Define your purpose for reading     

 Define your purpose for reading
     
               What is your purpose for reading? Reading a chapter so you can proclaim, “Okay. I finished that assignment” is relatively futile. You may as well tuck the book under your pillow and hope to absorb it by osmosis while you sleep.
There are six fundamental purposes for reading:

1.            To grasp a certain message

2.            To find important details

3.            To answer a specific question

4.            To evaluate what you are reading

5.            To apply what you are reading

6.            To be entertained

               Three ways to read

1.            Quick reference reading seeks specific information that addresses a particular question or concern the reader has.

2.            Critical reading is used to discern ideas and concepts that require a thorough analysis.

3.            Aesthetic or pleasure reading is for sheer entertainment or to appreciate an author’s style and ability.

               The importance of pre-reading
               The best way to begin any reading assignment is to skim the pages to gen an overview of what information is included. Then read the text carefully, word-for-word, and highlight, under-line, or take notes in your notebook, on your computer, or in the book itself.
               A brief digression: Most everyone I know confuses the words “skim” and “scan”. Let me set the record straight.

               Skim is to read quickly and superficially.
               Scan is to read carefully but for a specific item.

               So when you skim a reading selection, you are reading it in its entirety, though you’re only hitting the “highlights.” When you scan a selection, you are reading it in detail but only until you find what you’re looking for. Scanning is the fastest reading rate of all-although you are reading in detail, you are not seeking to comprehend or remember anything that you see until you find the specific information you’re looking for.
               You probably are assigned a lot of reading that can be accomplished by skimming for facts. By establishing the questions you want answered before you begin to read, you can quickly go through the material, extracting only the information you need.
               Let’s say you’re reading a science book with the goal of identifying the function of a cell’s nucleus. You can breeze through the section that describes the parts of the cell and skim the description of what cells do. You already know what you’re looking for-and there it is in the section that talks about what each cell part does. Now you can start to read.
               By identifying the questions you wanted to answer (a.k.a. your purpose) in advance, you would be able to skim the chapter and answer your questions in a lot less time that would have taken to painstakingly read every word.
               Skimming, or pre-reading, is a valuable step even if you aren’t seeking specific facts. When skimming for a general overview, there’s a very simple procedure to follow:

*             If there is a title or heading, rephrase it as a question. This will be your purpose for reading.

*             Examine all the subheadings, illustrations, and graphics, as these will help you identify the significant matter within the text.

*             Read thoroughly the introductory paragraphs, the summary, and any questions at the chapter’s end.

*             Read the first sentence of every paragraph, which generally contains the main point of the paragraph

*             Evaluate what you have gained from this process: Can you answer the questions at the end of the chapter? Could you intelligently participate in a class discussion of the material?

*             Write a brief summary that encapsulates what you have learned from your skimming

*             Based on your evaluation, decide whether a more thorough reading is required.

               As a general rule, if you are reading textbook material word for word, you probably are wating quite a bit of your study time. Good readers are able to discern what they should read in this manner and what they can afford to skim.
When trying to simply gather detail and facts, skimming a text is a simple and very important shortcut that can save you a lot of reading time. Even if a more in-depth reading is necessary, you will find that by having gone through process, you will have developed the kind of skeletal framework that will make your further reading faster, easier, and more meaningful.
Whether you are skimming or scanning, you will have equipped yourself with the ability to better digest whatever the author is trying to communicate.

               Words may also be clues

               While the heads, subhead, first sentences, and other author-provided hints will help you get a quick read on what a chapter’s about, some of the words in that chapter will help you home in on the important points and ignore the unimportant. Knowing when to speed up, slow down, stop, or really concentrate will help you read both faster and more effectively.
When you see words such as “likewise,” “in addition,” “moreover,” “furthermore,” and thee like, you should know nothing new is being introduced. If you already know wht’s going on, you can speed up or skip what’s coming entirely.
On the other hand, when you see words like “on the other hand”, “nevertheless,” “however,” “rather,” “but,” and ther ilk, slow down – you’re getting information that adds a new perspective or contradicts what you’ve just read.
Lastly, watch out for “payoff” words such as, “in conclusion,” “therefore,” “thus,” “consequently,” and “to summarize,” especially if you only have time to “hit the high points” of a chapter or if you’re reviewing for a test. Here’s where the author has tied up everything that came before in a nice bow. This unexpected present may help you avoid having to unwrap the entire chapter.

               Now go back for detail 

               If a more thorough reading of a text is required, go back to the beginning. Read one section (chapter, unit, whatever) at a time.
               As you read, make sure you know what’s going on by asking yourself if the passage is written to address one of these five questions:

Who? The paragraph focuses on a particular person or group of people. The topic sentence tells you who this is.

When? The paragraph is primarily concerned with time. The topic sentence may even begin with the word “when.”

Where? The paragraph is oriented around a particular place or location. The topic sentence states where you are reading about.

Why? A paragraph that states reasons for some belief or happening usually addresses this question. The topic sentence answers why something is true or why an event happened.

 How? The paragraph identifies the way something works or the means by which something is done. The topic sentence explains the how of what is described.