Reading For College Success

1. Reading For College Success Final Exam Review

2. Main Ideas and Summarization • Discovering the main idea will not only assist you in reading, but in understanding what others are saying as well. • It was a dark autumn night. The old banker was pacing from corner to corner of his study, recalling to his mind the party he gave in the autumn fifteen years before. There were many clever people at the party and much interesting conversation. They talked among other things of capital punishment. The guests, among them not a few scholars and journalists, for the most part disapproved of capital punishment. They found it obsolete as a means of punishment, unfitted to a Christian State and immoral. Some of them thought that capital punishment should be replaced universally by life-imprisonment. • "I don't agree with you," said the host. "I myself have experienced neither capital punishment nor life-imprisonment, but if one may judge a prior [without studying the situation], then in my opinion capital punishment is more moral and more humane than imprisonment. Execution kills instantly, life-imprisonment kills by degrees. Who is the more humane executioner, one who kills you in a few seconds or one who draws the life out of you incessantly [constantly, without stopping], for years?” • Write a summary stating the main idea. Give supporting details. [Ask yourself important questions.]

3. Clues within the text, summarizing, shrinking paragraphs & note-taking styles • Some clues within the text are: • Fine Print • Standouts: Bold Print, italics, key words and phrases, headings Summarize the text using what you know about the mainidea and contextclues. Another way to say summarize is_______________. Shrinking paragraphs involves _________________. When taking notes, you should write down only ______________ information. There are several types of note-taking styles. List types include:___________________________. Thought bubbles/webs, Column notes and double entry journals, and outlines

4. Organizational Patterns • Chronological {How do you know?} • Compare/Contrast • _________ & ________ {Why? ~ Result} • Authors write so that the reader can make mental images in their minds. This is author’s intent or the “why” the author is writing. • Understanding organizational patterns will help you understand the author’s intent as well as the main idea. • Less complicated organizational patterns include: classification:events or facts broken down into smaller subjects and then described based on their individual topics order of importance: also known as "climactic order," spatial: events explained based on where they happened

5. Tone & Bias • Tone: emotion words, express a feeling Peaceful Tragic Anxious Excited Secretive Cruel Outspoken Sarcastic Amused Comic Joyous Nervous Critical Matter-of-fact Alarmed Desperate Forgiving Depressed Cheerful Straightforward Sentimental Informal Sympathetic Nauseated Light-hearted • Bias: generally means that the author prefers one thing over another, and the writer's preference shows in the passage. • Look for the tone words to help you identify the bias. • How do connotations assist you?

6. Inference • Inference is a useful skill that can help you learn the definition of words through context, or understand the meanings of passages through foreshadowing or predicting events and outcomes. • By looking at the words you understand in a text, you may be able to infer the meaning of a word you do not understand. This is known as using context clues. • By closely examining a text and continually asking yourself questions, you may be able to infer what has happened or what is about to happen in a story. These clues are known as foreshadowing. • Using inferential skills means making predictions, asking questions, and understanding context clues. • Authors frequently place clues throughout their stories to prepare you for what is going to happen next. This is known as foreshadowing, and it can help you make educated predictions about the story you are reading. • Context clues, Predictions, Critical Thinking, & Questioning

7. Inference What is being inferred?

8. Connotation, Denotation & Allusion • Connotations and allusions are useful to observe when you are making inferences. • Many words have two kinds of meanings: connotations and denotations. • Denotations are simply the dictionary meanings of words. An easy way to remember this is that "d" is for "dictionary." • An allusion is something an author includes to refer to something else. This can be another work or an event of historical or cultural significance. Authors often use them for foreshadowing or to indicate important information to the reader. It is up to you to recognize the allusion and understand how it relates to the overall message of the story. This is known as an allusion. Ask yourself: What connotations did the author include? Are there any allusions in this text? Understanding connotations and allusions will help you make educated predictions that will increase your overall understanding.

9. Hidden Hints in Writing Authors may include descriptions of items, places, and people to give you clues about what the story means or what is about to happen. These are known as "happening hints," and there are three main types that you should understand: Structural hints: use tone and special punctuation to provide clues for the reader. Look for any special punctuation or words that have a contradictory tone to the rest of the piece. Setting hints: give important information about the location. Very often the setting in a story provides clues about what is going to happen or what is truly going on for a character. Descriptive hints are places where the author goes into detail about something that may seem unrelated to the rest of the story. When an author takes time to tell you about an item or to show you an event, that usually means it is important in some way.