How To Read

How To Read

1. KEY ELEMENTS

   • AUTHOR
     • helps you decide how to interpret the text
   • AUDIENCE
     • who the text is written for
   • PURPOSE
     • reason for writing this piece
     • Persuade
       • trying to convince reader of a "should" or "should not" with facts and arguments
     • Inform
       • giving facts, there is no bias. e.g. encyclopedias
     • Entertain
       • seeking to create amuse or interest
   • MAIN IDEAS
     • Identify topic sentence from words that signal it
     • helps the book fulfill its purpose, found in topic sentences
     • Identify major details, keywords of the idea
     • Identify details used to support idea
   • FACT VS OPINION
     • FACT
       • can be prove
     • OPINION
       • cannot be proven
   • DETAILS
     • SUBJECT
       • VERB
         • PUNCTUATION
           • WORD CHOICE
             • find meaning from context
             • find meaning from roots, prefixes, suffixes
               • http://content.nroc.org/DevelopmentalEnglish/unit01/Foundations/identifying-word-parts.html

2. IDENTIFY MAIN IDEAS

   • STATED MAIN IDEA
     • IDENTIFY TOPIC
       • take hint from words that appeared for the most times
       • take note of the synonyms too
       • NOT an opinion
       • usually 2-3 words long max.
     • AUTHOR'S OPINION
       • usually 5-7 words long
       • what is the main thing that the author wants me to know?
     • MAIN POINT
       • step 1 + step 2
       • should be a complete sentence
     • IMPLIED MAIN IDEA

3. RESPONDING TO READING

   • Questions to answer
     • 1/ What is the main idea of the reading?
     • 2/ Who is the audience?
     • 3/ What is the author's purpose for writing this piece?
     • 4/ What is the author's opinion?
     • 5/ Do you agree or disagree?
     • 6/ What're the reasons behind your opinion?
     • 7/ What can you bring to the discussion about this topic?
     • Structure
       • Short summary - Q1 - Q4
       • Your opinion - Q5 - Q7
       • Revise
         • Does the paper address the assignment?
         • Do the arguments support the main idea?
         • Does the evidence support the arguments?
         • Is the main idea clear?
         • Editing
           • evaluating style of writing, whether it sounds good or not
           • word choice, sentence construction, voice, transitions ....
           • Proofreading
             • fix errors
             • check for grammatical mistakes, punctuation, spelling errors, typos...
         • Deciding whether the content of the paper is right/wrong
         • Has anything been left out?
         • Is anything misleading or difficult to understand?
         • Is all information correct?