READING THOUGHTFULLY

by Jan Christensen

" Reading is to the mind what exercise is to the body." - Joseph Addison

For this issue of Mysterical-e I'm going to discuss ways to enhance your reading skills and enjoyment. I'll talk about speed reading, annotating text and outlining, reviewing what you're read, and keeping a reading journal. So, if one or two or however many subjects don't interest you, I hope at least another one will, and feel free to skip to it. (I won't mind. Really.)

Let's start with speed reading because if you learn to speed read, obviously, you'll be able to read more in the same amount of time, and then you'll have more time for reviewing and keeping a reading journal. Plus reading, of course.

SPEED READING

The idea of reading faster appeals to lots of people, but speed reading seems like a trick, or magic. You'll only know if you try it for awhile. The average college student reads fiction and non-technical materials at between 200 and 350 words per minute (wpm). But the reading speed that is considered “good” should be around 500 to 700 wpm or more. Other people can read 1,000 wpm or even faster. It appears that slow (or word-by-word) reading prevents thorough understanding of the material.

WHAT IT TAKES:

Desire to improve

Willingness to try new techniques

Practice

WHAT IT AIMS FOR:

Faster reading, obviously

Increase in comprehension

Improve focus

Improve recall

Cut down study time for students

TERMS:

Some teachers insist you use a guiding pointer or meta guider --an index card, a finger or your whole hand--to guide your eyes across and down a page at an even speed and rhythm. You can either pace down the center of the page in a slow and even movement with the card; or use your hand, pen or fingertips in underline fashion from left to right; or you can use the guide to quickly go from line to line, the eye being drawn from one group of words to another. Your eyes instinctively follow motion, and the movement of your guiding pointer keeps your eyes moving forward. That said, many speed reading instructors warn against using a pointer because they believe it inhibits the process. So, your choice--do whatever you find most comfortable. I think the guiding pointer would distract me, but others may find it useful.

Subvocalization is the process of saying each individual word to yourself as you read. This cannot get you past the speed of your ability to talk--somewhere around 200+ words a minute.

Chunking is reading groups of words by scanning left, center, right. You take in three to four words at a time. Doing this helps eliminate subvocialization because it distorts the sounding-out of words.

To learn to chunk, pick a page and draw two vertical lines down the page. The lines should cut off the first two words and last two words in each line of writing (approximately). This will help you focus only on the middle section and let your peripheral vision see the words on the other side of the lines. Now just read the middle section and ignore the outer edges. This is called triple-chunking .

To double-chunk , divide the page into equal halves. Now, just glance at one side of the page, then the other, reading each half as a whole unit. With practice you will learn to focus on the middle line and your peripheral vision will now include the rest of the writing. Chunking methods prevent eye-fixation problems. Fixation means getting stuck on certain words, slowing your reading as you fixate for too long on those words.

And last is single-chunking where your move across the sentences left-to-right, but move to the next SENTENCE right-to-left, diagonally.

TIPS:

Work on your vocabulary so unfamiliar words won't stop you when you read them again. Here's are two good places to do that:

http://www.freerice.com/index.php

http://wordsmith.org/awad/subscribe.html

Force yourself to read faster in your mind if you notice you are moving your lips when reading.

Read more! At least fifteen minutes a day.

Know your purpose before reading. If you only need main ideas, then skim the material.

Spend a few minutes every day reading at a faster than comfortable pace (about two or three times faster).

If you have poor concentration, practice reading for only five to ten minutes, then gradually add to it.

WARNINGS:

You have to keep practicing.

There are scams out there, so search carefully for the good programs if you decide to use one.

Here's a site that rates different speed reading programs:

http://thespeedreadingreview.com/?gclid=CLagmIHFoqACFQsMDQod8XKUZQ

ANNOTATING

The word "annotating" seems to have been taken over by the computer people in several ways. But this column is about reading, so I'll explain some ways to do it while, well, reading.

I never did this all the way through high school, and no teacher ever taught it because we didn't own our own books, and of course were not allowed to mark in them. What a shame. You can really make a textbook or a beloved novel or nonfiction book your own by annotating.

To be an active reader, you'll probably want to:

• Make notes in the margin about what you're reading.
• Underline or highlight important and memorable phrases, sentences, even paragraphs.
• Circle important terms or words that you are unfamiliar with or particularly like.
• You may even want to add ideas to the text when you think of them.
• Write down your questions. Put question marks beside whatever isn't clear to you.
• Show steps indicated by numbering them.

If you cannot do the above in the book because it's not yours, or because you're using an ebook reader or reading on-line:

• Have a notepad next to you to make your notes.

• Write down important information about the book--name, title, date of publication, maybe publisher if that interests you.

• Write down those interesting phrases, sentences, paragraphs.
• Make a list of important terms or words (perhaps have a separate page for this).
• Add your own ideas when you think of them.
• Write down any questions you have so you can look up the answers later.
• Use numbers when something you read is done in a specific order.

Or use tags or sticky notes to mark pages and go back later to make your notes.

If you are studying something you will be tested on, you will probably want to do all the above plus write the questions on index cards when you come to the section where the answer is found, and write the answer on the back.

OUTLINING

Maybe you are going to give a speech, do a review or you want to organize something you're reading for later thought. Or maybe you need to practice outlining for courses you're taking.

Here's the basic bones of an outline:

I. MAIN IDEA
A. Subsidiary idea or supporting idea for I
B. Subsidiary idea or supporting idea for I
1. Subsidiary idea for B
2. Subsidiary idea for B
a) Subsidiary idea for 2
b) Subsidiary idea for 2

II. MAIN IDEA
A. Subsidiary or supporting idea for II
B. Subsidiary idea for II
C. Subsidiary idea for II

III. MAIN IDEA

If there is a I in the outline, there must be a II; if there is an A, there must be a B; if there is a 1, there must be a 2, and so on. (Don't ask me why--I didn't invent the system, and I don't have a clue. However, since you're doing it for yourself, you may, of course completely ignore this rule.)

An outline might help you see how ideas are related and where connections or transitions are made. An outline can help you visualize how ideas fit together.

M.S. Word can help you outline by clicking on the icon at the bottom, left side of your page, above the page number. Here's a link to a tutorial:

http://office.microsoft.com/training/training.aspx?AssetID=RP103651321033&CTT=6&Origin=RC103651361033

REVIEWING WHAT YOU'VE READ

This section only has some suggestions if you want to review a book or story you're read for your own pleasure, or perhaps to put into your Reading Journal (explained next). If you want to review for publication, then I suggest you search on-line for the many articles there are about how to do that. And read many published reviews. I'm going to list below some things to think about including in your review--add too them as you wish. And since this is mainly a fiction zine, I'm only going to discuss reviewing fiction here because it would take a lot longer to cover both fiction and nonfiction.

First, list information about the book or story: title, author, copyright date, type of book, general subject matter, maybe price.

Discuss theme--what is/are the major theme(s) and how are they revealed and developed?

Traditional and familiar, or new and original, psychological, social, entertaining, escapist?

Discuss characters--what's interesting about them, what are their goals, secrets, are they flat or three-dimensional, and does character development happen by the end?

Discuss setting--significance, atmosphere, any emotions evoked? Does it influence characters and/or plot?

Write down the barebones of the plot (an outline might help you here), and if you're only doing this for yourself, you can tell the ending, but please don't if you're even so much as going to put your review on a blog or in a letter to a friend. List the conflicts and resolutions. Mention subplots and tell how they relate to the main plot.

Discuss style--simple, clear, humorous, symbolic, motif, parody, allegoric, etc.

Now add what you thought about the story or novel--did you enjoy it, dislike it, find some places/parts good, others bad? Would you recommend it to others? You might also want to rate it--0 to 5 stars, for example.

KEEP A READING JOURNAL

First pick out a notebook to write in. It can be totally blank, or you can find some in bookstores or at Amazon.com that have templates for you to fill out after reading a book.

In your reading journal, put down the dates you read something, title, author, date of publication, genre, and either a review, or if you don't want to fully review it, an overview about the book or story. Include details that struck you about the characters, events, setting and mood. Was there something outstanding about the book? Did it disappoint you in some way? Write down your favorite lines. Give your overall impression, whether you liked it or not, maybe give it a rating.

Or on your computer, you can use a database, template, or table to keep track of all you've read (and want to read). I searched online for some templates, but didn't have much luck. Probably better to make your own--that way it will be exactly how you want it.

And there you have several ways to enhance your reading experience. Now, I've got to go. I'm reading a good book-- The Best American Mystery Stories 2009, edited by Jeffery Deaver, series editor, Otto Penzler