Preparing to Read
Before you read, think ahead about how to approach the reading process — how to make the most of the time you spend reading.
Thinking about Your Purpose. When you begin to read, ask questions like these about your immediate purpose:
- What are you reading?
- Why are you reading? What do you want to do with the reading?
- What does your instructor expect you to learn from the reading?
- Do you need to memorize details, find main points, or connect ideas?
- How does this reading build on, add to, contrast with, or otherwise relate to other reading assignments in the course?
Planning Your Follow-Up. When you are required to read or to select a reading, ask yourself what your instructor expects to follow it:
- Do you need to be ready to discuss the reading during class?
- Will you need to mention it or analyze it during an examination?
- Will you need to write about it or its topic?
- Do you need to find its main points? Sum it up? Compare it? Question it? Spot its strengths and weaknesses? Draw useful details from it?
Gaining Background. Knowing a reading’s context, approach, or frame of reference can help you predict where the reading is likely to go and how it relates to other readings. Begin with your available resources:
- Do the syllabus, schedule, and class notes reveal why your instructor assigned the reading? What can you learn from reading questions, tips about what to watch for, or connections with other readings?
- Does your reading have a book jacket or preface, an introduction or abstract that sums it up, or reading pointers or questions?
- Does any enlightening biographical or professional information about the author accompany the reading?
- Can you identify or speculate about the reading’s original audience based on its content, style, tone, or publication history?
Skimming the Text. Before you actively read a text, skim it — quickly read only enough to introduce yourself to it. If it has a table of contents or subheadings, read those first to figure out what it covers and how it is organized. Read the first paragraph and then the first (or first and last) sentence of each paragraph that follows. Read the captions of any visuals.