Each paragraph is the basic unit of the essay. By breaking down an unwieldy and cumbersome essay into bite-sized pieces, we can more easily comprehend ideas and intentions and follow the organizational structure.

When reading a paragraph and after finishing it, make a mental note or write down three things:

A. Main Idea of each paragraph
Often the first sentence in a paragraph will be a topic sentence or transition sentence. It should tell you the main idea of the paragraph or the paragraph's relation to the preceding one. Pay close attention to the first sentence in each paragraph.

B. Tone of each paragraph
Recognizing an author's tone is very important to understanding the shape and purpose of an essay. Having a strong grasp on the author's tone will go a long way in answering main idea and author purpose questions.

Some common Reading Comprehension tones are:

1. Passage Classification

3. See the Organization