Reading and comprehension , Te pānui me te aroā

Skimming involves quickly viewing a section of text to get a general impression of the author's main argument, themes or ideas. There are 3 types of skimming: preview, overview and review.

Preview skimming

You preview to learn about the ideas presented and the structure of their development. Use preview skimming when:

• selecting a book
• surveying a chapter before reading or studying
• finding appropriate material for use in research
• sorting through correspondence before answering it.

A second skim or thorough read will often follow preview skimming.

Method

Read the first paragraph, the headings and the first sentences of paragraphs and sections.

Overview skimming

Use overview skimming to sample the reading material more thoroughly than in a preview – you may not intend to read the material at a later time.

Method

As you do in preview skimming, you would read the first paragraph, the headings and the first sentences of paragraphs and sections. In addition, as you alternately read and skim, you alert yourself to the structure and content of the material through an awareness of paragraph patterns, thought transitions and clue words.

This awareness will help you to understand the content, to recall more information, and to see relationships more clearly and quickly.

Review skimming

Use review skimming to re-familiarise yourself with material you previously read thoroughly or skimmed.

Method

Prepare yourself by trying to remember as many ideas as possible and details clearly. You may grasp the main ideas and only stop primarily to note significant information, such as names, places and terms. You may be trying to establish in your mind a sequence of events or a procedure, or you may be attempting to fill in a skeleton outline to clarify the structure of the whole.

Familiarity with the material will enable you to skim over much of it, stopping only when necessary.

Skimming a journal article

If you're skimming a shorter selection, such as an article, you'd spend less time on your preview. You might:

• read the abstract when starting to review the article
• read the first and last paragraphs
• read the headings
• read a sentence or 2 under each heading
• glance over the rest of each of the paragraphs
• look at tables and figures.

You may encounter selections in which the headings give little information. In such cases, you might need to read the first sentence of every paragraph. As in previewing a book, you should always be alert to typographical aids, illustrations and captions. Often, an author will end a selection or chapter with a summary.

Skimming a book

Previewing or skimming a book is accomplished by:

• checking a title and author
• reading the preface and dust cover report on the author
• checking the content – look at the index, examine chapter titles and look for a summary
• thumbing through the book and stopping occasionally to skim paragraphs.

Observe the arrangement and length of the paragraphs. Long paragraphs may elaborate on a key thought. Short paragraphs may expect readers to link separate ideas.

Reading a paragraph or 2 will reveal how the author puts their thoughts together.

• Are they analytical and methodical, or do they ramble and reiterate?
• Are they accurate and thorough, or is their writing superficial or vague?

At this point, make preliminary judgements about the author's purpose. Are they writing to inform, to prove a point, to share an experience, to describe a procedure or something else?

Scanning differs from skimming in that you search through the material for a specific purpose or a specific word or its synonym:

• finding the answer to a question
• seeking an appropriate quotation reference or statement
• locating names in a directory, words in a dictionary, prices in a catalogue.

When you scan, you cover only as much of the content as is necessary to accomplish your purpose.

Method

• Fix clearly in your mind what you are looking for.
• Anticipate how the information will look.
• Run your finger down the middle of the page or backwards and forwards across the page, and let your eyes follow as you seek the particular target.

Examples

• Looking for names, places or titles: scan for the visual clue of capital letters.
• Looking for distances or a date: scan for the visual clue provided by numbers or words such as miles, metres, minutes or hours.
• Looking for an idea: anticipate the words used to state it.
• Looking for a relationship: scan for expressions followed by such clue words as ‘thus’, ‘consequently’ or ‘as a result’.

When scanning for information, use the method above until you find it, then read as much as you need to answer your question.

Scanning a journal article

Scan an article when you're looking for a table or figure or the answer to a question.

Many articles will have an abstract and list of keywords at the beginning of the article, so read these sections to see if your keywords or concepts are in them. If it is, continue scanning the document. If it's not, try another keyword.

Scan the:

• introduction and conclusion
• headings, for example, the methodological section.

If you find a section of text containing your keyword or concept, read a couple of sentences before and after it.

Scanning a book

When scanning a book, there are different steps to follow depending on your purposes, such as looking for a table, figure or an answer to a question. If you don't have physical access to the book, try searching for it on the Massey Library EBSCO search or on the internet using Google Books or Amazon. These websites may have a scanned copy of the table of contents or a link to reviews that do.

Massey Library EBSCO search

Google Books

Amazon

Scanning a book in 3 steps

1. Check the book's table of contents or table of figures.
   Some books contain separate tables for figures and tables.
2. Read the chapter headings in the table of contents.
   If you find the keyword or concept here, go to the chapter and read the chapter introduction and the first couple of paragraphs. If it appears that the keyword or concept is covered, continue reading. If you are not sure after reading these parts, check if there is a chapter summary or read the last 2 paragraphs. If the keyword or concept you're looking for is not in the table of contents, go to the next step.
3. Search the index for topics or keywords.
   If you find the keyword or concept in the index, go to the appropriate page or pages in the book. Scan the page for the idea and then read the paragraphs above and below the paragraph containing the keyword or concept.

The purpose of this style is to understand the concepts and (or) arguments that the text contains. Do in-depth reading after skimming the text. Once you have a good overview of the article or book, read it in-depth and take careful notes, including the full reference information.

In-depth reading is used to:

• gain deeper meaning and comprehension of a text
• research detailed information for an assignment
• read difficult sections of a text.

There are 4 different strategies or methods that should enhance your comprehension: the RAP strategy, the RIDA strategy, the Five S method, and SQ3R.

The RAP strategy

The RAP strategy is good for textbook explanations and research articles:

Read a paragraph or a section.

Ask yourself some questions about what you have just read.

Put the answers in your own words and make notes if needed.

You can use this strategy whenever reading a difficult passage or when you find your comprehension wandering from the page. By taking your eyes off the page and making yourself reflect on the meaning of what you have just read, you can develop the ability to recall and retell yourself the information along with its relevant importance and where it fits with other information on the topic.

You may be able to say such things as: 'Okay this section is about … and the author has made three main points which are … and … There was an example about … and the last point was that …'

The RIDA strategy

The RIDA strategy relates to descriptive and narrative texts:

Read.

Imagine the scene you have just read about.

Describe it to yourself.

Add more detail as you read.

This strategy makes you reflect on the details about places, people, actions and events and create a picture based on the words and style of language used by an author. You can note which imagery has the most powerful effects and add your reactions as margin notes.

Note-taking while reading

The Five S method

The Five S method is a power-reading method that reminds students to use the appropriate reading style and save time.

Skim: Read the introduction, summary and first and last sentences of each paragraph.

Scan: Where is the information on …?

Select: Do you need to read all this chapter? Select sections that you need to know more about.

Slurp: Read in-depth and more slowly selected sections. Can you tell yourself about this concept now? Read again if necessary.

Summarise: Use a map, keywords, index cards or questions as a framework for some notes. Take no more than 10 minutes.

Source: Power learning: A student's guide to success (Massey Library login required)

SQ3R

Survey: Skim through the material you're about to read, noting headings, sub-headings, tables or figures. This step gives you a general overview of the material you're about to read.

Question: Ask yourself some questions about the material while reading: use the section or chapter headings, questions at the end of a chapter or reading objectives from study guides.

Read: Read the material using a slow, in-depth reading style. Pause frequently to answer any questions you raise and then read on. Read with a pencil to make margin notes or underline important words or phrases, for example definitions. Read all of the material, including charts and tables.

Recite: Make notes from memory on the sections you've just read. Try to recall the main headings and concepts.

Review: Check your notes against the section you read and add anything important you missed. Put an asterisk (*) by these points so that you attend to them when you go through these notes the next time. Repeat the review process several times.

Note-taking while reading

While past, present and future tenses are easy to identify, and their meaning is obvious and interpreted automatically, you can gain additional information by analysing the use of the progressive (or imperfect) tenses.

These verb forms convey details about whether an action is continuous, complete or incomplete, in progress or habitual.

Identifying these tenses and the accompanying meaning of the tense will improve your academic reading.

Identifying verb tense and meaning

Words can take on different meanings depending on the words they're associated with in a certain context. In the following combinations, the word blue takes on a different meaning because of the noun it's describing.

• Blue moon (a rare event)
• Blue blood (nobility)
• Blue collar (manual labour)
• Feeling blue (sadness)

Because of these common connections between words, the presence of some words can help you infer more information about others.

For example, in the sentence 'The Limburger had a rancid smell', the word rancid implies that Limburger is a dairy product since rancid is usually used instead of rotten or bad to describe butter, cheese or milk. We do not usually say rancid houses, wine, vegetables or fruit.

Some words are paired together so often they carry a complex set of meanings that invites significant debate. Contemporary examples are:

• global warming
• fast fashion
• artificial intelligence
• big pharma
• fake news.

Instances also exist where a writer has used an unexpected combination of words, and this can interrupt the flow of reading as you decide on the intent of the author's choice of words.

Different types of writing may use different types of imagery. If you're studying the arts, you'll frequently find and need to analyse the meanings of these forms of writing. Metaphors, similes, personification and analogies are probably the most common and are used to create comparisons.

In academic writing, the most common is the use of analogy. Authors liken the (abstract) concepts or models they're explaining to real life or more common experiences so their readers can use the structure or sequence to understand the new theoretical construct.

Authors use other writing features to create tone or additional effects and meaning. Examples include:

• allegory
• irony
• assonance
• alliteration.

As with imagery, you must determine the reasons for and effects of different features.

• Author's purpose and intent.
• Author's assumptions.
• The effect of the author's choice of evidence.
• The completeness of the author's information.
• The effectiveness of their choice of sources (of evidence).
• Reasons for ambiguity.
• The bias (if any).
• The presence of stereotyping or propaganda.
• Judgements about events.
• Judgements about characters and their motivations.
• Reasons for and effects of literary devices.

Critical thinking and reading

Source: Basic marketing: A managerial approach (Massey Library login required)

This example is from a history book on Māori newspapers in the 19th century. The paragraph introduces a section of the book which overviews newspapers written in Māori. At first reading, the paragraph simply discloses what seems to be a brief history of this newspaper. However, a closer reading of this paragraph will show how the language used is intended to convey the author's meaning.

Source: Colonial discourses: Niupepa Maori 1855-1863 (Massey Library login required)

Questions and analysis

The first sentence of this paragraph provides the topic that this paragraph will discuss/enlarge on/provide evidence for. In other words, it says that Te Karere Maori was a newspaper written in Māori by the New Zealand government of the time. Here is your first comprehension cue: why would a government publish a newspaper in the Māori language? Who is its intended audience? Whose point of view is it likely to be presenting?

The second sentence of the paragraph states that this newspaper 'forms part of a larger genealogy'. In other words, the newspaper has a history linking back to an earlier government newspaper for Māori that appeared in 1842. Understanding this sentence quickly is partly dependent on knowing that the word 'genealogy' means a line of descent from a common ancestor. The author uses the words 'having descended from the government's original Te Karere o Niu Tirene which first appeared in 1842' to emphasise his meaning. This may lead you to ask why this is significant. As 1842 is mentioned does it relate in any way to the 3 articles of the Treaty of Waitangi?

The rest of paragraph goes on to describe the various forms of the paper. The third sentence suggests that Te Karere Maori was the most significant of the Māori-language newspapers, but this raises questions for the reader as the passage does not give many reasons for this. We are told it appeared monthly or two-monthly from 1855 to 1863 and that it was written in Māori and English. Why do you suppose this was? What else was happening in New Zealand at the time? For example, would its significance relate to the discontent among many Māori about increasing pressure to dispose of their land to the government? Did the settler-led parliament set up in the 1850s and increased immigration have anything to do with this? Answers to these questions could well be found further on in this book, or you may have already read material that explores these issues.

The final sentence in this paragraph gives 1 last point – that despite name changes – 'in reality, its content and management displayed a seamless continuity'. What do the words 'content and management' imply? What do you understand by 'a seamless continuity'? Why does the author use the word 'rebranded'? Notice that although the author is writing about something that happened a long time ago, very contemporary (business) language is used. Is this important? This last sentence also carries a strong inference from the author not only about the way this newspaper was written, but also how the title may have been changed to accommodate the changing attitudes of its readers. So, who was reading this newspaper and why? Who were the most literate people among Māori in the 1840s? 1850s? 1860s?

From this paragraph readers can learn not only that there was a Māori newspaper called Te Karere Maori, but also who wrote it. They will understand that during the 1850s and early 1860s this newspaper took on a greater importance than its earlier versions. They will also learn that the newspaper was printed in English and Māori, and that although the content of the paper did not change much (in the author's opinion), the title, for some reason, did. Who the intended audience was, and why the newspaper was produced on behalf of the government is implied but not stated.

This paragraph, therefore, assumes a certain amount of prior knowledge of nineteenth century New Zealand history on the part of its readers.

The following passage from fiction, although written by an academic, is intended for a general audience. In particular, the author is using a style of writing that is not in general use today but is creatively designed to enhance the plot and setting of its characters.

Source: The lord of the rings: The two towers

Questions and analysis

Can you detect the way in which the sentences in this paragraph are written? In academic writing for an academic audience today, we tend to write sentences in the following order:

• subject
• verb
• object
• adverbial phrase.

However, a closer reading of the paragraph shows that in many of the sentences this order is reversed. For example, the second sentence places the adverbial phrase (describing when something happened) first, before the subject (they). Similarly, the third sentence also follows this grammatical format. What is the effect of this structure – what do we find out about the hobbits and their feelings? Note that we can easily infer some of these feelings as we, too, will at times have been unable to speak because we have been running so much or our concentration is elsewhere.

Look also at the imagery of light in the text: cloud and fitful sun, fire that burned, contrasted with cool sunlight, wide solitude, and grey green fields. Contrast this with images of strength: they hardly paused, not striding, now running, no weariness, new strength. The words 'wide solitude' and 'the gift of lembas' suggest that without the latter, they would be lucky to survive their journey. All of this imagery implies that their journey is dangerous and difficult. What meaning do adjectives such as 'elvish' and 'elven' imply? And note we can infer that the gift of lembas too seems to have a magical quality.

If you were using material from Tolkien's novel as an example in an essay for an English assignment on the topic of fiction, you might do so in the following way. The imagery and sentence construction (syntax) would be important to demonstrate how Tolkien uses this to provide the ancient setting for the flight of the group of hobbits across a barren plain and to describe how they felt while doing so. 

The writing style of many textbooks and journal articles is a more formal academic language with subject-specific jargon. The following example consists of 2 sentences from a sociological book review that you can only understand if you already know or can deduce what the terms encompass.

Source: Gramsci, realism and revolution

Learn what specific terms mean

Throughout the semester, each new paper introduces terminology you need to learn. Identify new words in the study guides and texts and work on assimilating them fully into your vocabulary.  

Learning new terms requires time and effort. Maintain a glossary of new terms throughout the semester instead of attempting to learn them before a test or exam, so your understanding of the readings will improve, and reading will take less time. 

Learn terms that describe schools of thought, such as post-modernism, Marxism, epistemological, positivism, empiricism, structuralism and ideation.

You may also include more specific terms such as paradigm, standard deviation, discursive, eclectic, cognitive, hegemony, critique, linguistic and many other words that abound more in academic writing than everyday writing. If you cannot understand the definition in your text, search elsewhere – don't give up.

Some textbooks are more user-friendly than others. Titles, subtitles and margin notes will hint at the author's meaning. However, some complex sentences need to be carefully and deliberately deconstructed for the full inter-connectedness of the message to be clear.

Understanding the construction of paragraphs can help you sort out the information and identify the important points.

How to write body paragraphs

This may occur because the combination of words is unusual and unexpected. You may worry that the picture you get may not be the interpretation the author intended.

Additionally, you need to realise that when an author uses words that belong to a set, it's a metaphor for their approach to an issue. The metaphor gives you information on the writer's values and assumptions and a clue to their construct of the concept.

For example, the descriptive language of literacy campaigns is often in medical or military terms. Authors will write that millions of people are 'victims' of an 'epidemic' and that the 'disease' of illiteracy must be stamped out; people's learning problems are 'diagnosed', and they may go to a 'clinic' for assessment and a 'curative programme'. Using the military metaphor, groups will declare 'war' on illiteracy, and 'campaigns' will be 'strategically' placed for 'target' populations so that this threat to the country is 'conquered'.

Critical reading includes deciphering the inferred meaning of the author's words and understanding the surface meaning.

Critical thinking and reading

Some disciplines, for example, law, adhere to writing in a particular style. You may tend to postpone doing such reading because it is difficult. However, if you give it a go and read the examples, you become familiar with the type of language, for example, the language used in laws and acts, and you get used to the structure of the writing.

Use the RAP comprehension strategy where this type of writing is a problem:

• Start reading each sentence and decode it by putting its meaning into everyday language, then move on to the next sentence.
• Persevere.

Each time you do this, you will find you are getting used to the language and structure, and the barrier the discipline's language poses will disappear.