Unit 4 Flashcards
These are some questions to ask yourself in order to read more critically
- Why am I reading this material?
- How well do I need to know the material in the article?
- Is some material in the article more important to me than other material?
- What will I need to do with the material from the article?
- What kind of reading does the material suggest?
Effective Reading
Requires the ongoing interaction of your mind and the printed page; bringing your knowledge and experience to bear on a piece of writing can help you assess its events, ideas, and conclusions.
Because of the challenging nature of most college-level reading assignments, you should………
Plan on more than one reading.
A good first read should…..
Orient you to the material
Before you begin reading you should……
Scan any accompanying biographical sketch and try to determine the writer’s expertise and views on the topic.
These type of essays often start with an abstract that provides a brief summary of the article.
Professional Essays
During the first reading you should complete these 4 steps.
- Orient Yourself to the Background of the Essay
- Use the Title as a Clue
- Skim to Get the Gist of the Article
- Make Connections with What You Have Read
What do most titles do?
Most titles identify the topic and often the viewpoint as well.
While skimming the article, you should….
Try to gain an idea of the essay’s main thrust, the key ideas that support it, and the ways that they are organized.
In your first reading, you can….
Skim the more difficult sections without trying to understand them fully.
What should you do after you’ve skimmed the essay, and before you reread the essay.
You should think about what you’ve learned and then, either by saying it to yourself or jotting it down, express it IN YOUR OWN WORDS.
You should go back and underline this, and if one is not included, try to formulate one in YOUR OWN WORDS.
The thesis statement
What should you do if the material was difficult, or you need to know it well?
A second or third reading may be necessary.
While Reading Carefully and Actively, you should….
- Read at a pace suitable to the material.
- Underline significant topic sentences as well as other key sentences and ideas or facts that you find important
- You may want to write down the main pints in your own words
- Examine the supporting sentences to see how well they back up the main idea.
You should understand that underlining
DOES NOT ensure comprehension. Restating the ideas in your OWN WORDS is more effective.
As you read, Consider Reading As a Kind of Conversation with the Text
-Develop the habit of asking questions about facts, ideas—-practically anything in the essay.
Whenever you encounter a new word, you should do these things.
- Circle it
- Use context to help gauge its meaning
- Record it in the margins
When the ideas of a single prove difficult, you should do this.
Restate the points of those sections you do understand
4 strategies to help yourself when there are large sections or texts that are extremely difficult.
- State the ideas that are easier for you to understand and use them as keys to unlock meanings that are difficult bu t not unintelligible. Save the most difficult sections for last.
- Discuss a difficult essay with others who are reading it.
- Read a simpler material on the topic.
- Go to your teacher for help.
Whenever you finish a major section of a lengthy essay,…
Express your sense of what it means.
Speak it out loud or write it down.
If you struggle to see the connections between ideas,
Try to visually represent them.
To strengthen your grasp of material you’ll need to remember for sometime,
Try restating its main points a couple of days after the second reading.
Master the Problems That Interfere with Reading problems and solutions.
- If your environment is too noisy, move to an environment that you can concentrate in and is well lit.
- If you are too tired, try reading at the time of day where you are most alert.
- If you get tired, take a break for a specific time period
- If you have something else on your mind, try to resolve the distraction or put it out of your mind.
When you are Reading to Critique, ask these 5 questions.
- Does it match your experience?
- Do the pieces of evidence support the claim?
- Do the ideas appear reasonable?
- Are there other pieces of evidence or other works that contradict these claims?
- Do the ideas connect in a logical way?
