Main Post. According To The Walden Writing Center (2014),

What goes through your mind when you read? Do you read deliberately, looking for certain aspects, or do you read as a blank slate? When reading, professors expect a deliberateness that will help you to uncover meanings that are not readily apparent. Thomas C. Foster in his book “How to Read Literature Like a Professor” expands on this concept. He endeavors to instruct his readers in the way he believes they should read, in order to get the most out of each book. He concedes that, “When lay readers encounter a fictive text, they focus, as they should, on the story and the characters” but to truly read like a professor you must also divert a portion of your attention on

The moment we open our laptops or unlock our phones to look for answers for a worksheet we were given, or read a brief chapter summary instead of reading the novel, we automatically minimize the amount of information we could gain from the assignment and block out our own ideas. We live in a generation where ‘googling’ a difficult question is more common than legitimately trying to find a solution. Of course it is easier to not do the work, but when we don’t do it, we miss out on so much material. As stated in Source A, “…Weaver said she felt strangely drawn into the plot overview and continued on.” This source explains a situation about a student in college who show her appreciation for John Steinbeck literature, which would not have occurred if she would have merely read Spark Notes. Connecting an emotional bond to the pieces of literature we are assigned to read is one of the most beautiful experiences in the world. Unfortunately, a large proportion student will ever know that feeling. Instead, they will know Cliff Notes and Spark Notes. They will know websites that leave out vital details that help construct a book into its unique form. Source E shows an accurate example of this, as it demonstrates a web page featuring Cliff Notes, with a header at the top reading “READ LESS.” Consequently, however, we don’t just read less. We learn less

Go to Writing on the Run! to review the “Writing Process.” You may also want to review your English 11 Introduction Assignment for a tutorial on how to write a paragraph.

Reading Strategy Note: Unlike summary and paraphrase, which require close reading, for this discussion use the reading strategy of

Summary: Summarize the important aspects of the reading section in a minimum of five sentences. Use main points only, avoid including your personal opinions, and use attributive tags:

* Do a first reading that uses underlining, annotation, and summary to make sure you understand what the writer is saying. Go back to any sections that need clarification.

Instead of taking our time reading things deeply and thoroughly we tend to skim, this may leave out important information in an article. “Our ability to interpret text, to make rich mental connections that form when we read deeply and without distraction, remains largely

There is no doubt that we are quickly learning to read in a way so that we find only the information that is pertinent to us. Skimming is our way of adapting to the technology in front of us. According to Carr, reading nonlinearly and skimming greatly reduces our ability to think deeply. Carr argues that “What the Net diminishes is [Samuel] Johnson’s primary kind of knowledge: the ability to know, in depth, a subject for ourselves, to construct within our own minds the rich and idiosyncratic set of connections that give rise to a singular intelligence” (Carr, 143). Carr is right about skimming; when reading over something quickly we do not process what we are reading. There is no way for us to think critically about the piece we are reading without knowing all aspects of the text. We miss pieces that could give us a greater understanding. These are the reasons why we are going to lose the ability to read linearly and think deeply about the things we read.

I feel that the tools listed in the article “Read Like a Graduate Student, not a Mystery Fan” are going to help me immensely as I continue my course of education. The first chapter I read, for another course that I am currently enrolled in, I read from front to back like I would normally read a chapter for enjoyment. Upon completing the reading assignment, I felt like I had retained very little information. After reading the first discussion questions required for the course, I had to re-read portions of the first chapter in order to address the topics from discussion questions. I did not read the chapter from front to back but read the introduction, then the summary and finally the content. The second reading,

This article was mostly about ways to divided up an academic reading assignment and as she states "read smarter not harder". Karen Rosenberg starts off the beginning of the article by talking about how she did not fear reading heading in to college and then describing the troubles she faced when she began reading academic writings. She talks about dosing off and daydreaming during reading and how she thought she was just dumb for not being able to understand all the information. Then she discussed how she eventually figured out the key to reading an article. She came to the realization that is it as if you are joining in on a conversation when reading these academic readings. Realizing the author’s goals will help you understand the article

4).I can strongly relate to his claim, though I’ve struggled with reading and writing since I was little over time as I’ve aged mentally I’ve realized that I have developed an even harder time focusing on small details, I struggle when I see an article more than a few paragraphs, I too will skim it or only read half, just enough to get the rough idea of what the article entails. Carr’s article includes research and the research suggested” that visitors to the site skipped and skimmed over sources, and visitors to the site “typically read no more than one or two pages of an article or book before they would ‘bounce’ out to another site” (para. 7). Carr suggests this is evidence of our declining ability to concentrate on a single text and think deeply about issues, and he cites other scholars who worry that this approach to reading may negatively impact “[o]ur ability to interpret text, to make the rich mental connections that form when we read deeply and without distraction” (Wolf as cited in Carr, 2008,

The read/write learner is advised to: develop lists, make outlines, obtain study guides, take notes, and write words to the notes several times. It is also recommended to read notes silently, rewrite and paraphrase ideas into other words. Converting graphs, charts, and diagrams into worded statements help the student with a strong read/write preference to understand the meanings contained in the visual material. Meaning is found in words; therefore the student with a read/write learning preference should search for words that describe the meaning of a concept by breaking the concept into textual points. (Fleming, n.d.).

Deconstruction of a scholarly reading using such techniques as “SQ3R” are recommended to try and grasp the information. As for novels, the probability that one can read start through to finish, and fully grasp the intended message such as the storyline is high. Even an adept scholar in their chosen discipline would rarely be able to “just read through”

Reading is one of my favorite pastimes. I am a tuned-in Reader, and I appreciate well written biographies. Enjoyable reading takes my mind off school work and relaxes me. I enjoy academic reading as well, but sometimes it is intense and requires much concentration. Moreover, I am a tuned in reader when it comes to academic subject’s such as; psychology, nutrition, health and history.

According to (Critical literacy practices, 2011) “critical reading” is a type of literacy practice that is learning practice in which students analyze and critique language and power relationships within written texts. Many college freshmen are not prepared for critical reading, yet a lot of higher education organizations and levels do not require individual critical reading courses. Even though critical reading is an often-cited neutral topic in some different colleges structured reading courses. In many different colleges, at times, there is little to no research that exists that may also describe how composition instructors teach critical reading strategies. No matter the subject or the age of the reader. An overall reading goal for critical readers includes reading an article to comprehend information based on what was stated within the text. While readers read to gain understanding from the text, the readers also use additional information at times such as factual ideas, prior knowledge, and also context clues to understand the difficult text. There are many ways to become a “critical reader” which includes different types of reading strategies.