thus, it’s no surprise that Washington became president by a unanimous
vote of the Electoral College. For regional balance—Washington was from
Virginia—New Englander John Adams was chosen as his vice president.
(Adapted from Berkin et al., Making America, p. 198.)

Using pronouns like he and him, the authors avoid excessive repetition while maintaining
a chain of repetition and reference that spotlights their topic. Here’s the point of these
examples: The topic of a paragraph can be mentioned or referred to in a variety of ways.
Your job as a reader is to track the chain of repetition and references woven throughout
the paragraph. It’s that chain of repetition and reference that determines the topic under
discussion.
EXERCISES

Read each paragraph and circle the appropriate letter to identify the topic

In the nineteenth century, American and British fishermen nearly wiped out the seals of
Antarctica. The Antarctic seals, however, after almost becoming extinct, have made an
astonishing comeback, and the population is now rapidly increasing. Although scientists admit
that other factors may be responsible for the seal’s return, they are convinced that the severe
decrease in the baleen whale population is a major cause. The baleen whale and the Antarctic
seal once competed for the same food source—a tiny shellfish called krill. With the baleen whale
practically extinct now, the seals have inherited an almost unlimited food supply. That increase
in the seals’ food supply is considered a major reason for the seals’ comeback.

Who or what is most frequently mentioned or referred to in the paragraph?


a. the decline of the Antarctic seal
b. the disappearance of the baleen whale
c. the comeback of Antarctic seals

In sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS), a sleeping baby stops breathing and dies. In the United
States, SIDS strikes about two of every thousand infants, usually when they are two to four
months old. SIDS is less common in cultures where infants and parents sleep in the same bed,
suggesting that sleeping position may be important. Indeed, about half of apparent SIDS cases
may be accidental suffocations caused when infants lie face down on soft surfaces. Other SIDS
cases may stem from problems with brain systems regulating breathing or from exposure to
cigarette smoke. (Bernstein et al., Psychology, p. 173.)

What word or phrase is most frequently mentioned or referred to throughout the entire
paragraph?
a. infant deaths
b. SIDS
c. the incidence of SIDS in other cultures

The topic can’t always be expressed in a single word. That raises the question, how do you know
when a phrase rather than a single word is necessary? Here’s the answer: If the topic needs to be
expressed in a phrase, the paragraph will contain more than one chain of repetition and reference.
Take, for example, the following:

Human beings, like all living creatures, are driven by certain innate instincts, drives, or
needs. All living organisms feel an impulse to maintain life, which causes them to seek
nourishment. They have a compulsion to reproduce, which finds its expression in sex.
Although much of the behavior of lower animals appears to be regulated by instincts, this
is not true of human behavior. Human beings have tamed their instincts and subordinated
them to their attitudes toward the environment. At times, human beings deny or disobey
their natural instincts because of their social roles or relationships. 7A prisoner of war
may die rather than betray his or her country. A child may refuse food if he believes that
such a tactic gives him an advantage in a power struggle with his parents. (Adapted from
Engler, Personality Theories, p. 99.)
In this passage, both human behavior and the role of instinct are repeatedly mentioned or referred
to. When two different chains of repetition and reference make their way through a paragraph, as
they do here, it indicates that the topic should be expressed in a phrase rather than a single word.
Thus, the topic here would be ―human beings and instinctive behavior,‖ or ―the role of instinct in
human behavior,‖ or even ― human beings and instincts.‖

EXERCISE

Identify the most frequently used phrase and determine the topic of the following text

TEMPO.CO, Bandung - Statistician from Padjadjaran University (Unpad) Yuyun Hidayat


predicted that the number of COVID-19 cases in Indonesia would continue to increase until mid-
February 2021. Presently, Indonesia’s number of cases ranked fourth in Asia, under India,
Turkey, and Iran. From January 31 to February 6, 2021, the total number of cases was predicted
to reach 1,126,543 to 1,191,405, and the active cases would likely hit 143,489 to 255,445. From
February 7-13, the country was estimated to detect 1,190,784 to 1,324,830 positive cases and
around 143,489-255,445 active cases. In terms of new weekly cases, Indonesia ranked second in
Asia with a total of 88,839 infections, while India topped the list with 91,641 new cases.
―Indonesia may soon have the highest number of new weekly cases,‖ Yuyun said on Monday,
February 1. Based on the curve of the new weekly cases from November 7, 2020 to January 30,
2021, the number continued to soar. The steepest surge was recorded from 59,913 to 78,256
cases on October 9-16, 2020. ―If we feel safe from the COVID-19 pandemic, that is the time
when we let our guards down,‖ he remarked. The widespread transmission of coronavirus,
Yuyun argued, could be curbed by strict public discipline in wearing face masks, washing hands
with soap regularly, and avoiding crowds. ―So these predictions will not occur,‖ he underlined.
(Adapted from Tempo)

2. MAIN IDEA

Once we have the topic we have to take the next step and ask another question: What idea is
mentioned in general terms and further developed in specific detail? Once we know the answer
to that question, we’ll also know the main idea.

Identifying the Topic and Main Idea

DIRECTIONS Read each paragraph. In the blank at the end, write a phrase that identifies the
topic. Then circle the appropriate letter to identify the main idea.

In 2009, Burger King created the ―Whopper Sacrifice‖ campaign, offering a free ―Big Whopper‖
to anyone who eliminated ten friends from their Facebook page. Creators of the campaign
claimed that by the time it was over, 234,000 friendships had been eliminated from the website,
and Burger King had garnered some new customers along with some useful publicity. However,
Burger King’s ―unfriending‖ campaign also caused some hard feelings when it notified those
people who had been dropped in exchange for a Whopper. Not surprisingly, some of those who
had been cast off for the sake of a sandwich were miffed. As for those who had deleted their
―friends,‖ they didn’t necessarily improve the situation with their explanations. Steven Schiff ,
for instance, wrote this on his personal blog: ―Let’s be honest here, questionable Facebook
friend, we’ve been keeping you around all this time because we’d just feel bad if you ever found
out that you got the ax. It’s just, well, up until now nobody offered us a Whopper in exchange for
your feelings.‖ Facebook itself, however, was less accepting of Burger King’s decision to notify
those who had been abandoned for a Whopper. Burger King’s access to the site was suspended.
(Source of quotation: Douglas Quenqua, ―Friends, Until I Delete You,‖ New York Times
Archives, January 29, 2009.)
Topic: Facebook and the Whopper Sacrifice campaign; results of the Whopper Sacrifice
campaign

Main Idea:

a. Burger King proved that social-networking sites like Facebook and MySpace make a mockery
of the word friendship.
b. Burger King made a terrible mistake with its ―Whopper Sacrifice‖ campaign, and the company
insulted many of the people it hoped to win over.
c. Burger King’s ―Whopper Sacrifice‖ campaign upset many of the people who were eliminated
from Facebook in exchange for a Whopper.

EXPLANATION The correct answer is c because the paragraph tells readers about the ―hard
feelings‖ created by the campaign. Th e author might well believe that Facebook makes a
mockery of friendship, but there is no attempt to argue that point in the paragraph. In particular,
no attempt is made to criticize social-networking sites in general. The paragraph sticks to
Facebook and recounts what happened as a result of Burger King’s notifying the people who
were dropped. Nothing in the paragraph suggests that Burger King made a horrible mistake; in
fact, the author says the company got both customers and publicity as a result.

EXERCISE
Identify the topic and the main idea

Why does the moon rise at a different time each day? The moon travels in a complete circle
about the earth about once a month. So let us say that today the moon rises at 6:00 p.m. Twenty-
four hours later, the earth will have rotated once, but in the meantime the moon will have moved
a short distance across the sky so that the earth must rotate a little bit extra in order to ―catch up‖
with it. Thus the timing of the moon’s rise depends on the moon’s position above a point on the
earth, and the position of the moon changes according to a cyclical pattern. (Turk and Turk,
Physical Science, p. 516.)
3. TOPIC SENTENCE

Look now at the next paragraph, also from a textbook. Would you say that this paragraph
introduces the main idea in the first sentence?

In the 1920s, millions of Americans crowded into halls to watch boxers slug it out in the
ring. However, no boxer received more adulation than the boxer Jack Dempsey, who
embodied the nation’s frontier past. 3Raised in Manassas, Colorado, he learned to fight in
local bars against miners, cowboys, and anyone foolish enough to challenge him. ―Jack
Dempsey hit like a sledgehammer and absorbed punishment like a sponge,‖ wrote
historian Michael Parrish. ―He was not a boxer but an earthquake that left blood, flesh,
and bone scattered in its wake.‖ During the twenties, his two grueling championship
bouts with Gene Tunney proved enormously popular. In 1926, Tunney defeated Dempsey
in their first fight before a rain-soaked crowd in Philadelphia. While as many as 150,000
people paid to see their rematch the following year in Chicago, some 50 million listened
to it on radio. 9The referee’s famous ―long count‖ may have cost Dempsey the second
fight when he knocked Tunney to the canvas but failed to go immediately to a neutral
corner. (Gillon and Matson, The American Experiment, p. 936.)

In this example, the topic is ―the boxer Jack Dempsey.‖ Count how many times his name is
repeated or referred to in the paragraph. Dempsey, however, is not even mentioned in the
opening sentence. There’s a reason for that. The first sentence is not a topic sentence. It’s an
introductory sentence. It provides context for the second sentence, which is, in fact, the topic
sentence. Introductory sentences provide background about the topic sentence but are not further
developed in the paragraph. Once the topic sentence identifies the real focus of the paragraph,
the idea in the introductory sentence all but disappears because its work has been done: It has
prepared the reader for the topic sentence to follow. As you would expect, the introductory
sentences cannot effectively sum up the paragraph.

Topic sentences are general sentences that broadly state the point of the paragraph. Were
someone to ask you what a paragraph was about, you could answer by quoting the author’s topic
sentence. Particularly in textbooks, the first sentence is oft en the topic sentence, as it is in the
following paragraph:

Inhalant abuse, an addictive habit with long-term, sometimes deadly consequences, is the
intentional breathing of common household products in order to get high. This intentional
breathing is commonly called ―huffing,‖ ―snuffing,‖ or ―bagging.‖ Bagging is the most
dangerous as it entails placing a plastic bag over the head to get a longer effect. Using inhalants
over a period of time may result in permanent brain, heart, kidney, and liver damage. Some
products like paint and gasoline contain lead and may cause death from lead poisoning. Inhalant
abuse is the third most common kind of substance abuse by individuals aged 12 to 14 years,
surpassed only by alcohol and tobacco. Symptoms of inhalant abuse include spots or sores
around the mouth, a glassy-eyed look, fumes on the breath or clothing, anxiety, and loss of
appetite. (Adapted from Neighbors and Tannehill-Jones, Human Diseases, p. 414.)

Using almost all the devices mentioned previously, the authors keep the topic ―inhalant abuse‖
running through the paragraph. The associated words ―huffing,‖ ―snuffing,‖ and ―bagging‖
maintain the topic in sentences 2 and 3, and an example in sentence 4 continues the chain of
repetition and reference. However, the main idea related to the topic enters the paragraph via the
first sentence, where we learn that inhalant abuse can have long-term consequences. The rest of
the paragraph details those consequences

EXERCISE

Identify the topic sentence. Do the following steps: identify the topic, the main idea and the topic
sentence

a. When I was a young girl, I would make a tent out of my blankets and read Nancy Drew
mysteries late into the night. I still read cereal boxes at the breakfast table, newspapers
while I am stopped at red lights, and gossip magazines while waiting in line at the
supermarket. In fact, I'm a very talented reader. For example, I've mastered the art of
talking on the phone while simultaneously reading Dean Koontz or Stephen King. But
what I read doesn't matter all that much. In a pinch, I'll read junk mail, an old warranty, a
furniture tag ("DO NOT REMOVE UNDER PENALTY OF LAW"), or even, if I'm
extremely desperate, a chapter or two in a textbook.

b. When I was in kindergarten, I dreamed that my sister killed people with a television
antenna and disposed of their bodies in the woods across the street from my house. For
three weeks after that dream, I stayed with my grandparents until they finally convinced
me that my sister was harmless. Not long afterward, my grandfather died, and that
sparked new fears. I was so terrified that his ghost would visit me that I put two brooms
across the doorway of my bedroom at night. Fortunately, my little trick worked. He never
came back. More recently, I was terribly frightened after staying up late one night to
watch The Ring. I lay awake until dawn clutching my cell phone, ready to ring 911 the
moment that spooky little girl stepped out of my TV. Just thinking about it now gives me
goosebumps.

4. SUPPORTING DETAILS

Writers risk being misunderstood if they don’t supply enough supporting details. Supporting
details are more specific sentences that explain or prove the topic sentence by providing reasons,
examples, studies, definitions, etc. Although supporting details can take many different forms,
their function remains the same: They help clarify, prove, or suggest a topic sentence.

Supporting Details Develop Topic Sentences

Paul: I thought June’s behavior at that meeting was extraordinary.

Marisa: I thought the same thing. I couldn’t believe how rude she was. She’s too outspoken for
my taste.

Paul: That’s not what I meant at all. I thought she was great. When she believes in something,
she’s not afraid to speak her mind.

When the conversation between Paul and Marisa stays on a general level, both speakers are
inclined to agree. It’s only when Marisa moves to a more specific level that the speakers realize
they actually disagree. This is a good example of how supporting details create good
communication. As you might suspect, the kind of confusion that happens between Marisa and
Paul isn’t restricted to speech. It can also occur between readers and writers.

To see how topic sentences and supporting details work together, read the following statement:

Prolonged unemployment can create serious psychological problems that, in the long run,
actually contribute to continued joblessness. By itself, the sentence tells us that long-term
unemployment can do psychological damage. But what does the author mean by the general
phrase ―prolonged unemployment‖? Is she talking about six months or six years? Exactly what
kind of psychological problems does she have in mind? After all, that general phrase covers a
good deal of ground. Also, how do psychological problems contribute to continued joblessness?
On its own, the sentence raises several questions. However, when it’s followed by specific
supporting details, those questions are answered:

Prolonged unemployment can create serious psychological problems that, in the long run,
actually contribute to continued joblessness. In a society that stresses the relationship
between productive work and personal value, it is easy enough to equate long-term
unemployment with personal worthlessness. That is, in fact, precisely what many
unemployed men and women begin to do. Out of a job for a year or more, they begin to
see themselves as worthless human beings without any value to society. 5In what
amounts to a vicious cycle, their sense of personal worthlessness further diminishes their
chances of gaining employment. Sometimes they stop looking for work altogether, sure
in their despair that no one will hire them. Or else they go on interviews, but they present
themselves in such a defeated and hopeless way that the interviewer cannot help but be
unimpressed and reject their application.
Do you see how the specific sentences in the paragraph help readers understand the topic
sentence? Sentences 2 and 3 limit the ways in which readers can interpret the phrase ―serious
psychological problems.‖ Sentence 4 defines ―prolonged unemployment.‖ Sentence 5 explains
the second half of the topic sentence by telling us how a sense of personal worthlessness can
―contribute to continued joblessness.‖ Sentences 6 and 7 provide two specific illustrations of
how this happens.

Topic Sentences Can’t Do It All The supporting details in the paragraph define key phrases like
―prolonged unemployment‖ and ―serious psychological damage.‖ They also illustrate the
author’s main idea and thereby answer a question readers might raise about the topic sentence,
―How does prolonged unemployment contribute to continued joblessness?‖ When reading a
paragraph, you should always search for the author’s topic sentence. However, by itself, that
topic sentence is bound to raise some questions that only the supporting details can answer.
Actually, if you don’t understand the supporting details the author uses to develop the topic
sentence, you haven’t truly understood the paragraph. Imagine, for example, that you were asked
this question on an exam: ―Explain how prolonged unemployment can contribute to continued
joblessness.‖ Without a thorough understanding of the paragraph’s supporting details, you
wouldn’t be able to answer the question.

You can usually determine what supporting details contribute to your understanding of the topic
sentence by asking two questions:

(1) What type of supporting details—examples, reasons, studies, definitions, statistics—


does the author supply?

(2) What questions about the topic sentence do the supporting details answer?

(3) Be aware of irrelevant details

EXERCISE

Read the topic carefully and identify one option that best serves as the supporting detail

TOPIC:

The life of the Masai, a group of people who make their home in East Africa, is tightly linked to
the raising of cattle.

SUPPORTING DETAILS

a. The diet of the Masai consists mainly of the blood and milk of cattle.
b. Because they consider cattle sacred, the Masai do not slaughter or sell them.
c. Through a series of treaties, the British evicted the Masai from most of their homeland.
d. The Masai follow their cattle from grazing site to grazing site.
e. The Masai are known to be fi erce and proud warriors.
TOPIC

After close to forty years on NASA’s drawing boards, the Hubble space telescope went into orbit
in 1990; but the telescope was plagued with problems throughout its voyage.

SUPPORTING DETAILS

a. Edwin Hubble, for whom the telescope was named, was the son of a Missouri lawyer.
b. The Hubble’s ninety-four-inch mirror was off , and it sent blurred images back to earth.
c. By 1993, some of the telescope’s navigational equipment had begun to fail.
d. The current generation of land-based telescopes can do anything the Hubble can.
e. During its early voyages in space, the Hubble telescope responded poorly to temperature
change.

5. MAJOR AND MINOR DETAILS

Understanding the Difference Between Major and Minor Details The two kinds of supporting
details are major and minor. To understand the difference between the two, read the following
paragraph. The major supporting details appear in boldface, the minor in italics.

Psychologists have identified three basic styles of parenting. Controlling parents think their
children have few rights and many responsibilities. They tend to demand strict obedience to
rigid standards of behavior and expect their children to obey their commands unquestioningly.
Permissive parents, in contrast, require little responsible behavior from their children.
Rules are not enforced, and the child usually gets his or her own way. Effective parents find a
balance between their rights and their children’s rights. They control their children’s
behavior without being harsh or rigid.

In this paragraph, the topic sentence announces that psychologists have identified three different
parenting styles. The natural response of most readers would be a question: ―What are the three
styles of parenting?‖ Notice how all the major details (printed in boldface) speak directly to that
question.

Based on this illustration, we can say then that major details define key terms and clarify general
words or phrases in the topic sentence. They further explain or develop those parts of the topic
sentence that might otherwise confuse or even mystify readers. More specifically, major details
answer questions raised by the topic sentence. Essential to understanding the main idea, major
details should be paraphrased and included in your notes. Look now at the minor details in the
sample paragraph. Notice how they further explain the major details. Based on the example
given, we can say that minor details help make major ones more specific. They can also repeat a
key point for emphasis or add a colorful fact to hold the reader’s interest. What minor details
don’t do is directly clarify or explain the topic sentence
EXAMPLE It seems impossible that large prehistoric creatures are alive today. Yet huge
creatures from the dinosaur age may still exist beneath the sea. After all, as fossil remains show,
dinosaurs had relatives who lived in the sea. They were huge and had long necks and snakelike
heads. People who maintain that dinosaurs still live point to recent accounts of strange sea
creatures that fit the description of ancient sea monsters. According to reports, the modern-day
sea creatures also have long necks and snakelike heads.

EXPLANATION The topic sentence claims that huge creatures from the dinosaur age might still
exist beneath the sea. Two major supporting details help make that statement more convincing.
Each major detail is followed by a minor one that adds more information.

EXERCISE

Identify the major supporting detail and the minor supporting detail

Latin American music has had a powerful influence on popular music around the world. Since
the 1930s, for example, Latin rhythms have been popular among West, Central, and East African
musicians. Latin rhythms have also turned up in some Middle Eastern countries. In fact, they
have had a particularly strong impact on the music used by Middle Eastern belly dancers.
American hip hop reflects significant Latin American musical infl uences. The use of Latin
American rhythms is a big change from earlier times, when popular music relied almost
exclusively on the beat of the blues.
Scientists who study identical twins have generally come to a similar conclusion. Even when
identical twins are reared in different homes, they share many similarities. Observers are oft en
struck by twins’ identical facial expressions and personal habits. If, for example, one twin is a
nail biter, the other is likely to be one too. Identical twins who have been separated are also
likely to have similar IQ scores. They are even likely to share similar talents. If one excels in art,
music, dance, or drama, the other is also likely to perform well in the same artistic fields.
CONCEPT MAP

Concept mapping is a technique where students represent their understanding of a text by


producing graphs which display the relationships between concepts and ideas. Students use
concept maps to link concepts, develop interrelationships, create meaning schemes, connect their
previous experiences, and construct knowledge. Barbara Daley (2002) quotes a student who used
concept mapping and explains her experience with this technique: ―It is a way to take the idea,
apply it, and get a deeper meaning out of it at the very end. It is not just a matter of learning a
concept, learning about theory, defining a word and spitting back a definition. It is actually
applying it to what you know so that it makes more sense in the actual world.‖ For Novak (1984)
concept mapping helps students understand their own learning and foster a learning-how-to-learn
approach 1

Below is the example of a concept map

Source: https://www.readingrockets.org/strategies/concept_maps

1
Julian Hermida. The Importance of Teaching Academic Reading Skills in First-Year University Courses, Volume
3 September 2009, The International Journal of Research and Review, Algoma University, Canada
The following video is an introduction to concept mapping.

Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bQlgx5biqCQ&t=2s

How to develop a concept Map


The process of concept mapping involves three major steps:
Step 1: List key concepts/terms related to the topic of a text or texts. Find the related ideas to the
topic, main idea, supporting details as stated in the text. What is the topic of the text? What is the
main idea of the text? What are the supporting details of the text? What are the major and minor
supporting details.

Step 2: Build up concepts to elaborate key concepts

After defining the key concepts, you then expand on those concepts. Ask yourself the question:
"What are the important concepts, facts, ideas, terms, etc. that explain the key concept?" Arrange
the ideas using the following configuration.
Step 3: Identify links between concepts

It is important to show how or why certain concepts relate to one another. This is called linking –
explaining the connection between two separate parts of your concept map as shown in the above
illustration.

EXERCISE

Read the texts and develop a concept map based on the above steps. These are the steps that

COVID-19 Best Practices: An Opportunity for Indonesia & ASEAN


By Radu Magdin, Smartlink

A crisis is an opportunity for reinvention that should not be missed. With the entire world
looking for guidance and hope, there is no better time to showcase leadership and go off the
beaten path: what matters is a sound objective and helping your society not only survive but also
thrive via economic recovery in the years to come. More than ever, governments, the business
sector, and charitable organizations are in the position to be responsive and regain the trust of the
citizens, provided that they understand what is required of them: vision and courage. Indonesia
can set the tone is South-East Asia and I will provide two telling examples.

Positive examples of transformative engagement have proliferated in the past few weeks. In the
political realm, South Korea has become the gold standard for flattening the curve, as its
response has proven enormously effective in containing the COVID-19 outbreak. The measures
implemented by the country are a combination of transparency, the latest technology, and a
responsible approach by institutions and citizens. New Zealand and PM Jacinda Ardern have
masterfully displayed the three key things leaders must address to motivate followers to give
their best: ―direction-giving‖, ―meaning-making‖, and ―empathy‖. With its focus on cohesion,
Denmark has acted swiftly against the outbreak, closing schools, limiting social gatherings,
and—in mid-March—shutting its borders entirely. Even more importantly, it is guaranteeing
90% of workers’ salaries to prevent mass layoffs. In the tech world, Google and Apple have
partnered on coronavirus contact tracing technology as a tool to help contain its spread. Amazon
also is lending computing resources to the COVID-19 High-Performance Computing
Consortium, as well as data and insights to the COVID-19 Healthcare Coalition. Jack Ma's
Foundation is helping out actively in Africa and globally.

The world’s biggest pharmaceutical companies will work together to try to find treatments and a
vaccine to tackle the coronavirus pandemic. Executives from companies including Roche, Sanofi
Pasteur, and Johnson & Johnson said they would share resources and clinical trial data with
governments and each other to help increase testing capacity and develop treatments. In the
world of philanthropy, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has joined forces with Wellcome and
Mastercard to beef up their response, backed by $125 million in both new funding and money
already earmarked to tackle this pandemic.

With the notable exception of Singapore until the second wave of infections, examples of
leadership originating in South-East Asian countries have not benefited from the global spotlight
and this should be corrected. Indonesia, who recently called for an ASEAN special summit on
coronavirus, can easily fill this void and set an example for both the region and the Muslim
world. It is the most populous country in both cases, it has a multitude of ambitious plans, from
regional leadership to a top-notch new capital. It is managing the immediate health crisis while
strategically looking at its ASEAN chairmanship in 2023, a year also likely affected by the
prolonged economic crisis which began this year. Moreover, the Indonesian leadership has the
potential to go beyond politics, as its successful families, tech entrepreneurs, and VCs can make
history by helping the recovery, by leading the country and the region in terms of keeping jobs
and helping community resilience.

The COVID-19 will hit hard Indonesia, with almost 3 million people having lost their jobs and
70 million at risk of losing income. The challenge for the government is to intervene rapidly,
help those in need, and preserve social stability. Leaders need to both project trust and act
decisively and with vision. Here, Indonesia can become an example by tweaking the idea of a
Universal Basic Income to the Asian specificities. We have seen examples in Europe (Finland
and, more recently, Spain) and North America of pilot programs, but I am sure that Asia has its
own take on the issue and can innovate policy-wise. The political leadership of Indonesia can
catch two rabbits with one stone, tackling head-on a social and economic issue and becoming an
example to be emulated in the region.

Although Indonesia can do a better job in increasing the share of exports in its GDP, the country
benefits from integration in the global value chains and could benefit even more. As China’s
prominence in the global economy is increasingly contested by the US and its allies, ASEAN
countries could step in and take advantage of the reluctance of North Americans and West
Europeans to rely on current supply chains for products and services. This once-in-a-generation
economic transformation could mean more jobs, more export opportunities, and development,
provided that Indonesia will put forward a coherent and compelling plan. India is also aiming for
this, and so is Vietnam. So, for President Jokowi and his government, this is the time to act and
make the country and the region the economic and social champions of this new normal. The
new social contract that Indonesia and the region need comes to the stakeholder table sooner than
expected: we all knew that leadership in the 4th Industrial Revolution would include an
important conversation on jobs and innovation, but now we need to have this "New Deal" talk
sooner than expected, under COVID-19 health strain and economic stress. By keeping local and
foreign entrepreneurial and academic talent close, socio-political leaders in Jakarta can lead the
regional recovery and thereby become an ASEAN, Muslim, and why not, G20, model of
inspiration.

http://ips-indonesia.org/post/commentary-covid-19-best-practices-an-opportunity-for-indonesia-
asean

COMPETENCY ASSESSMENT

Work in group and use all the texts, find one main idea of these three texts and develop a
concept map.

1. Between Health and Wealth


2. Leading Ladies: Women-led Countries Coped Better with COVID-19
3. COVID-19 Best Practices: An Opportunity for Indonesia & ASEAN

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