READING STRATEGIES AND SUMMARY MAKING

Although this chapter focuses on reading, much of its advice applies also to listening. In fact, it is often helpful to think of reading as a conversation. We like to tell students that a college library is not so much a repository of information as a discussion frozen in time until you as reader bring it to life. Those books and ar­ticles, stacked neatly on library shelves, are arguing with each other, carrying on a great extended conversation. As you read, you bring those conversations to life. And when you write, you enter those conversations.

So writing and speaking are only half of the arguing process. The other half is careful reading and listening.

SUGGESTIONS FOR IMPROVING YOUR READING PROCESS

Before we offer specific strategies for reading arguments, let's examine some general strategies that can improve your ability to read any kind of college-level material, from complex textbooks to primary sources in a history or philosophy course.

1. Slow down: Advertisements for speedreading mislead us into believing that expert readers read rapidly. In fact, experts read difficult texts slowly, often rereading them two or three times, treating their first readings like first drafts. They hold confusing passages in mental suspension, hoping that later parts of the essay will clarify earlier parts. They "nutshell" or summarize passages in the margins. They interact with the text by asking questions, expressing disagreements, linking the text with other readings or with personal experience.

2. Get the dictionary habit: When you can't tell a word's meaning from context, get in the habit of looking it up. One strategy is to make small tick marks next to words you're unsure of; then look them up after you're done so as not to break your concentration.

3. Lose your highlighter/find your pen: Relying on those yellow high­lighters makes you too passive. Next time you get the urge to highlight a passage, write in the margin why you think it's important. Is it a major new point in the argument? A significant piece of support? A summary of the opposition? A particularly strong or particularly weak point? Use the margins to summarize the text, protest vehemently, ask questions, give assent—but don't just color the pages.

4. Reconstruct the rhetorical context: Train yourself to ask questions such as these: Who is this author? What audience is he or she writing for? What occa­sion prompted this writing? What is the author's purpose? Any piece of writing makes more sense if you think of its author as a real person writing for some real purpose out of real historical context.

5. Join the text's conversation by exploring your views on the issues before reading: To determine the text's issues before reading it through, note the title, read the first few paragraphs carefully and skim the opening sentences of para­graphs. You can then explore your own views on the issue. This sort of personal exploration at the prereading stage both increases your readiness to understand the text and enhances your ability to enjoy it.

6. Continue the conversation after your reading: After you've read a text, try completing the following statements in a journal: "The most significant question this essay raises is.. .." "The most important thing I learned from this essay is...." "I agree with the author about...." "However, I disagree about...." These questions help you remember the reading and urge you to respond actively to it.

7. Try "translating" difficult passages: When you stumble over a difficult passage, try "translating" it into your own words. Converting the passage into your own language forces you to focus on the precise meanings of words. Al­though your translation may not be exactly what the author intended, you see more clearly where the sources of confusion lie and what the likely range of mean­ings might be.

Date: 2015-02-03; view: 908