English 350 & 355

1. English 350 & 355 Melissa Gunby Tuesday, August 21, 2012

2. Becoming a more effective Reader

3. Understanding Why We Read • Just as professional sports teams study the moves of their opponents and musicians study the performers that come before, we read to learn from the masters of the craft and become better writers ourselves.

4. Step 1: Previewing • Previewing gives us a glimpse into what a text is about without reading the whole thing first. • What to look for: • Title • Author’s name • Biographical information on the author • Date article was written or published • Are there images? • Are there foot notes or endnotes? • Are there any marginal notes already included? • Is there any stylized text or notations?

5. Step 2: Skimming • Before you read a text all the way through, take a few minutes to quickly scan through the text. Look for anything that jumps out, like bolded or italicized words. • Don’t stop to look up words, just read through quickly and see if you can ascertain the main ideas.

6. Step 3: READ • Read the piece slowly, with a pen, pencil, or highlighter in hand. Don’t stop to look up unfamiliar words, but mark them to look up later. • Take notes as you read. Yes, it’s okay to write in your textbooks. Write down your questions as they come into your head. Mark important words or phrases. • Create an outline in the margin by labeling paragraphs or sentences that contain key points.

7. Step 4: Define terms • If there were a lot of words in the passage that you didn’t understand or couldn’t figure out from their context, look them up after you’ve finished reading, and write them into the text so you can remember them for the next time you review the article.

8. Step 5: Summarize • One of the best ways to remember what you’ve read is to re-write it into your own words. • Summarize each paragraph in your own words.

9. Tips • Develop your own shorthand • As a History student, I developed some of my own abbreviations and shorthand: • Wm • Am • X/Xtian • Always read with a pencil and highlighter • The more you read, the better you will write

10. Activity • Individually, preview the news article that I’ve given you. • Read the article. You may do this alone if you read better silently, or out loud as a small group. If you need quiet, please step out into the lab. • As you read, mark words you need to look up. • As a group (or on your own), come up with a short summary of this article. Please make sure everyone’s name is on it, and turn it in before you leave tonight.