Question:
Over the last decade several Australian broadsheet newspapers have run numerous articles on the state of literary publishing, providing a rare opportunity for academic debate to enter the public arena. According to the reported commentary of novelists, publishers and academics, it would seem the literary field is caught between two contradictory currents: although the economic viability of Australian literary titles appears under pressure, there is booming demand for university courses in creative writing. This casual linkage has enabled a range of speculations on the possibly âperverseâ market relations between writing programs and the publishing industry. Has consumer demand for Australian literary authors shifted from the bookshop to the arts faculty? A recent quip by Frank Moorhouse would suggest so: âNow the joke goes that when someone says theyâre a writer, the next question is, âwhere do you teach?â.
Hello, this is a passage from one of the GregMat Skill Builder Reading Exercises for Main Idea. I am very confused about the answer.
SPOILER: The answer is the last sentence.
I am not too sure about this since I thought it was the sentence that began with âAccording to the reported⌠contradictory currentsâŚâ
The last sentence being the main idea isnât clear to me because it seems like more of a funny add-on, not the main idea. Any tips are welcome!
Hmm, well, I guess it would be that although Australian literature is in trouble, universities are demanding more creative writing courses.
Upon rereading the passage, I now understand it more, where Moorhouse is saying that all the previously good authors are now teaching in university. But this âquipâ seems like more of an afterthought of sorts. If this was the main idea, then why wouldnât the second last sentence contain the main idea either?
And after all, these are just âspeculationsâ, not proved realities. All we are told is that literature is in trouble but that university writing courses are in demand.
Youâre thinking about this in exactly the right way, and your instinct about the earlier sentence being important makes sense â it does frame the central tension. But hereâs why the last sentence is considered the main idea:
The whole passage builds toward a question about a shift in where Australian literary authors are finding value or demand â has it moved from the bookshop to the university?
That question is posed explicitly just before the final sentence, and the final sentence delivers a punchy, ironic answer â via Moorhouseâs quip â that suggests the answer is âyes.â In other words, itâs not just a throwaway joke; itâs actually the clearest expression of the authorâs main point: that today, being a writer in Australia increasingly means teaching writing, not publishing books.
So while the earlier sentences set up the problem and the tension, itâs the last sentence that resolves it and expresses the main takeaway â albeit through humor. Thatâs why itâs considered the main idea.