Define Your Purpose for Reading What is your purpose for reading? If the best answer you can come up with is, “Because my teacher said I had to,” we need to uncover some better reasons. Reading a chapter just so you can say, “I finished my assignment” is relatively futile. You may as well put the book under a pillow and hope to absorb it by osmosis. Unless you identify some purpose for reading, you will find yourself flipping the pages of your textbooks while retaining little more than the chapter titles. According to reading experts, there are six fundamental purposes for reading: 1. To grasp a certain message. 2. To find important details. 3. To answer a specific question. 4. To evaluate what you are reading. 5. To apply what you are reading. 6. To be entertained. Find Other Textbooks if Necessary Few textbooks are written by what most of us would even remotely call professional writers. While the authors might well be experts, even legends, in their particular fields, writing in jargon-free, easy-to- grasp prose is probably not their strong suit. You will occasionally be assigned a textbook that is so obtuse you aren’t sure whether to read it front to back, upside down, or inside out. If you find a particular chapter, section, or entire textbook as tough to read as getting your baby brother to do you a favor, get to the library or a bookstore and find another book covering the same sub- ject area that you can understand. You might even consider asking your teacher or professor for recommendations. She will probably make your job of finding a readable text a lot easier. You may even score some brownie points for your seeming initiative (as long as you don’t wonder aloud what caused her to select that torturous text in the first place!). “Ron,” I hear you grumbling, “what happened to the ‘study smarter, not harder’ bit? This can’t possibly be a timesaver. Heck, I’ll bet the books don’t even cover the subject in the same way, let alone follow the same sequence! I’ll be stuck slogging through two books. Possibly. But if you just don’t get it, maybe it’s because the author just doesn’t know how to explain it. Maybe it’s not your fault! Too many students have sweated, moaned, dropped classes, even changed majors because they thought they were dumb, when it’s possible it’s the darned textbook that’s dense, not you. So instead of continuing to slog though the mire, find an expert who can actually write— they’re out there—and learn what you need to. If the other text finally helps you understand the subject, you’ll find the original textbook much easier to fathom...presuming you need it at all. Use the Clues in Each Chapter Begin with a very quick overview of the assignment, looking for questions that you’d like answered. Consider the following elements of your reading assignment before you begin your reading: Chapter titles and boldfaced subheads announce the detail about the main topic. And, in some textbooks, paragraph headings or boldfaced “lead-ins” announce that the author is about to provide finer details. So start each reading assignment by going through the chapter, beginning to end, reading only the boldfaced heads and subheads. Look for end-of-chapter summaries. Knowing what the author is driving at will help you look for the important building blocks for his conclusions while you’re reading. Most textbooks, particularly those in the sciences, will have charts, graphs, numerical tables, maps, and other illustrations. Be sure to observe how they supplement the text and what points they emphasise, and make note of these. In some textbooks, you’ll discover that key terms and information are highlighted within the body text. To find the definitions of these terms may then be your purpose for reading. Some textbook publishers use a format in which key points are emphasised by questions, either within the body of or at the end of the chapter. If you read these questions before reading the chapter, you’ll have a better idea of what material you need to pay closer attention to. If you begin your reading assignment by seeking out these heads, subheads, and other purpose-finding elements of the chapter, you’ll have completed your pre-reading step. I advise that you always pre-read every assignment. Three Ways to Read Depending on what you’re trying to accomplish in a particular reading assignment and the kind of book involved, there are three different ways to read. Knowing when to use each will make any assignment easier: 1. Quick reference reading focuses on seeking specific information that addresses a particular question or concern the reader might have. 2. Critical reading is used to discern ideas and concepts that require a thorough analysis. 3. Aesthetic or pleasure reading is for sheer entertainment or to appreciate an author’s style and ability.