COMS 380.20 Reading tutorial

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COMS 380.20Reading tutorial
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Some causes of reading failure

• Misunderstanding the reading process experts
  readers are not speed readers experts also
  struggle with difficult texts but use practiced
  techniques to manage text difficulty and
  complexity
• Nut-shelling holding confusing passages in
  mental suspension, having faith all will make
  sense in due course
• Re-reading two or three times
• Asking questions and linking to other knowledge
  or experience

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Some causes of reading failure

• Failure to chunk material into discrete parts
  most scholarly writing is structured to help the
  reader break down the argument and/or narrative
  and digest it in parts sometimes this is done
  explicitly, as when authors write, for example
  This paper will first examine, . . Secondly,
  evidence will be given to support, . . . Third,
  scholarly writing opposed to this view will be
  summarized, . . . Etc.
• Students can leverage the reading effort by
  identifying which parts of the article are doing
  what.

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Some causes of reading failure

• 3. Failure to recognize rhetorical context
  scholarly writing not only often assumes subject
  familiarity and facility with the level of
  language used but also assumes readers know what
  discourse or conversation the readings is a part
  of
• Students can help overcome their lack of subject
  and language familiarity, though, by asking
  themselves what the reader is struggling to
  understand and/or convince the reader of. Try to
  make real to yourself that you are part of the
  conversation if you met this person at a party,
  what would you ask them about this topic?

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Tips for overcoming reading barriers

• Chunking Identify the main sections of the
  article -- what is introductory? What provides
  evidence? What section challenges or raises open
  questions?
• Rhetorical aspect what (problem, question,
  issue, insight, discovery, etc.) motivated the
  author to write this article? Of what is s/he
  trying to convince us?
• Whats the big idea? in most of our writings
  in COMS 380, there will be one or more big ideas
  put forward or explained. Try to find a bold
  claim, astounding fact, or provocative argument
  in each reading.