Office of Academic Support

How Should I Prepare to Read?

By Matt McCluskey, Coordinator of Academic Support
Contact: x5678, mmccluskey@stlawu.edu, Whitman 161

Finding the Right Setting for Reading:

-Where are you going to read? What kind of reading environment are you looking for?

-When is the best time of day for you to read?

-Use a pointer or note card to keep place.

-What tools should be accessible when you read? (e.g., dictionary, thesaurus, highlighters, pencils, etc.).

-Take a ten-minute break every hour to refresh yourself.

-Have a notebook ready for use.

-Stay ahead of reading assignments and try to read them in order.

-Unless the reading is on-line, turn off your computer, cell phone, etc.

Getting Ready:

-Review your course notes before you open the book.

-Preview the reading in advance. Examine the cover, table of contents, charts, diagrams, maps, and jacket summaries.

-Is there background information you should cover first? For example, if you are reading Dickens, it might be a good idea to read a little bit about 19^th century England.

While You Are Reading:

-Take time to identify major themes or ideas that the author addresses and list these themes in your notes and in the margins of the text.

-Go ahead and mark up your readings like crazy!!!

-Underline new words and ideas and look them up when you complete the section.

-For difficult or particularly important parts of the text, READ IT OUT LOUD!

-Write a brief summary of each section (2-3 sentences can often suffice) in your notebook.

-Create a flow diagram, time-line, or map describing the text.

-Create a chart outlining the main characters in the text.

After You Have Read the Text:

Try explaining the ideas in the text to someone else

Talk and argue about the main points of the text

Come up with a list of questions or points to discuss in the class. Questions can be analytical or critical in nature or may simply reflect a desire to know more about an idea portrayed in the text. Either way, you are demonstrating engagement with the text to the professor.

Compare this work to others like it. Perhaps you can chart the similarities and differences.

Go back and re-read passages that you found were particularly interesting, important, or difficult. Pay particular attention to summaries and abstracts. Also, it may be worthwhile to review introductions, conclusion, and moments of crisis/conflict resolution.

Refer to the professor, course mentor, and/or peer tutoring program if you continue to have trouble comprehending the course readings.