A good heading covers the whole text in a few words. It is wider than any single detail, narrower than the general subject, and it agrees with what the writer actually says. Heading and title questions test whether you can see the overall meaning rather than one sentence.
If you have not yet practised naming what a paragraph does, start with identifying a paragraph purpose. This lesson is part of reading for main ideas.
What does “whole meaning” look like?
Think of three levels.
The detail is one fact. The main idea is what the detail and the other facts together show. The subject is the wide area the text belongs to.
A heading at the main-idea level is usually right. A detail-level heading is too narrow, and a subject-level heading is too broad.
A step-by-step method
- Read the whole text. Do not stop at the first paragraph.
- Say the main point in one sentence of your own.
- Read each heading and sort it: detail, main idea, subject, or opposite.
- Check the survivor against the beginning, middle and end of the text.
- Eliminate by reason. For each wrong choice, write two or three words on why it fails.
Worked example
Bicycle-sharing stations have appeared in the centre of our town. Users pay a small fee, unlock a bike with a phone and leave it at any station. The council says the scheme reduces traffic near schools and shops. Some residents complain that bikes are left on pavements, but the council has added parking bays to deal with this.
Choose the heading that fits the whole text.
- A. How to unlock a bike with a phone
- B. Cycling around the world
- C. A town bike-sharing scheme: how it works and how people react
- D. Why bicycles are dangerous
Step 1, main point in one sentence. The town has a bike-sharing scheme; it is meant to reduce traffic, and there has been a complaint that the council is answering.
Step 2, sort the headings. A is one detail from sentence 2. B is a subject, far wider than one town. C covers how it works (sentence 2), its purpose (sentence 3) and the reaction (sentence 4). D is an opposite idea that the text never states.
Answer: C. It is the only heading that fits every part of the text.
The mistake to watch for
The usual slip is to choose the heading that contains the most exact words from the text.
Mistaken answer: A, “How to unlock a bike with a phone”, because the text says “unlock a bike with a phone”.
The phrase is true, but it appears in only one sentence. The heading would leave out the council, the traffic and the complaints.
The correction is to ask, “If this were the heading, would a reader expect everything I have just read?” For A the answer is no, because a reader would expect instructions.
Check yourself
1. Text: “Sleep helps the brain store what it learnt during the day. Students who sleep less than six hours find it harder to remember new vocabulary. A fixed bedtime can help.” Which heading fits most closely: “Why students forget”, “Sleep and learning”, or “Vocabulary lists”?
Show answer
Sleep and learning. It covers memory, the effect of too little sleep and the advice. “Vocabulary lists” is one detail, and “Why students forget” ignores the advice about a fixed bedtime.
2. Why is “Food” a poor heading for a text about how one school canteen reduced food waste?
Show answer
It is too broad. “Food” would suit thousands of texts, so it does not tell the reader what this text says.
3. A text explains why a village chose solar lamps, how they were installed and what residents say. Which of these is weakest: “Solar lamps come to a village”, “How one village switched to solar lamps”, “The price of one lamp”?
Show answer
“The price of one lamp” is weakest. It names a detail that may not even be in the text, and it leaves out the reasons, the installation and the reactions.
Where this leads next
Next, practise separating the claim from its support in distinguishing an example from the main claim. When you are ready, try the mixed practice set.
A heading can be correct for the wrong reason, which is hard to see in your own work. A teacher in online one-to-one English as a Second Language tuition can ask you to say why each option fails, and listen to the answer.