There are many different types of text, and many different ways of reading. This page provides you with a few useful strategies for reading at college level. If you have other tips, or find useful information elsehwere, please let me know!
Reading a text for a college course is very different from reading a text for fun, for instance you will generally read an article from a scientific journal and a novel in different ways. But reading that same novel for fun, or for a course on global literature will require you to read in different manner. Most likely, your professor has something in mind when they make you read a text. If it’s not clear what you’re supposed to get out of the text for a specific class or assignment, ask your professor for more guidance.
Even with instructions from your professor, it is useful to have a few general purpose questions read to “ask the text”. I based these questions on a list I received from a colleague a long time ago; the list was made by Prof. Tim Brook, and makes you think about a number of different aspects connected to a text.
What is the text doing? *
*Question found in Historical Thinking and Other Unnatural Acts, p. x.
A text is not a passive sea of words on a page, just sitting there. Somebody put time and effort into writing it- even if it is just a shopping list. (In fact, a text does not have to be a book, or even written with words. More info here.)
Answering the analytical question “what is the text doing” may require you to ask a few other questions to get on the right track.
Thinking about the writer
- Who wrote it? (The CEO of a big company; a housewife in rural Indiana; the ruler of an ancient country; a young female artist in 2019?)
- When did they write it? (Seventy years ago, or just the other day?)
- Did they write it for others to read? (Maybe, maybe not…)
- Why did they write it? (to remember the milk; to make sure everybody knows how great they are; to unburden their private, innermost thoughts and have a more peaceful night of sleep?)
These questions can help you think about what the writer was trying to achieve with this text. Do they try to convince the (intended) reader of a particular point of view? What is that point of view?
The next step is to look at how the writer is trying to do that.
- What is the genre? (nove (sci-fi? historical? thriller?)l, academic journal, personal letter, formal letter, graffiti on the wall?)
- What style of language, or “register” does the writer use? (formal, informal, solemn, abstruse, hip-hop style street slang?)
- (reason, statistics, emotional,…)
- What does the writer not write about? What is left out?
Thinking about the reader
- Who is/was the intended reader? (a lover, the citizens of a country, a fellow academic, a student, a fan?)
- Did the writer intend you to read it? (Shopping list? probably not. Private diary: definitely not! Published diary: oh yes!)
- If you were not the intended reader, how do you read this text differently?
- Do the mechanisms used to convince the reader still work for you?
Make yourself at home: setting up your reading nook
If you’re reading a text for a college course, chances are you can’t just sit on the beach with that mocktail and leaf through the pages. Reading is only one small part of what we ask you to do with a text. You also need to analyse it, think about its contents, and the implications of what the writer is telling you (or how they are telling you something), and what they are not telling you. To focus on a text, make sure you are all set up without further distractions.
Find a comfortable spot, make sure you can read the text easily: get a book seat or a book stand to raise the book to the appropriate height without causing fatigue or muscle spasms. This will considerably increase your endurance and enjoyment. Have a dedicated notebook on hand. You can also take notes on an electronic device, but turn them to “do not disturb”, stay away from social media and e-mail, and make sure to keep your files organized for easy retrieval. Cup of tea or coffee and cat nearby are nice add-ons, but not necessary.
Good reading locations are personal choices. I can’t read in a coffee shop, because it’s too noisy, but I know people who need that background hum to focus. The library offers comfy seats, soft bean bags or regular desk space, and many buildings on campus also have quiet nooks and corners with good light and comfy seats. Go exploring, and find a few spots so you can rotate around just in case somebody else temporarily moves into your favorite location.
Different types of reading:
- General background reading: highlight in the text, or jot down in a dedicated notebook the key points: events, names, terms, and explain briefly. This will help you jog your memory about salient facts, or save you a lot of trouble finding references. Write the page number where you found every bit of information, use ” ” to indicate where you quote something verbatim from the text, and differentiate between paraphrase/summary and your own thoughts. I use [PN:] for Personal Notes and questions, with the full note between the brackets.
- Reading to prepare for class or discussion: highlight in the text or jot down sections of the text you find intriguing: you agree, disagree, or find them strange, or don’t quite understand; perhaps you notice contradictions, repetitions or connections within the text or with other texts, either from this course or other readings. Use different colors or symbols to indicate those different positions (e.g. ? for confused, # for conclusion, <–> for contradiction, // for connection…) Add a note with your thoughts: what makes you agree or disagree, what in particular is confusing you, or do you find strange? And above all for connections: the specific text or object you see a connection with. Doing this will allow you to join discussions without having to remember all the details: your thinking and information is in your notes.
- Reading for a detailed analysis of a text, for instance for an assignment: similar to reading for class/discussion. Try to uncover the structure of the text: which sections are examples, where is the main question the writer wants to answer, where is their answer; how does the author break down the argument (the proposed answer to the question) in different steps? Looking at a text in this way tells you a lot about the contents of the text you study, but also shows you how to craft your own essays well, and sometimes a text teaches you how not to do it, too!