Reading Strategies for Academic Reading

Types of Reading For Pleasure For Information Critical Reading

Why Critically Read? So you better engage with the text So you aren’t fooled by text Because colleges want you to develop skills.

1. Reading Strategically Know Why You Are Reading New Vocabulary and Concepts Assumptions of Author Know How You Will Read Know different texts require different effort Match Pace to Difficulty of Text Skim and Reread

2. Preview a Text Title Headings First and Last Paragraphs First and Last Sentences Study visuals Not time to look up words!

3. Consider the Rhetorical Situation Purpose =Stance, Context, Occasion Audience Constraints: Genre, Media/Design, Style, Knowledge

4. Track Your Reading Initial Response Annotations What are your initial reactions? What accounts for your reaction? Depends on Your purpose Thesis Statement Reasons and Evidence Ask Your Questions 4. Track Your Reading

5. Playing the Believing/Doubting Game Agree List Disagree List Try to find every flaw Try to see it from writer’s side

6. Thinking about How the Text Works: Outlining What it says What it does content Write a sentence for each paragraph Look for patterns, gaps, order. format Identify function of paragraph Introduce, build background, describe, define, entice? 6. Thinking about How the Text Works: Outlining

7. Summarize 8. Consider Larger Context Relationships between ideas Comprehension 8. Consider Larger Context Who else cares about this topic? What was going on when this was written? Citations

9. Identifying Patterns What to Look For How to Look Color code Particular writing strategies Writing style Type of evidence and citations: Quotes, statistics, paraphrase, summary What it reveals about author beliefs Color code Count Up the Parts Count words Count sentences Count paragraphs Count images 9. Identifying Patterns

No one can really know what their lives were like No one can really know what their lives were like. They had no novelists - and would not have permitted anyone to read a novel if one were handy. Their creed forbade anything resembling a theater or “vain enjoyment.” They did not celebrate Christmas, and a holiday from work meant only that they must concentrate even more upon prayer. Which is not to say that nothing broke into this strict and somber way of life. When a new farmhouse was built, friends assembled to “raise the roof,” and there would be special foods cooked and probably some potent cider passed around. There was a good supply of ne’er-do-wells in Salem, who dallied at the shovelboard in Bridget Bishop’s tavern. Probably more than the creed, hard work kept the morals of the place from spoiling, for the people were forced to fight the land like heroes for every grain of corn, and no man had very much time for fooling around.

10. Analyze the Argument What is the claim? What support? How evenhanded? What sources? What authority? How does writer address reader? Check for fallacies: propaganda

Reading Strategies Read Strategically Preview Text Consider Rhetorical Situation Track Your Reading Play Believe/Disbelieve Outline Text Summarize Identify Larger Context Identify Patterns Analyze Argument