Well, most of the time its in the first paragraph, but sometimes it goes through-out the essay. I'm not saying it is going to be in the first paragraph though. just think about what the passage is mainly talking about. and that's going to help you find it.(: I hope that kind of helped. But i am not the best explainer...
The first and last paragraph of the book you are reading most likely states the main idea in the first paragraph, and then reflects that main idea on the last paragraph.
When looking for the main idea in a single paragraph, I would focus on identifying the central topic or theme that the paragraph is discussing. This can usually be found in the topic sentence or repeated throughout the paragraph. It is important to distinguish the main idea from supporting details or examples.
Topic sentence
Topic sentence
A well organized paragraph should have one main idea. The other sentences should back up that one idea. If you have another idea it should be in a separate paragraph.
Find the main idea of the paragraph and the look for the details that support the main idea. A good way to do this is to underline the main idea and then circle the details as you read the paragraph.
The main idea of a paragraph is what that specific paragraph is about. You have a main idea of the whole writing, but each paragraph (or "passage") has its own main idea, or main point, and each paragraph expands on the whole.
The topic sentence should state the main idea that will be developed. The reader should easily be able to see the main idea, simply by reading the topic sentence. The topic sentence is usually the first sentence in the paragraph, and is the most important thought in the paragraph.
What's the point?
The main idea of a science experiment could be a question, but the main idea of a paragraph should be a statement. You can generally form a question into a statement to use for your paragraph.
The main idea is likely to appear in the first portion of a longer work. For shorter works, the main idea is generally in the first paragraph.
In regular writing it is called a paragraph. In poetry it is called a stanza. (not sure on the spelling of that.)