. CONTRAST– 68 Finding the Main Idea Now that you’ve answered those questions, consider one more. Read the previous passage again, and then answer this question: 4. What is the main idea of this. for analysis. This reason or point is the main idea, which is often stated in a topic sentence. – SIMILARITIES AND DIFFERENCES: COMPARE AND CONTRAST– 71 . “Planting a garden is a lot like having a family,” is the topic sen- tence that expresses the main idea of this paragraph? The paragraph does mention a difference between these two roles, but