TEXT FOR PORTFOLIO 9

CHAPTER FOUR:  READING AND NOTE-TAKING SKILLS

NOTE: Please keep in mind as you read this chapter that it is geared toward reading textbooks, though you may find some techniques here useful when reading novels and poetry.

Section One: Efficient Reading

Introduction
Efficient reading involves both speed and comprehension. Most readers sacrifice one for the other. They reason incorrectly that one must read quickly without retaining information or slowly in order to retain the information. This is false reasoning. Slow reading is inefficient. Fast reading is efficient.

Reading is the most valuable skill you can master. With mastery comes the assurance that you can succeed in school. All academic fields involve reading. If you can read well, you can overcome deficiencies in your background and also in your teachers’ backgrounds. No one with ability need be at a loss for information if he or she has access to books.

In order to talk about reading, you need to be able to distinguish between types of reading and then fit your reading style to suit the needs of the material. There are five types of critical reading:

A. Skimming reading: for searching out specific items or familiarizing yourself with a large section preparatory to close reading.

B. Exploratory reading: for gaining acquaintance with information.

C. Close reading: for mastering information

D. Review reading: for refreshing the memory

E. Audible reading: for appreciating poetry and drama.

Regardless of whether you read for pleasure or for critical reasons, the primary goal of all reading is comprehension. You read to understand what you are reading.

A. Skimming
Skimming is the most rudimentary type of reading. Its object is to familiarize you as quickly as possible with the material to be read. You may use it for entire books or for shorter sections. You leaf through the material looking at titles, subheadings, illustrations, maps, and charts. You are trying to become familiar with the subject matter. Remember, both speed and comprehension depend on familiarity. The more comfortable you are with the manner in which the material is presented, the faster you will move through it and the more you will retain. Two to three minutes is ample time for a chapter, ten to fifteen minutes for a book.

Skimming may also be used to search out certain short passages you have lost. Your eye should race over the pages looking for clues which will help you narrow down the probable location. Though you feel completely lost, the act of skimming will refresh your memory and lead you to the passage. Trust your memory. If it says upper left-hand corner, look there first. With practice you can develop a memory which will allow you to recall the exact location on a page of a piece of information. After that, patient speed will do the rest. Skimming before you start is valuable for any type of reading, even pleasure reading, except perhaps for mysteries.

B. Exploratory Reading
Exploratory reading is the half-way point between skimming and close reading, and it’s similar to pleasure reading. You want to acquaint yourself with the subject, but you do not need complete understanding and retention. Perhaps you are reading supplementary material which you will not be held accountable for, or perhaps you only need to gain general knowledge from a text which will be available if you need to look up specific references. In exploratory reading, read as quickly as possible. Keep your mind on the material. Upon finishing each section of the material, pause to rest your eyes. See if you can summarize what you have just read. The ability to summarize is another skill which can be developed only by practice. 

C. Close Reading
Close reading is the essence of the academic experience. It aims at the mastery of material with full retention of details. It divides into a number of separate steps, each vital, but ends as a whole. 

1. Skimming. First, skim the material as described above. Comprehension comes from familiarity.

2. Prereading. Next, preread the section. Read carefully the first paragraph or introductory section. Then read quickly through the body of the material. Don’t stop for unfamiliar words or ideas. Put discrete checks in the margin alongside words or passages that trouble you. Return to careful reading when you’ve reached the final paragraph or concluding section. At this point you should have a sense of the argument and development. If not, look again at the opening paragraph. An author usually places his or her thesis near the beginning. Don’t go on until you find it. It will make sense of the rest of the material.

3. Clarification. Clarify your understanding of the material by looking up difficult vocabulary.

4. A Careful Reading. Now, return to the assignment and read the entire portion you have just preread. When you are assigned an entire book, break it up into manageable chapters, each of which you can read in one sitting. During the thorough reading, be conscious of forcing yourself to read quickly, but demand understanding. Use textual marks to help retain the information. Read with a pencil in hand. Underlining is too slow for most material, so underline only those items to be memorized verbatim. Use marginal checks to note important short passages. Use a combination of checks and brackets to set off longer passages. Circle names, dates, words which are keys to paragraphs. Even write marginal notes for a more complete understanding. Remember, though, all textual marks slow your reading rate. They must improve your comprehension to justify using them. They are as dangerous when overused as when underused.

5. Synthesis. Having finished your thorough reading, try to synthesize the entire passage. Make certain that it has continuity for you, that you understand the whole as well as the parts. 

D. Review Reading
Review reading involves a rapid re-reading of material to refresh your memory. During re-reading you’ll find that your margin notes and other textual notes will be quite helpful. Begin by re-reading the introduction and conclusion. For the body of the material, skim the passages you understand clearly; read more closely the passages you found confusing. If you have to read all of the material slowly then your first reading was ineffective. Before you begin review reading, jot down questions or areas of doubt. Make sure you clear them up by the end of your review reading session. 

E. Audible Reading
Poetry and plays are written to be heard. They should be read aloud. Understanding poems and plays begins with hearing them. Good poets and playwrights dictate the reading pace by their writing. Try to discover it. 

A word on vocabulary development
Time spent on vocabulary development will enhance more than speed; it will enhance you. After all, the limits of vocabulary are the limits of thought. Make a start by keeping a list of new words in a bound notebook. Print the new word and write its definition. Begin with one word per assignment, three a day, twenty a week. You set the number, but hold yourself to it. Use each new word in conversation within a day of looking it up. Try to work the word into your writing. Until you have actively used it, you will not possess it. See also Chapter Three Section Four for tips about memorizing vocabulary.

Section Two: Reading Speed & Comprehension

Reading Speed
Each type of reading that you encounter has a different rate. For example, an exciting novel is a quicker read than a difficult biology text. Text books also vary in how well they are written, and as a consequence some are more difficult to read.

Each semester, time yourself reading a chapter in each of your text books. See how many pages an hour you can read. Once you have an accurate estimate of your reading rate, you can better plan your reading time and studying time.

Increasing Reading Speed
So you want to increase your reading rate, but you don’t know where to begin? Reading difficulties stem from a variety of causes: single word reading; inadequate vocabulary; inability to vary the reading rate to suit the material; lack of concentration; and a habit of reading slowly. Become conscious of your reading habits. See if you are able to determine where you are struggling. Teach yourself to read phrases, not single words. Your eyes should not stop at each word but instead should move across the page stopping only in the middle of each small thought block. Learning to read by phrase units will require practice and patience. Once you’ve developed the phrase reading technique, practice daily and push yourself. But always remember that rapid reading with low comprehension is not productive. Close reading demands your full intellectual powers and your full concentration.

Comprehension
Scan the chapter first. Identify the sections to which the author devotes the most amount of space. If there are lots of diagrams for a particular concept, then that must also be an important concept. If you're really pressed for time, skip the sections to which the least amount of space is devoted.

Read the first sentence of every paragraph more carefully than the rest of the paragraph.

Take notes on headings and the first sentence of each paragraph before reading the chapter itself. Then, close your book and ask yourself what you now know about the subject that you didn't know before you started.

Focus on nouns and main propositions in each sentence. Look for the noun-verb combinations, and focus your learning on these. 

Adapted from Being a Flexible Reader by Gail Kluepfel, Rutgers University.

 

Section Three: Tips for Reading Difficult Material
Difficulty is a severe instructor. -Edmund Burke

 

Read the title and the first paragraph

  • If there is a summary at the end of a chapter, read it.
  • Get a grasp of how the material is organized.
  • If you need more background, seek another source.
  • Now decide if you have enough background to begin reading.

Look for main ideas

  • Look for titles, headings, and subheadings.
  • Pick out topic sentences.
  • Utilize graphs, charts, and diagrams.
  • Take notes while or just after you read (see the section on mapping in chapter one to organize these ideas).
  • Look up words whose meanings are important to your understanding of the material, but whose meaning you cannot discern from the context.

Monitor your comprehension

  • Periodically stop and ask, "What have I learned?" Connect new information to what you already know.

Reread

  • If your are not comprehending an idea, go back and reread.
  • Restate difficult ideas in your own words.

Read to the end

  • Do not get discouraged and stop reading. Ideas can become clearer the more you read. When you finish reading, review to see what you have learned, and reread those ideas that are not clear.

Adapted from College Reading and Study Skills by Nancy V. Wood, Holt Rinehart and Winston, Inc. 1991.