| Annotate |
Record your reactions to and questions
about a text directly on the page. |
| Preview |
Learn about a text before reading it closely.
See what you can learn from headnotes or other introductory
material. Skim the text to get an overview of the
content and organization. Identify the genre and
rhetorical situation. |
| Contextualize |
Place a text within an appropriate historical
and cultural framework. |
| Outline |
List the main ideas of each paragraph to see the
organization of a text. |
| Analyze Opposition |
All texts contain voices or patterns of opposition.
List pairs of phrases that are in opposition (i.e.
goals and methods, individual and society) and place
an asterisk next to the phrase favored by the author. |
| Summarize |
Briefly present the main ideas of the text. Write
a paragraph or more that presents the main ideas
in your own words. |
| Paraphrase |
Restate and clarify the meaning of a few sentences
from the text. Reread the passage to be paraphrased
and look up unknown words. Translate information
into your own words. |
| Synthesize |
Combine ideas and information selected from different
texts. Look for patterns among your sources, possibly
supporting or refuting your ideas or those of other
sources. |
| Question |
Write questions while you read a text for the
first time. With difficult academic reading, you
will understand the material better and remember
it longer if you write a question for every paragraph
or brief section. |
| Reflect |
Examine your responses to the text and reveal
your own unexamined assumptions and attitudes. Identify
the challenges by marking where in the text you
feel your beliefs and values are being opposed,
criticized, or unfairly characterized. Write a few
sentences describing why you feel the way you do
and analyze those feelings to see where they come
from. |
