As children get older, the focus of English education shifts from learning how to read to learning how to understand and work through more and more difficult texts. For many there are moments when this shift challenges them and reading becomes \u201cboring\u201d and they check out. Yet this is just the time when the act of reading itself is actually most interesting – it is a puzzle again. And learning how to tackle tough texts is a feeling of enormous empowerment.<\/p>\n
In my experience, students usually have a good instinct for what something means. \u201cYou know, it\u2019s just there,\u201d they usually say. Helping them identify how the meaning they sense exists not only on the page, but also in their minds, is the challenge of learning how to read complex passages and texts. The fact is that many adults aren\u2019t sure how they read either, or what helps them read better sometimes and not others.<\/p>\n
Fortunately, reading well is a simple list of practices that anyone can implement. The effort takes time in the beginning. Like any habit, reading attentively requires training. I can promise, however, that surprisingly quickly, the practice becomes natural.<\/p>\n
Most good reading takes at least two passes through the text. The first is a perusal in which the mind gets the most superficial information available. Only the second reading starts to grasp what is really going on and why it is important. Most teachers expect that students will read texts thoroughly, which means twice, at least initially\u2013 the first time thoroughly and the second time to review and gather the information. As reading improves, students get better at tracking information during the first reading.<\/p>\n
Overall, every one knows to look up unfamiliar words and get the overall argument of the text. Most people need to read some sections more than once, either because they are tired and distracted or because the argument is dense and complicated. It\u2019s totally normal and expected. The suggestions below for reading non-fiction and fiction are guides to reading attentively, to becoming a reader.<\/p>\n
Reading non-fiction
\nThe title should tell you about the general topic and possibly a particular aspect of it. State what you expect of the text based on the title.
\nDo some \u201cpre-reading\u201d by checking out the information on the back cover, in the table of contents, and from reviews. Scan the opening and closing paragraphs of whatever section you have to read to get some sense of what it\u2019s going to discuss.
\nHow is the text organized? Understanding the organization before beginning can help navigate the information. Is the information provided through a narrative or an argument? Chronologically? Thematically? By steps?
\nAre there key words that appear? Words in bold, italicized, or that repeat need to be understood, even more than unfamiliar words. Try to define them.
\nKey words are often in important sentences that are explaining major steps in the text\u2019s development. Can you identify these sentences? Do they offer the logic of the text?
\nCan you summarize each paragraph in one sentence? That should be possible, especially with textbooks, and confirms your understanding of that passage. If you can\u2019t, it\u2019s worth it to stop and go back and take the time to digest the paragraph. Go through it slowly and try to pinpoint where you \u201ctuned out\u2019 or found it confusing. Now go slowly through this part? What is it exactly that is confusing here? Is it the grammar of the sentence? Is it the vocabulary? Give yourself the time to understand the little pieces, and the big picture will take care of itself.
\nIf analogies are being used, try to connect the parts to see how the analogy works (or doesn\u2019t).
\nDoes the author recognize alternate points of view? Can you think of one for some aspect of the text?
\nDoes the author seem to have a point of view about the subject? What words or sentences suggest that? Are there sentences that seem to be joking, disdainful, shocked? How can you tell? Ask about those sentences in class and the teacher can help explain how the language is influencing your perception.
\nAt the end of reading, take some time to write notes about what the book is about to you. Do you think the information is true? Why does it matter? To whom does it matter? What changes through knowing this information? Reading a chapter on the Battle of Waterloo in a history textbook or cell division in a biology textbook can still provide answers to these questions. What about the Battle of Waterloo seems to relate to recent situations that would make it a relevant event to know about, two centuries later? What impact does cell division have on human life? Do a quick online search if you can\u2019t think of anything. The current relevance of \u201cboring school topics\u201d is often surprising.
\nReading fiction
\nWith fiction, reading is understanding something beyond the plot. It\u2019s about capturing some subtlety of the characters\u2019 feelings\/motivations, and learning why something is funny, sarcastic, foreshadowing, etc.<\/p>\n
Take a minute to ask what the title means and implies. Later, revisit the title of the work and try to understand how it represents the work you have read.
\nAre there quotes, epigrams, or forewords (not editor\u2019s or author\u2019s introductions) before the story begins? What do they say? Do they introduce a theme (love, war, family, death) or a character or a narrator\u2019s point of view? Try to write a sentence about these early moments as they will probably be relevant to the rest of the story.
\nObserve the story\u2019s organization, its divisions, transitions, ellipses…How are connections made between sections?
\nAt some point while reading, ask yourself what you expect to have happen next. Try to write it down. Later, check back and see if the reading offered a surprise. When did the surprise occur? If no surprise, why might the author remove that element?
\nTry to sketch a description of at least one character. Consider not only the way s\/he looks, but also how s\/he speaks, where s\/he lives or is found in the story, what s\/he desires or despises, how others treat the character, and if the character is meant to be liked by the reader or not. Make a list of all the pages where you gather this information.
\nTrack characters, places, thematic statements. I recommend that students write in pencil on the inside back cover of their novel. List a name and then all the pages where that character occurs, or if two characters fight a lot then all the pages where that happens, or whenever a book\/film\/favorite something is mentioned, or every time there is a rainstorm or fire or ladder or other such potential symbols. Locations are useful to track because they often present new scenes.
\nLocations do a lot of work. Inside\/outside, city\/country, street\/forest, home\/school\/shop, bedroom\/living room are all packed with meaning. A play that was set on a NYC street corner where a character asks the other for directions was about two cultures intersecting; they were literally at a crossroads. Keep track of scenes that seem to recur in certain settings. Something is being implied there.
\nCan you identify a symbol? What does it stand for? What does it do in the scenes where it occurs?
\nLook up references within the text that you may not know, or don\u2019t know much about, such as places, names, events, or dates. They are often important clues to understanding the work.
\nAt the end of reading a section for homework, what seems like the most important scene? When done with the whole book, what do you think the climax is? Is it resolved?
\nAt the end of a text, fiction or non-fiction, consider why it was an important text for you to read, from the teacher\u2019s point of view, as a part of the class overall, and how it might influence your thoughts about life going forward. Flipping back into the text is normal at this point, because you are realizing what wasn\u2019t clear, or finding the passage that was really important.<\/p>\n
Again, some things will simply be confusing. That\u2019s okay! Make a note of those passages. Try to identify specifically where the text stopped making sense, what step did not follow from the previous, or where you did not understand the sequence of action. Taking the time to study the most confusing moments instead of feeling dejected by them or trying to skip them is where the heart of learning takes place. It\u2019s where growth happens.<\/p>\n
If you can\u2019t figure out the tough parts on your own, ask about those places in class and the teacher will be delighted. Working with concrete places of confusion leads to the best class conversations. It will also help you pay attention because the discussion is about something you want to know. There\u2019s a misapprehension that not understanding the text suggests you are a bad reader. That\u2019s not true. When you can present specific places that you don\u2019t understand, you show what a careful reader you are. Asking for further information makes you a better student. After all, if you already understood it, you wouldn\u2019t need to be in school.<\/p>\n
Good reading!<\/p>\n
Charlotte Kent, PhD. lives and works in New York City, where she helps people of all ages improve their writing. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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