Academic reading is a specific skill. It's a lot different than savoring your favorite novel or poem. It requires speed, precision, and critical thinking. But, once you acquire this skill, you'll be well-equipped for life as a student. Need help learning how to read academically? My mentor Kathleen Flake has just the tips for you!
(printed with permission from Kathleen Flake)
Academic material is not meant to be read. It is meant to be
ransacked and pillaged for essential content. This means that you
should never just sit down to read academic works as if they were
novels or magazine articles. Academic study is not suited to such
an approach, and the chances are you could spend hours reading
and then not have a clue what you have been reading about
(does that sound familiar?).
Rule #1
Never read without specific questions you want the text to
answer. If you want your reading to stay in your memory, you
must approach your text with a list of questions about the
particular information you are after, and search the text for the
answers to those questions. Don't just read with the hope that an
answer will appear.
Rule #2
Never start reading at page 1 of the text. If there is a summary, a
conclusion, a set of sub-headings, or an abstract, read that first,
because it will give you a map of what the text contains. You can
then deal with the text structurally, looking for particular points,
not just reading ‘‘blind'' and so easily getting lost. Always keep in
mind what you need, what is relevant to the question you are
asking the text.
Rule #3
Think critically as you read. In reading academic texts you need to develop a personal (but nevertheless academic and rational)
response to the article/ theory/ chapter through
(1) developing an
understanding of the content and
(2) evaluating and critiquing the
article. Therefore, before reading a text closely, read the
introduction or abstract and skim read the text to give you a
preliminary idea of what it is about. Then read it closely and
critically. Some questions to help you read critically are:
a. What are the main points of this text?
b. Can you put them in your own words?
c. What sorts of examples are used? Are they useful?
Can you think of others?
d. What factors (ideas, people, things) have been
included? Can you think of anything that has been
missed out?
e. Is a particular bias or framework apparent? Can you
tell what 'school of thought' the author belongs to?
f. Can you work out the steps of the argument being
presented? Do all the steps follow logically?
g. Could a different conclusion be drawn from the
argument being presented?
h. Are the main ideas in the text supported by reliable
evidence (well researched, non-emotive, logical)?
i. Do you agree or disagree with the author? Why?
j. What connections do you see between this and
other texts?
k. Where does it differ from other texts on the same
subject?
l. What are the wider implications——for you, for the
discipline?
Rule #4
Treat critical reading as a skill which can be developed through
practices, such as:
a. Taking notes of the text's main ideas and adding
your own responsive comments.
b. Talking to others about what you have read.
c. Relating a given text to others in the syllabus by
identifying similar or contrasting themes.
d. Explaining what the text means to a non-specialist
and noting what you would have to add to make it
intelligible? (This will help you to see the underlying,
unstated assumptions.)
e. Asking yourself: "Is it possible to disagree with any
of this?"
f. Asking yourself: 'How can I convince my
peers/teachers that I understand what this is about?'