Reading Effectively - Part I

Education

So, your teacher or professor has given you a reading assignment, and he or she will most likely quiz or test you on the contents or require your response in a discussion in class.  You can either read the text in a half-ass manner and risk a poor grade or non-participation in the discussion or read effectively, resulting in a good grade and in solid contribution during discussion.  The following guide will help you to maximize your reading effectiveness.

Reading is a process that can be broken down into three parts:
Before Reading
During Reading
After Reading

Before you begin to read, you want to ask yourself the following questions:
1.  What do I want to know from the reading?
2.  What do I already know about the subject matter it treats?
3.  Why this particular text?
4.  What literary genre does the text fall under?
5.  What do I know about the author?

[Next week I will look at what you should do during reading].