Guidelines for active reading
Familiarize yourself with the basic features and structure of a text
- What kind of text are you reading? An essay? An editorial? A scholarly article? An advertisement? A photograph?
- What is the author’s purpose? To inform? To persuade? To call to action?
- Who is the audience? How does the author attempt to appeal to the audience?
- What is the author’s thesis? What question does the text attempt to answer?
- What evidence does the author provide to support the thesis?
Note details that surprise, puzzle, or intrigue you
- Has the author revealed a fact or made a point that runs counter to what you had assumed was true? What exactly is surprising?
- Has the author made a generalization you disagree with? Can you think of evidence that would challenge the generalization?
- Are there any contradictions or inconsistencies in the text?
- Are there any words, statements, or phrases in the text that you don’t understand? If so, what reference materials do you need to consult?
Read and reread to discover meaning
- What do you notice on a second or third reading that you didn’t notice earlier?
- Does the text raise questions that it does not resolve?
- If you could address the author directly, what questions would you pose? Where do you agree and disagree with the author? Why?
Apply critical thinking strategies to visual texts
- What first strikes you about the image? What elements do you notice immediately?
- Who or what is the main subject of the image?
- What colors and textures dominate?
- What is in the background? In the foreground?
- What role, if any, do words play in the visual text?