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Module 2.3 - Reading Revolution - New Thinking
Visualizing
Learning Objectives: When you finish Mod 2.3 you should be able
to answer the following questions:
How does visualization enhance comprehension and efficiency?
How do I identify the author's topic and main idea?
What
are patterns of organization?
How does the ability to quickly identify the author's pattern of
organization help to make me a more efficient reader?
How
does visualization enhance comprehension and efficiency?
Just
how and why should you be concerned with developing your visualization
muscle? When
you read a good book, can you picture in your mind's eye what
the characters look like and what they are doing? Most likely
so. That is what visualization is. With speed reading, the
visualization must be developed to a greater degree. This takes
effort. For some people this is difficult. But everyone can get
better with practice.
Following is one exercise that may help:
Open your current independent reading book. Let's say you see
the word 'house.' Can you picture a house? [I can] What color is
it? [I picture a cabin; it is brown with green trim]. Does
it have a lawn? [Not mine; it's in the mountains] Do you smell
any smells? [Yes, I can smell smoke from the fireplace] Can you
hear any sounds? [Yes, the sound of someone chopping wood] The
more detail you can imagine in the picture that you build in
your mind, the more alive and real the story becomes. Sure, you
are filling in some gaps in the story, but most people do that
anyway. As you add more pictures to the story, it becomes a movie in your mind.
Your ability to visualize well, will determine your reading
speed. People who have difficulty visualizing don't achieve
great speeds. Great visualizers achieve phenomenal results.
Visualization is a great tool for helping you to quickly
"see" what writer had in mind and will aid in
retention as well. Follow this link to read more about developing
your visualization muscle; this site will tell you what you
might have in common with Einstein as well as give you more
exercises for practicing visualizing.
OK,
but how, you ask, can I use visualization to help me get through
my anthropology textbook with greater speed, comprehension, and
retention? In
Module 2.2 you were advised to read
for ideas and concepts, to visualize as you read, and to
picture in your
mind an outline or graphic representation (map) of the
author's main idea, significant details, and how they are
organized. In the case of college level textbook reading, most
often you will be picturing not movies, but organizational maps
of concepts.
How do I identify the author's topic and main idea?
An
author's topic is the subject she is writing about, and her main
idea is the main point she wants to make about that subject. She
will support her main idea with examples, illustrations,
evidence, logic, reasoning, etc. Many of you have been
practicing this skill for years and have developed it to the
point of automatic identification and understanding.
If
you need further review and practice, consult these resources:
What
are patterns of organization?
Patterns
of organization are also called rhetorical modes or
structural patterns. The authors of 100 Passages use the
term "comprehension
analysis" for the process of identifying the way the
writer has organized the ideas she want to communicate. This is
similar to outlining or taking structured notes as you read or
listen to a lecture. With enough practice you will be able to
mentally outline or build a graphic organizer in your mind as
you read even expository text that may be difficult but is
structured, i.e., the author did follow a certain pattern when
organizing the information to be conveyed.
Some
of the most common writing patterns textbook authors use are:
- illustration
or example
- definition
- comparison
or contrast
- sequence
of events
- cause
and effect
- description
As
you complete Activity #2.3 you will be
given more detailed descriptions of each of these patterns and
practice in analyzing paragraphs and passages from college level
texts.
Activity
#2.3 - Patterns of Organization
Read
"Reading for Main Ideas: Paragraph Patterns" pages
81-87 in DRV. In practice B-1 (pg. 87-90), answer the questions
for paragraphs 1, 3, 4, 9, and 10. In practice B-2 (pgs. 91-95), complete all the
exercise passages. Check your answers against the DRV answer key
in lab, and leave this work in your lab folder to receive
credit for this required activity.
How
does the ability to quickly identify the author's pattern of
organization help to make me a more efficient reader?
The
technique of identifying the structure and organizing
information into categories that make sense helps focus the
reader on the important ideas and the details that support those
ideas within the text. Readers rarely achieve 100% comprehension
and retention, especially readers of the dense, expository text
often found in college textbooks. If you know you will not
remember everything in the textbook chapter you've been
assigned, it only makes sense to choose to focus your
comprehension and retention on the most important information.
"Getting on the same wave length" with the author and
following her pattern of organizing the information helps you to
make the distinction between the important main ideas you need
to remember and the insignificant minor details or examples.
This can save you a great deal of time because you can learn to
modify your reading rate to slow down and study read when
necessary, but then to speed through the less pertinent
details, examples, or illustrations and the information already
stored in long term memory.
A
bonus idea: Use these patterns to help you organize and
communicate your thoughts more effectively in your own writing.
Your professors will appreciate a well-organized response to
essay questions on exams. Professors read a lot of student
essays and really appreciate being able to quickly determine
that you have indeed understood and learned the required
information and concepts.
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MODULE
2.3 - READING REVOLUTION - NEW
THINKING