(click) please tell me which sentence is the main idea, too broad and too narrow.

A paragraph is a group of sentences related to a particular topic, or central theme.  Every paragraph has a key concept or main idea.  The main idea is the most important piece of information the author wants you to know about the concept of that paragraph.

When authors write they have an idea in mind that they are trying to get across.  This is especially true as authors compose paragraphs.  An author organizes each paragraph's main idea and supporting details in support of the topic or central theme, and each paragraph supports the paragraph preceding it.

A writer will state his/her main idea explicitly somewhere in the paragraph.  That main idea may be stated at the beginning of the paragraph, in the middle, or at the end.  The sentence in which the main idea is stated is the topic sentence of that paragraph.

The topic sentence announces the general theme ( or portion of the theme) to be dealt with in the paragraph.  Although the topic sentence may appear anywhere in the paragraph, it is usually first – and for a very good reason.  This sentence provides the focus for the writer while writing and for the reader while reading.  When you find the topic sentence, be sure to underline it so that it will stand out not only now, but also later when you review.

Identifying the Topic:

The first thing you must be able to do to get at the main idea of a paragraph is to identify the topic – the subject of the paragraph.  Think of the paragraph as a wheel with the topic being the hub – the central core around which the whole wheel (or paragraph) spins.  Your strategy for topic identification is simply to ask yourself the question, "What is this about?"  Keep asking yourself that question as you read a paragraph, until the answer to your question becomes clear.  Sometimes you can spot the topic by looking for a word or two that repeat.  Usually you can state the topic in a few words.

source text: from the sketch here given it will be seen, that our good grandmothers differed considerably in their ideas of a fine figure, from their scantily dressed descendants of the present day. a fine lady, in those times, waddled under more clothes even on a fair summer's day, than would have clad the whole bevy of a modern ball room. nor were they the less admired by the gentlemen in consequence thereof. on the contrary, the greatness of a lover's passion seemed to increase in proportion to the magnitude of its object—and a voluminous damsel, arrayed in a dozen of petticoats, was declared by a low-dutch sonnetteer of the province, to be radiant as a sunflower, and luxuriant as a full blown cabbage. certain it is, that in those days, the heart of a lover could not contain more than one lady at a time; whereas the heart of a modern gallant has often room enough to accommodate half a dozen - - the reason of which i conclude to be, either that the hearts of the gentlemen have grown larger, or the persons of the ladies smaller — this however is a question for physiologists to determine. add punctuation to the following excerpt. writing under the name of diedrich knickerbocker washington irving aimed his potent satire at as diverse topics as political rivals such as thomas jefferson to the very ideal of looking back on the past affectionately: a fine lady, in those times, waddled under more clothes even on a fair summer's day, than would have clad the whole bevy of a modern ball room. a voluminous damsel, arrayed in a dozen of petticoats, was declared by a low-dutch sonnetteer of the province, to be radiant as a sunflower, and luxuriant as a full blown cabbage. in those days, the heart of a lover could not contain more than one lady at a time; whereas the heart of a modern gallant has often room enough to accommodate half a dozen

b

explanation: