Goals (in boldface) are presented very roughly in the order useful for reading and/or teaching. That is, the first concept (reading as hypothesis creation) comes before a concept like summarizing. Notice that some goals have no strategies. Instructors are invited to share the successful activities and assignments they devise to accomplish these goals.
Learn to read to create hypotheses and verify or modify them–that is, to learn to read for meaning
1. Begin a homework assignment in class. Ask them to start reading (to themselves). After a minute ask them to reflect on what they did. Some will have noticed the title; some won’t. Some will have read the bio; some won’t. Some may have skipped through the entire essay; some won’t. Discuss what these choices are about. Have them return to the text and read for another minute and repeat the process.
2. Begin a homework assignment in class. Ask them to read the first paragraph (aloud) and predict what the rest of the essay will be about. (Often students will be astonished that you think they should be able to do this and will need help.) Then read the next paragraph and ask them how their initial hypothesis holds up. Then read the first sentence of the next paragraph and ask them to predict what this paragraph will be about. Students enjoy this activity as a kind of game, where they can constantly check their “success.” You can also use it to learn how to skim. When they see that they can often predict what’s in the rest of the paragraph, they realize they can skim. Of course, the choice of essay will be crucial to the success of this activity.
3. After assigning a reading, give them ten minutes to identify the main idea of an essay they’ve never read before. Depending on whether they’ve understood #1 and #2 well, they’ll need assistance figuring out where to look. They write down their hunch and, before the next class, check out how well their hunch measured up.
Recognize part and whole in an essay
1. In class read an essay aloud and ask students where an essay’s introduction ends. It’s useful to have them articulate their reasoning as a way of discussing what the purpose of an introduction is. The same can be done after a reading assignment regarding the conclusion.
2. Have them read an essay with heads in it (there are lots in The Presence of Others) to introduce the concept that an essay has parts. Students can summarize each part for homework and, in class, talk about how each part contributes to the whole. Then have the read an essay without heads–or one with line-space break–and have them decide where the parts of the essay are and create heads. See part-whole exercise.
Summarize an essay
After students have identified all the parts to an essay (less than ten; often more like five or six), have them write a summary in just two to three (often complex) sentences that take into account all the parts. In class have them evaluate their summaries both for inclusiveness (adequately complex representation of text) and elegance (students can really get into revising a summary for elegance). This writing prepares them for using summaries to contextualize their use of cited material in their own essays.
Recognize key concepts
Show students a concept map that you have created, and discuss it with them, in advance of their reading an essay. See example of “mapping” Robert Scholes’s essay on how to read a video text:
Annotating the text
Have students highlight key points, write summary phrases, challenge the author, identify words or sections that confuse, say what the text reminds them of. This is useful preparation for parts/whole work and for summarizing. It can prepare for the double-entry journal and playing the believing and doubting games.
Double-entry journals, summary-response writing, key-idea response, paired-essay response
Understanding author’s purpose
Have them think about who the intended reader(s) might be as a way of approaching the author’s purpose and discuss how the author has constructed the essay in light of this purpose.
Reading the relationship of the author to subject and audience
Recognizing assumptions
Identifying all the perspectives represented in the essay–and the author’s position
Playing the believing and doubting game (Peter Elbow’s idea)
Reading as a writer
Have students identify the aspects of an essay they like and say why. This list becomes part of an ongoing list of criteria + text reference that you and the class can use for essay evaluation.