Locating Main Ideas in History Textbooks.

Abstract

Publishers could help if they put all the important words in capital letters: HITLER decided to INVADE RUSSIA; Christopher COLUMBUS unintentionally DISCOVERED AMERICA. Or, it might help if book designers printed all the topic sentences in bright colors with marginal notes saying This is it! However, it seems unlikely that these publishing reforms will take place any time soon. Nevertheless, the ability to differentiate between the significant and the nonsignificant in text tends to separate proficient readers from ineffective readers. Secondary reading methods books devote much atten-