Losing Context While Reading? Up Your Game With These Techniques

Reading of any kind has a purpose, ranging from education to entertainment and a lot more. Depending on the purpose, styles vary. This doesn’t mean that readers who follow one style stick to it regardless of their requirements or the situation they’re in. Just as we’re adaptable as humans, we carry on the same quality here as well. There could be many styles, but this article explores the scope of the ones that highlight the wide range of readers who exist.

Skimming is often regarded as a superficial activity across different parts of a text. If the reading material is a book, it involves flipping through the contents, introduction of chapters, prologue and/or epilogue if it has one, summary, reviews, the book cover, and author bio. This act of eyeing the contents at a glance may not always render the reader as someone who’s only a skimmer. It could either be their style or a stage in reading as they get involved gradually, going into further details.

Scanning is characterized by a focus on specific parts of a text with deep concentration, as readers could summarize or outline parts that they can later return to. Looking for key points leads them to attentively comprehend what they think are the highlights. Keen observation is a prerequisite. Reasons for scanning could be a shortage of time or based on their needs and the kind of motivation they have. It’s regarded as preferential reading, where readers work with selective portions of a text.

Extensive/Detailed Reading is a meticulous process where the idea is to absorb the words the reader comes across. Some of them look up word meanings to aid their understanding of the text. Barely missing out on anything, they read from cover to cover. They follow some techniques to remember better. The purpose could be research, critical analysis, an examination, or solely for value addition. At times, while writing an answer, one may turn to this approach, as the substantial inputs picked up along the way make their work more exhaustive. What sets it apart from critical reading is the lack of a preview and a review.

Critical Reading begins with a preview of the text, mandatorily involving background research. For fiction, a largely necessary part of it is composed of historical settings and social situations, wherever relevant. This builds up a premise over which subsequent activities stand strong. Participating in this stage elevates the reading experience, which elicits a mindful response later. Readers become sensitive and respectful towards the issues they come across. They could form questions about some topics, which could be answered when they get to reading.

The second stage is extensive reading, which you’re already familiar with. A revision is soon to follow if needed, wherein readers can revisit specific parts. Outlining commences when a reading ends or it nears its completion. Themes, genres, and, in the case of fiction, characters are outlined based on their traits and behaviours. Retention of the central idea and setting are some of the details that one goes into. Once reading between the lines has been attempted, summarising steps in. It causes the reader to think and, hence, must take place when a sufficient portion of the text has been covered.

The final stage, i.e., post-reading, is characterized by readers’ feedback, where they too express their responses. For it to happen, they need to understand the author’s arguments well. It follows a route for evaluating claims and support in terms of appropriateness, believability, and consistency within the text. Its credibility is put to the test, which comprises correctness, semi-permanent or permanent relevance, the author’s knowledge, efforts, and style. Extensive analysis of the text ends with feedback. Readers often put their knowledge to the test in an academic scenario, be it for examinations, term papers, lectures, presentations, conducting surveys, and so on. Part of this stage is also finding answers to the queries that previously came to their minds. Sometimes the reading material becomes a point of discussion, say in a book club where the content of the text sparks up conversations that lead to an exchange of ideas.

As promised, here are a few techniques to support your reading journey, especially when you engage with the content at length. Annotations could be your friend too, if you just took a step forward. One kind refers to available annotations in the form of word/phrase meanings in a glossary, present alongside the text. The other kind, i.e., self-annotating, is where readers create cues and make the best use of certain tools, easing their extensive reading process.

• Underlining/encircling keywords and making notes in empty spaces enables picking out elements from the text for emphasis and retention.

• A dictionary bridges the gap between written words and the reader’s understanding of it as reading and comprehension take place simultaneously.

• Keeping a notebook allows readers to jot down necessary details. Making use of Highlighters, Markers, and Coloured ink adds prominence. For utmost visual impact, the brightness must not affect visibility.

Some methods to go about it are:

• Cornell’s method: A page is divided into two columns while substantial space is left at the bottom. Key ideas, themes, and character traits find their place on the left-hand side while major points discussed in the text leading to accurate summarisation find their place on the right-hand side. The space below is left for paraphrasing and/or summarising.

• Jeff’s method: An innovative and slightly specific approach, it makes use of two columns. The left-hand side contains the reader’s analysis and opinions whereas the right-hand side, having the author’s views and ideas, is devoid of the reader’s evaluation/judgement.

• Marginalia method: As the name suggests, margins are utilized to make a note of all things important. Symbols, flowcharts, or other forms of representation are equally effective as one glance at it prompts easy recall for readers.

Gone are the days when you ended up losing context while you read. With these techniques up your sleeve, ace your skills like a pro.