Understanding Significant
Details
Purposes of Details
In a piece of writing, significant details are
details that are
a.
b.
c.
Most difficult to remember.
Most important to the point.
Easiest to understand.
Purposes of Details
Details make up most of the information
you read.
 The most important details in a piece of
writing are the ones that contribute
directly to the author’s purpose.

Purposes of Details
1. to define
2. to give examples
3. to describe
4. to give reasons
5. to explain
6. to set a tone or mood
7. to reveal character
8. to advance the sequence of events
Recognizing Significant Details
Which type of details would be used to
explain to a reader what a topic is?
a.
b.
c.
Details that give examples
Details that define
Details that describe
Details that Define
The details that define a topic usually
explain what that topic is.
 Details that define are usually part of an
expanded version of the kind of
explanation a dictionary would give.

Details that Define
In law, a court is the official body charged with
administering justice. The term court is also
applied to the judge or judges who fill the office
and to the courtroom itself. Courts develop in a
society when legal relations are no longer a
private matter. However, courts are unnecessary
when the state decides all legal matters without
debate. Thus, courts do not exist in countries
where citizens have no rights under the law. In
the US there are two separate systems of courts,
federal and state. The district court is the lowest
federal court, the supreme court the highest.
Details that Define
Main Idea
MOST
significant
details
In law, a court is the official body charged with
administering justice. The term court is also
applied to the judge or judges who fill the office
and to the courtroom itself. Courts develop in a
society when legal relations are no longer a
private matter. However, courts are unnecessary
when the state decides all legal matters without
debate. Thus, courts do not exist in countries
where citizens have no rights under the law. In
the US there are two separate systems of courts,
federal and state. The district court is the lowest
federal court, the supreme court the highest.
Recognizing Significant Details
Which type of details are usually part of an
explanation that help readers understand
a broad topic?
a. Details that give examples.
b. Details that describe.
c. Details that give reasons.
Details That Give Examples
Details that give examples are usually a
part of an explanation .
 Often they help a reader understand a
broad topic.

Details That Give Examples
Protective coloration is one means animals have
of avoiding their predators. An animal’s coloring
and the pattern of its coloring help it blend into
its surroundings. The stripes of the tiger make
detection among the jungle grass more difficult.
The leopard’s spots are more suited to the
mottled light and shade of the low branches from
which it drops onto its prey. The chameleon and
the flounder change their pigmentation to
resemble different backgrounds. The caribou
changes its color from brown in the summer to
white in the winter, so that it blends in better
with its surroundings.
Details That Give Examples
Protective coloration is one means animals have
of avoiding their predators. An animal’s coloring
and the pattern of its coloring help it blend into
its surroundings. The stripes of the tiger make
detection among the jungle grass more difficult.
The leopard’s spots are more suited to the
mottled light and shade of the low branches from
which it drops onto its prey. The chameleon and
the flounder change their pigmentation to
resemble different backgrounds. The caribou
changes its color from brown in the summer to
white in the winter, so that it blends in better
with its surroundings.
Recognizing Significant Details
Which type of details would be used to
help a reader form a mental picture?
a.
b.
c.
Details that give reasons
Details that reveal character
Details that describe
Details that Describe
Details that describe enable a reader to
picture the topic.
 Often these details use adjectives as
descriptive words.
 Often these details use imagery.

Details that Describe
It was a pleasant hillside where I worked, covered
with pine woods, through which I looked out on the
pond, and a small open field in the woods where
pines and hickories were springing up. The ice in the
pond was not yet dissolved, though there were some
open spaces. It was all dark colored and saturated
with water. There were some slight flurries of snow
during the days that I worked there; but for the most
part when I came out on to the railroad, on my way
home, its yellow sand heap stretched away gleaming
in the hazy atmosphere, and the rails shone in the
spring sun. I heard the lark and other birds already
come to commence another year with us.
Walden by Henry David Throeau
Details that Describe
It was a pleasant hillside where I worked, covered with pine
woods, through which I looked out on the pond, and a small open
field in the woods where pines and hickories were springing up.
The ice in the pond was not yet dissolved, though there were
some open spaces. It was all dark colored and saturated with
water. There were some slight flurries of snow during the days that
I worked there; but for the most part when I came out on to the
railroad, on my way home, its yellow sand heap stretched away
gleaming in the hazy atmosphere, and the rails shone in the spring
sun. I heard the lark and other birds already come to commence
another year with us.
The details in the paragraph describe the text’s ___________.
Walden by Henry David Throeau
Details that Describe
It was a pleasant hillside where I worked, covered with pine
woods, through which I looked out on the pond, and a small open
field in the woods where pines and hickories were springing up.
The ice in the pond was not yet dissolved, though there were
some open spaces. It was all dark colored and saturated with
water. There were some slight flurries of snow during the days that
I worked there; but for the most part when I came out on to the
railroad, on my way home, its yellow sand heap stretched away
gleaming in the hazy atmosphere, and the rails shone in the spring
sun. I heard the lark and other birds already come to commence
another year with us.
The details in the paragraph describe the text’s setting.
Walden by Henry David Throeau
Recognizing Significant Details
What type of details support an argument
or opinion?
a.
b.
c.
Details that set a tone or mood
Details that give reasons
Details that explain
Details That Give Reasons
Details that give reasons usually support
an argument or opinion.
 Usually, one sentence will state an opinion
while another supports that opinion.

Details That Give Reasons
Last May the legislature hiked its base pay 100%,
making these politicians the second highest paid in
the country! Has state government improved 100%
since then? Particularly outrageous was the
“emergency preamble” attached to this legislation;
the “emergency” allowed legislators to collect a salary
increase not only immediately, but also retroactively
several months. Worst of all, future salary hikes are
tied to state workers’ salary increases, so the
legislature will receive automatic pay raises without
the requirement of a roll-call vote. Your NO vote on
Referendum Question one will repeal this outrageous
increase.
Details That Give Reasons
Reasons
Last May the legislature hiked its base pay 100%,
making these politicians the second highest paid in
the country! Has state government improved 100%
since then? Particularly outrageous was the
“emergency preamble” attached to this legislation;
the “emergency” allowed legislators to collect a salary
increase not only immediately, but also retroactively
several months.Worst of all, future salary hikes are
tied to state workers’ salary increases, so the
legislature will receive automatic pay raises without
the requirement of a roll-call vote. Your NO vote on
Referendum Question one will repeal this outrageous
increase.
Main Idea
Recognizing Significant Details
Which details would be used to support
logical reasoning?
a.
b.
c.
Details that set a tone or mood
Details that explain
Details that define
Details That Explain
Details that explain help to clarify ideas
or facts.
 Paragraphs that explain usually have NO
insignificant details.

Details That Explain
While people produce most of the wastes that
cause air pollution, weather also contributes to the
buildup of pollution. Ozone is an air pollution that is
formed in the lower atmosphere. It is created when
wastes from fuel combustion, industrial processes, and
the burning of solid wastes react with sunlight. These
pollutants build up to dangerous levels that can then be
trapped over an area of the earth by a condition called
thermal inversion. Thermal inversion occurs when a
blanket of warm air settles over a blanket of cool air.
This inversion traps…
Details That Explain
Main Idea
While people produce most of the wastes that
cause air pollution, weather also contributes to the
buildup of pollution. Ozone is an air pollution that is
formed in the lower atmosphere. It is created when
wastes from fuel combustion, industrial processes, and
the burning of solid wastes react with sunlight. These
pollutants build up to dangerous levels that can then be
trapped over an area of the earth by a condition called
thermal inversion. Thermal inversion occurs when a
blanket of warm air settles over a blanket of cool air.
This inversion traps…
Details That Explain
Details that
explain how
smog is
formed
While people produce most of the wastes that
cause air pollution, weather also contributes to the
buildup of pollution. Ozone is an air pollution that i
formed in the lower atmosphere. It is created when
wastes from fuel combustion, industrial processes, a
the burning of solid wastes react with sunlight. Thes
pollutants build up to dangerous levels that can then
trapped over an area of the earth by a condition ca
thermal inversion. Thermal inversion occurs when a
blanket of warm air settles over a blanket of cool ai
This inversion traps…
Recognizing Significant Details
Which details usually use techniques of
fiction?
a.
b.
c.
Details that reveal character
Details that set a tone or mood
Details that advance a sequence of
events.
Details That Set Tone or Mood
These usually found in a work of fiction.
 When details are used to set a mood,
often one really stands out.

Details That Set Tone or Mood
The room in which I found myself was very large and
excessively lofty. The windows were long, narrow, and pointed,
and at so vast a distance from the black oaken floor as to be
altogether inaccessible from within. Feeble gleams of
encrimsoned light made their way through the trellised panes,
and served to render sufficiently distinct the more prominent
objects around. The eye, however, struggled in vain to reach the
remoter angles of the chamber, or the recesses of the vaulted
and fretted ceiling. Dark draperies hung upon the walls. The
general furniture was profuse, comfortless, antique, and tattered.
Many books and musical instruments lay scattered about, but
failed to give any vitality to the scene. I felt that I breathed an
atmosphere of sorrow. An air of stern, deep, and irredeemable
gloom hung over and pervaded all.
From The Fall of the House of Usher by Edgar Allan Poe
Details That Set Tone or Mood
The room in which I found myself was very large and
excessively lofty. The windows were long, narrow, and pointed,
and at so vast a distance from the black oaken floor as to be
altogether inaccessible from within. Feeble gleams of
encrimsoned light made their way through the trellised panes,
and served to render sufficiently distinct the more prominent
objects around. The eye, however, struggled in vain to reach the
remoter angles of the chamber, or the recesses of the vaulted
and fretted ceiling. Dark draperies hung upon the walls. The
general furniture was profuse, comfortless, antique, and tattered.
Many books and musical instruments lay scattered about, but
failed to give any vitality to the scene. I felt that I breathed an
atmosphere of sorrow. An air of stern, deep, and irredeemable
gloom hung over and pervaded all.
From The Fall of the House of Usher by Edgar Allan Poe
Recognizing Significant Details
Which type of details would be used to
help a reader understand what the people
a narrative are like?
a.
b.
c.
Details that reveal character
Details that set a tone or mood
Details that advance a sequence of
events.
Details That Reveal Character
Details that reveal character usually do so
through direct description or through the
speeches, actions, or thoughts of a
character.
 Usually the details that reveal character
add up to a general impression.

Details That Reveal Character
It was Miss Murdstone who was arrived, and a gloomylooking lady she was; dark, like her brother, whom she
greatly resembled in face and voice; and with very heavy
eyebrows, nearly meeting over her large nose. She
brought with her two uncompromising large, black
boxes, with her initials on the lid with hard brass nails.
When she paid the coachman she took the money out
of a hard steel purse, and she kept the purse in a very
jail of a bag which hung upon her arm by a heavy chain,
and shut up like a bite. I had never, at the time, seen
such a metallic lady altogether as Miss Murdstone was.
From David Copperfield by Charles Dickens
Recognizing Significant Details
Which type of details would be used to
help move a story along?
a.
b.
c.
Details that reveal character
Details that set a tone or mood
Details that advance a sequence of
events.
Details that Advance a Sequence of
Events
These details keep a story going.
 The story may be either the plot of a
work of fiction or the factual sequence of
events in a history or biography.

Details that Advance a Sequence of
Events
The men were silent. They turned their eyes from the shore
to the comber and waited. The boat slid up the incline,
leaped at the furious top, bounced over it, and swung down
the long back of the wave. Some water had been shipped and
the cook bailed it out.
But the next wave crashed also. The tumbling, boiling
flood of white water caught the boat and whirled it almost
perpendicular. Water swarmed in from all sides. The
correspondent had his hands on the gunwale at this time,
and when the water entered at that place he swiftly
withdrew his fingers, as if he objected to wetting them.
The little boat, drunken with this weight of water, reeled
and snuggled deeper into the sea.
Details that Advance a Sequence of
Events
The men were silent. They turned their eyes from the shore
to the comber and waited. The boat slid up the incline,
leaped at the furious top, bounced over it, and swung down
the long back of the wave. Some water had been shipped and
the cook bailed it out.
But the next wave crashed also. The tumbling, boiling
flood of white water caught the boat and whirled it almost
perpendicular. Water swarmed in from all sides. The
correspondent had his hands on the gunwale at this time,
and when the water entered at that place he swiftly
withdrew his fingers, as if he objected to wetting them.
The little boat, drunken with this weight of water, reeled
and snuggled deeper into the sea.