Getting More Out of Your Readings

Need some guidance to help you focus reading a text?

When navigating your college education, it’s incredibly important to dig deeply into the course materials. Whether you’re combing through the assigned chapters of a book for a class discussion or researching scholarly works for the next term paper, it’s important for students to have a crystal-clear reading strategy (e.g., Active Reading Strategy or Critical Reading Strategy) for synthesizing information.

For example, by utilizing active reading strategies you can…

Better understand your assigned readings
Formulate questions to use in class discussions
Record interesting thoughts for future papers and assignments
Better recall information for tests and quizzes

To get more out of your readings, consider the following:

What type of literature are you reading? Different types of readings call for different types of strategies.
1. Journal Articles
2. Reading in the Sciences
3. Reading in History? Try predatory reading!
Are you reading critically?
Take notes! Consider organizing your thoughts with a reading log for active reading or a reading log for journal articles.
Are you struggling with a boring text boring text? Is the text difficult to understand?
Do you have massive amounts to read? Consider boosting your speed reading strategies.

Seven Ways to Become Fascinated by a “Boring” Text

WONDER, WONDER, WONDER.

Ask questions, especially “Why? How? What?”
Realize that this topic is so interesting that people have spent their entire professional lives studying it.
Make yourself be curious; make yourself be interested. Learn more about the topic. Maybe you don’t know enough to be curious.
4. Predict – try to guess. . .
- the answers to your questions,
- where the author is headed—try to second-guess the author.
Find or create an authentic reason/purpose for learning the information: a service, an application, a pressing need, etc. “To pass a test,” while a survival goal, cannot energize your learning.
Think of yourself as a scholar, a scientist, or an artist and be determined to create new ideas, possibilities and original insights using the text as a springboard.
Integrate your abilities, prior knowledge, opinions, insights, and experiences with what you are reading.

Reading a Difficult Text

Before Reading

Give a cursory look at the material to pick up on main ideas and how the writing is structured by using skimming and scanning techniques.
Set a purpose for your reading. What in particular are you looking for?
- Why? Having a purpose will allow you to focus on what matters and get through the reading more quickly.
- How? Look at the syllabus to see what topic this reading is for;plan what information maybe important for upcoming assignments, tests, or essays; look for information that relates directly to what you’ve been learning in class
- Find a productive study space for focusing on your reading.

During Reading

Annotate and highlight the text for important points.
Synthesize what you are reading along the way, by taking separate notes and/or writing in the margins.
Keep track of and write down questions you have while reading.
Write down and look up unfamiliar vocabulary.
Help your focus by reading the text aloud or following along as you listen to an audio version of the text.
Slow down. Reading difficult texts takes more time than reading other kinds of writing.

After Reading

Explain what the text taught you with specific ideas and examples. This will really help your comprehension of the text.
If you have time, give the text a second read.
If the book has questions at the end of chapters to check your understanding, take time to answer them.
Seek help!
- Discuss the reading with friends in the class.
- Go to office hours to gain a better understanding of what made this piece important to read and why it was chosen by your professor.

Sources:
https://ctl.byu.edu/tip/five-keys-helping-students-read-difficult-texts
https://www.revolutionprep.com/blog/8-strategies-for-reading-difficult-material/

Predatory Reading Strategies

Predatory reading means to quickly determine the important parts of the scholarly material you read. The most important thing to understand about a piece of scholarly writing is what the argument is and how the argument is created: the problem, the solution, and the evidence. Understanding the structure of an essay is key. Follow these tips to determine the structure of a text:

Think pragmatically. Try to determine why the author has spent time writing each paragraph. What does it “do” for the author’s argument?
Identify “signposts.” Are there any structural cues in the reading? Is it divided into chapters or sections? Are there subheads? Are the titles clearly descriptive of the contents, or do they need to be figured out?
Topic sentences. Topic sentences (usually the first sentences of each paragraph) are miniature arguments. They also tell you what the paragraph that follows will be about and provide clues as to what the larger argument is.
Evidence. Mostly found in the form of primary and secondary sources. When you see evidence being used, try to identity the part of the argument that it is being used to support.
Identify internal structures. Within paragraphs, authors create structures to help readers understand their points. Where are they in the hierarchy of the argument? Is the point a major or a minor one? How can you tell?
Examine transitions. Is this just a transition to get from one point to another, or is it a vital piece of the argument? Does it explain the relationship between points or suggest the hierarchy of points in the argument?
Identify key distinctions. Look for words like “but,” “although,” and “however.”
Identify explicit references to rival scholarly positions. If a scholar refers directly to the work of another scholar, they’re addressing a larger discourse. Pay attention to the central questions at stake.
Pay attention to strategic concessions. Often authors seem to be backtracking, only to try to strengthen their cases. Often, these signal moments where authors are in direct conversation with other scholars. Such moments may also help steer you toward the thesis.
Remember that incoherence is also a possibility. Sometimes it is very difficult to determine how a section of a piece is structured or what it’s purpose in the argument is. Authors do not always do their jobs. It is much better to work over an article several times quickly — each time seeking to discern argument and structure — than it is to read it once very closely.

Source: Patrick Rael (2004), Reading, Writing, and Researching for History. https://www.bowdoin.edu/profiles/faculty/prael/pdf/predatory-reading.pdf

Reading in the Sciences

What is different about reading in the sciences?

Readings contain a large number of facts and details (specifics). This kind of reading requires an overall understanding of the information presented in order to process details.
Placement of main ideas and details is usually straight forward (headings and subheadings), but grasping all of the details can be awesome. Information may be dense.
Organizational pattern is usually "relationships", i.e., ideas and details building upon previous information. A solid background of the basics in the discipline is necessary to understand and comprehend the information.
Terminology is subject specific and must be understood to comprehend information presented. Often important terms are boldfaced or italicized. A review of terminology before reading increases understanding and comprehension.
Diagrams, figures, charts, and graphs are numerous. Time is needed to study these both before reading and as one reads as these visual aids help integrate information. Visualizations aid in the understanding and retention of information.
Knowledge and comprehension of the readings and lectures must be taken to an "application " level, i.e., the ideas learned should be applied to new or different situations other than those presented in the texts or lectures.
Research is an extension of information. In order to read research and understand it, the basics of the discipline must be understood. Think of research as taking an idea, analyzing, synthesizing and extending it.
Difficulty of material often necessitates more than one reading for thorough understanding of information.

How does one read the sciences?

Before the Lecture

Preview the chapter. — Briefly look over titles, introductions, subheadings, first few sentences beneath subheadings, figures, diagrams, italicized or boldfaced words and terms, and summaries. As you preview, ask yourself:
- What is this about?
- What do I know about this ... and don't know or don't remember? ▪ Where does the author begin and where is he going?
- What is the organizational pattern (relationships, chronological, topics?)
- How does this fit into what we are learning in this course?
- How difficult or how easy is this?
- Is there terminology that is unfamiliar or that I will need to review?
- How important is this information? Are there parts I could skim and get the main ideas?
- Where can I make logical breaks in the reading to divide up my study time?
- In what order might I read the information in the chapter? Would it be easier and more motivating to read the most interesting section first?
Skim the chapter — in more detail, but don't try to read it thoroughly yet. Read first and last sentences of paragraphs. Pull out some major ideas and details. Examine charts and figures. Try to understand the more important and frequently repeated terminology. Think about the over-all organization of ideas.
Don't panic or become overwhelmed with the readings. They may be dense, but not unconquerable. By previewing and skimming the materials before the lecture, you can then use the lecture to clarify the level and depth of comprehension you'll need to achieve when you actually read the chapter more thoroughly.
If the material is quite difficult and detailed, and if you have little recent background in the discipline, it might be useful to review the fundamentals and basic terminology in an introductory text in the field.

In Class

Be prepared to anticipate information acquired from pre-skimming your textbook, and listen for clues during the lecture that will help you focus on an appropriate level of comprehension when you read the related chapter(s) after the lecture.
Take lecture notes on the right side of your notebook page, and leave the facing left page free to add related notes summarized from your textbook.

After Class

Review and edit your notes taken from the lecture. Begin thinking about what additional information you'll need to add from the text.
Read the related textbook material that you have previously skimmed.
- Re-preview and break the reading into logical sub-sections to be tackled one at a time.
- Plan far enough ahead of time that you'll be able to take a break and move away from the material at the end of each sub-section if you feel overwhelmed. Often time is needed to allow the mind to gradually absorb complex ideas.
- Read carefully and methodically, referring to figures and diagrams as appropriate.
- "Self-pacing" by moving a card or pencil finger along as you read may help keep your attention focused on the task.
- After reading a sub-section, stop and recall what you've read: tell it to yourself in your own words; take relevant notes alongside the related lecture notes in your notebook, and/or make marginal notes in the textbook and highlight key details. (However, just highlighting in dense texts may not be the best form of recall since nearly all of many paragraphs may need to be highlighted and review would be difficult.)
- Draw your own diagrams or charts to summarize and translate information.
- Review your notes and the reading periodically. Information needs to be reviewed and used periodically for it to be stored in long-term memory.
Reflect upon the information in various ways - e.g., How are these functions related to each other? How do they affect each other? Apply ideas learned to other or new situations: What would happen to the body if one of these areas/functions/organs were damaged or destroyed? , etc.
Anticipate and practice responding to the kinds of test questions which might be asked

Source: Adapted from University of Texas at Austin Learning Center

Active Reading Strategies

The SQ3R Method

Survey, skim, and scan entire reading assignment. Observe titles, subtitles, charts, diagrams, figures, tables. Preview the conclusion and summary and then the abstract/introduction. Try to anticipate what the author is going to say. Think of this step as a “preview” to a movie you are about to watch.
Question the authors’ purpose and tone. Develop and write out questions about each section of the reading. Turn paragraph headings into questions. You’ll want to find the answers as you engage in the reading. Use these questions to guide your reading and your note-taking process.
Read the assignment as thoroughly as possible. Read with alertness to answer the questions you came up with. Read one section at a time, reflect on what you read, and don’t get too bogged down with details. Search for the main ideas and supporting details. Write notes, in your own words, under each question.
Recite and recall the information by summarizing and paraphrasing. Did you find the answers to the questions you wrote down earlier? Without looking at your books or notes, mentally visualize, in your own words, the high points of the material immediately upon completing the reading. More time should be spent on recall than reading
Review the reading again and over time. Look at your questions, answers, notes and book to see how well you did recall. Finish up with a mental picture of the WHOLE.

Critical Reading Strategies

Critical reading moves a step beyond simple comprehension: the reader must understand and evaluate the author’s main point, issues raised, and conclusions.

1. Identify the Issue

Descriptive: asks who, what, how, does, how much, can…? (Example, “Who was responsible for the decision that lead the United States to declare war?”)

Prescriptive: Raises questions about what should be done or what is right, good, or bad. (Example: “The United States should not have declared war because….”)

2. Identify the Conclusion

Example: “The US should not have declared war because of a, b and c.”
A conclusion must be supported by evidence, or it is simply an opinion.

3. Identify Assumptions

Ideas taken for granted, often unstated or hidden, that are influential in determining the conclusion and necessary for the reasoning to make sense.
Value assumptions: an implicit preference for one value over another in a particular context. Assumptions about the way the world should be. (The government is responsible for the common good and education benefits everyone, therefore “The government should provide more money for schools.”)
Descriptive assumptions: those things that the writer takes for granted as fact, beliefs about the way the world is.

4. Look for Evidence

What supports your assumptions, facts, claims, etc.? What is the proof? How do you know it is true? Why do you believe that? Can you prove that? Are you sure that it is true?
- Intuition
- Authorities or testimonials
- Personal experience
- Personal observation
- Case studies or examples
- Research studies
- Analogies

5. Look for Reasoning Errors

Attacks on a person or person’s background, not ideas
Presentation of a faulty dilemma
Oversimplification
Diverting attention from the issue
Confusion of “what is..” with “what should be…”
Allows only perfect solutions (and therefore dismisses reasonable arguments or ideas.)

Speed Reading Strategies

In contrast to reading strategies that aim to improve your comprehension (e.g., active reading, SQ3R, critically reading), speed reading strategies aim to improve your reading rate. Skimming & scanning, as well as paying attention to structural cues in a text or looking for pivotal words can all increase your reading speed.

Skimming & Scanning

Skimming and scanning are reading techniques that use keywords to move quickly through a text for slightly different purposes.

Skimming

A process of reading to get an overall view or get an impression of the content. This is when you pick out the main ideas or messages from headings, images, graphs, etc. Skimming covers the entire reading material to identify parts that might contain relevant information and parts that may not. Use skimming in previewing (reading before you read), reviewing (reading after you read), or to decide if you need to read something at all, for example during the preliminary research for a paper.

Scanning

Requires you to look for a particular word or phrase. You can totally ignore unnecessary ones. Scanning helps you find specific facts or a particular piece of information, e.g. an answer to a question, a key word or a phrase. Only scan when you know what to scan. Use scanning in research to find particular facts, to study fact-heavy topics, and to answer questions requiring factual support.

Skimming and Scanning are close friends! They are best together!

Skimming Strategies

Do not read every word.
Read the table of contents or chapter overview to learn the main organization of ideas.
Start by reading main headings, titles and subtitles.
Tables, charts and pictures have headings, too.
Next, focus on beginnings & endings, e.g.
- Read first and last sentences of paragraphs.
- Read first and last paragraphs of major sections.
Look for typographical cues:
- Bold and italic
- indenting, bulleted and numbered lists
- highlights
Use cues like signal words and phrases (nouns, dates, events, names).
Look for breaks in the texts (indicating a change in subject, providing a list or summary, etc.)
Look out for keywords
- words that are repeated throughout
- or words like “causes,” “results,” “effects,” etc.,
- or signal words such as those suggesting controversy (“versus”, “pros and cons”)
- names of people and places, dates, nouns, and unfamiliar words
When you think you have found something significant, slow down to read the entire sentence to make sure. Resist the temptation to stop to read details you don't need.
Underline or highlight
At the end of a section, summarize the main idea in 3 bullet points
At the end of the reading, summarize, in your own words, the main arguments of the reading when you are done

While skimming is always faster than your normal reading speed, you should slow down in the following situations:

When you skim introductory and concluding paragraphs
When you skim topic sentences
When you find an unfamiliar word
When the material is very complicated Scanning Strategies
In case there are not any given keywords, establish them. For example, choose your keywords from a question posed by you, in the course syllabus or by a professor.
Choose a few words or phrases to search for in the reading.
Look for only one keyword at a time.
If you use multiple keywords, do multiple scans.
Use a finger of your hand to scan
Repeat silently in your mind the keywords while scanning.
Highlight or underline key words.
When you come across a keyword while scanning, stop, and carefully read the surrounding text.
Don't forget to scan tables of contents, summaries, indexes, headings, and typographical cues.

To finally master the techniques of skimming and scanning, you have to spend your time practicing again and again. To choose an appropriate technique, come back to your purpose and motivation. For example, the end-goal could be to have a good enough understanding of the text to be able to discuss it in class with confidence.

Not sure how fast you should read? Vary your reading rate!

Decrease speed when you find the following:

An unfamiliar word not made clear by the sentence. Try to understand it from the way it's used; then read on and return to it later.
Long and uninvolved sentence and paragraph structure. Slow down enough to enable you to untangle them and get an accurate idea of what the passage says.
Unfamiliar or abstract ideas. Look for applications or examples which will give them meaning. Demand that an idea "make sense." Never give up until you understand, because it will be that much easier the next time. Find someone to help you if necessary.
Detailed, technical material. This includes complicated directions, abstract principles, materials on which you have scant background.
Material on which you want detailed retention. The key to memory is organization and recitation. Speed should not be a consideration here.

Increase speed when you find the following:

Simple material with few ideas new to you. Move rapidly over the familiar.
Unnecessary examples and illustrations. If not needed, move over them rapidly.
Detailed explanation and elaboration which you do not need.
Broad, generalized ideas.

Not sure what to look out for? Pay attention to pivotal words!

Additive words: "Here's more of the same coming up. It's just as important as what we have already said."
- Also, further, moreover, and, furthermore, too, besides, in addition
Equivalent words: "It does what I have just said, but it does this too."
- As well as, at the same time, similarly, equally important, likewise
Amplification words: "I want to be sure that you understand my idea; so here's a specific instance."
- For example (e.g.), specifically, as ,for instance, such as, like
Alternative words: "Sometimes there is a choice; other times there isn't."
- Either/or, other than, neither/nor, otherwise
Repetitive words: "I said it once, but I'm going to say it again in case you missed it the first time."
- Again, in other words, to repeat, that is (i.e.)
Contrast and Change words: "So far I've given you only one side of the story; now let's take a look at the other side."
- But, on the contrary, still, conversely, on the other hand, though, despite, instead of, yet, however, rather than, regardless, nevertheless, even though, whereas, in spite of, notwithstanding
Cause and effect words: "All this has happened; now I'll tell you why."
- Accordingly, since, then, because, so, thus, consequently, hence, therefore, for this reason
Qualifying words: "Here is what we can expect. These are the conditions we are working under."
- If, although, unless, providing, whenever
Concession words: "Okay! We agree on this much."
- accepting the data, granted that, of course
Emphasizing words: "Wake up and take notice!"
- above all, more important, indeed
Order words: "You keep your mind on reading: I'll keep the numbers straight."
- Finally, second, then, first, next, last
Time words: "Let's keep the record straight on who said what and especially when."
- Afterwards, meanwhile, now, before, subsequently, presently, formerly, ultimately, previously, later
Summarizing words: "We've said many things so far. Let's stop here and pull them together."
- for these reasons, in brief, in conclusion, to sum up

Resources:

Baldwin Center for Learning and Teaching