This module focuses on the relationship of ideas presented on college reading assignments, whether classroom textbooks or articles or out of class reading tasks. The authors of our textbooks have much information to give us. They tend to provide the information in two ways. Often the author presents a broad, general idea on a topic, a general principle. Following the general statement, the author presents support or specific ideas that develop the general concept. These specific ideas might be examples, research data, descriptions, definitions, or any means of clarifying and focusing and narrowing the broad, general idea. The second way authors tend to provide information is the opposite format. The author presents the specific ideas, the specific observations, the supporting concepts first and ends the text (whether a paragraph or section or a whole chapter) with a broad, general statement that includes all the specific ideas.

Read Powerpoint General and Specific Ideas Introduction. This introduces General and Specific relationship in words.
Do the practice quiz General and Specific words