When you write in college, you pose questions, explore ideas, and engage in scholarly debates and conversations. To join in those conversations, you will analyze and respond to texts, evaluate other writers’ arguments, and put forth your own ideas.
When you write about a text, you will need to read it several times to discover its meaning. The best way to become a good writer is to become a good reader. The following strategies may help you get started.
How to read actively
Mark up the text, ask questions, and interact with the text to really understand it.
Guidelines for actively reading a written text
Guidelines for actively reading an image or a multimodal text
Annotated article
Annotated multimodal text (Equal Exchange advertisement)
Annotated multimodal text (McDonald’s advertisement)
Annotated web page
Identify the main idea and major parts—a text’s thesis and argument—to understand a text.
Outlining a written text
Outlining an image or a multimodal text
Capture the main points of the text in your own words.
Summarizing a written text
Summarizing an image or a multimodal text
Form a judgment of what the text means and how it conveys its main idea.
Analyzing a written text
Analyzing an image or a multimodal text
Writing guide: Analysis essay
Organize your ideas for an oral presentation.
Preparing a presentation
Delivering the presentation
Remixing a paper for a presentation