Chapter nine summaries CRCB ENG 75

While reading, build in a little time management, previewing also involves taking a look at how the text is organized, So after a reasonable length of time, before tackling another section, get up, stretch. Don't disappear though. You still have more reading to do. The big reward does NOT come until after you have completed the entire reading assignment. Try something new. Mark the margins as you read instead of highlighting everything you see. Highlighting is a great system to point out main ideas, but sometimes the reader has a tendency to highlight everything. Instead, use some sort of margin notation that corresponds to an item in the text in order to draw your eye to that information. For example, Use a triangle to indicate that a particular sentence contains a statement of opinion. Whatever system you use, be sure to write it down on an index card or in your notebook so that you will consistently use these annotations in the future. If annotating is a bit too involved for you, incorporate highlighting with underlining instead. For example, highlight the main ideas, underline the details and circle the key words. Use speed reading techniques --glancing, skimming, and scanning-- in order to prepare for tests, Glancing is a device used to assess the overall reading assignment itself. It is a technique that the reader uses to get a general idea of the layout of the text and the location of information. Skimming is a device used to locate main ideas during the preview stages of reading. Previewing is not a substitute for reading. It is a technique used as a preparation for a more thorough reading of the material. An active reader goes through the text twice in order to have a better understanding of the information being presented. A simple way to practice skimming is to read, as quickly as possible, the first few sentences of every paragraph and the last few sentences of every paragraph. The more you practice this method, the easier it will become because you will find yourself looking for key verbs and nouns. After skimming, try to formulate a main idea sentence, right in the text, or in your reading notebook. Scanning is a device used to locate details--specific answers to specific questions that may be asked at the end of the assignment. In order to practice this technique you must know how information is arranged in a reading. When trying to answer questions that begin with the word WHEN, the reader would look in the text for sentences containing words dealing with time markers: before, next, later, prior; or words that suggest a specific timeframe, for example, years, months, periods. When trying to answer WHY questions. In your reading notebook, you might want to begin a chart of questions and answers to be used as a study guide before tests. You, as the reader are doing a great deal of work preparing for a test in the early stages of the course, but the reader definitely saves time during midterms. Instead of cramming and spot-reading material, the active reader can just open that reading notebook and review material, not learn it for the first time during exam week. Keep a reading notebook. A reading notebook organizes your reading materials for you and helps you find information quickly when you need to study for a test or to write a paper. What type of material can you include in your reading notebook? If you followed the directions above, you should already have a main idea statement and some review questions and answers. In addition, you may want to include a purpose for reading. Simply fill in the blank and you have the beginnings of a main idea statement that you can develop further following the reading.