Steps In Reading A Textbook Chapter

Reading Essays and Articles

Many professors ask you to read essays and/or articles as part of their course requirements. Before you begin these reading assignments, it's important that you know your instructor's purpose, or reason, for
assigning these readings. Some general purposes are listed below:

To complete a written assignment based on the material.
To answer test questions on the reading(s) (if this is the case, know if the questions will be multiple choice, short answer, essay, etc.).
To participate in a class discussion of the reading selection.

After knowing the general purpose, try to determine a more specific purpose for reading the assigned material. For example, in addition to knowing the main points of the reading, you may also be asked to analyze the information in one or more of the following ways:

What is the significance of the information?
What effect or impact does this have on _______?
How do authors' points of view differ on this topic?
What claims is the author making?

Knowing the instructor's general and specific purposes will help determine what information to focus on while you read as well as the reading strategy you will use. For example, if you need to know the effect(s) of an event or action on something else, you may want to highlight the information when you encounter it or make a note of it in the margin. Then, when you refer to the material again, the relevant information will be easily apparent and you won't have to read the entire assignment again. To further guide your reading of essays and articles, you may want to use the form below.

Try it! Click here to view a Template for Interpreting Essays and Articles.

Susan Ziegert, University of Wisconsin – Waukesha, Reading Essays and Articles