Tackling Large Readings Guide
Tackling Large Readings Guide
Overview
As the school year is in full swing, assignments are picking up! Many Barnard students will notice that some of their assignments include readings that are upwards of 50 pages or even up to reading books. This guide can hopefully assist you as you approach your readings throughout the year.
Break It Down Now!
One of the most daunting elements of college readings is certainly their length. Unlike reading a chapter, now we are assigned books or upwards of 50 pages – all the fun of learning. But a first step in tackling large readings is to make them smaller!
If you were assigned 75 pages to read for your class on Wednesday, try not to think of it as 75 pages, but rather approach the reading as 3 days of 25-paged readings. Read a bit after class on Monday, read more the day after class, and read the final parts before class on Wednesday. Need to find ways on how to make sure that you are retaining what you’ve read? Be sure to check out our guide on Active Reading!
Get Familiar with the Art of the Skim
A counterintuitive trick for lengthy readings is to not read them, per se. Skimming your assigned readings is a great way to gain the information you need, while not being overwhelmed by all that you have to read.
Skimming is different from just reading quickly and some strategies to skim well include:
Focusing on the topic sentence – or the first sentence – of each paragraph as well as the concluding sentence of each paragraph to get a sense of what the paragraph is about.
Fully reading any sentences with bolded or italicized words, which often indicate new and important terms or define new concepts.
Reading the subheadings (if any) to get a general sense of the topics that are covered. Try to make note of these headings as they often provide a good overview of what is covered within the reading and can serve as a mini-outline of the reading itself.
Skimming also allows you to more easily create questions: What were you expecting to find when you skimmed but didn’t get the answer to? Based on the readings of the subheadings, what was mentioned and what was left out? Did you have any lingering questions based on the new terms you encountered? Questions similar to these are great to ask in class and can provide you a better understanding of the subject!
A tip for skimming, if you are someone who reads your assignments on a tablet or a computer, use control/command + F to look for key terms or particular phrases. This can be especially helpful if you are looking for definitions or looking for examples of a term in context.
Working through Assigned Books
Being assigned an entire book can be a little daunting. But actually working through the text of a book doesn’t have to be daunting! The following are some helpful approaches to reading an entire book.
Keep these questions in mind as you read:
- What is the main problem/conundrum the author is discussing?
- How does the author intend to solve or re-frame the problem?
- What are the implications of the problem/conundrum and what is the impact of the author’s ideas?
- What is the main topic of this reading?
- How does this topic connect to the other topics that have been discussed or previously mentioned?
- What is the author trying to answer that previous research has not asked?
- Why is this topic important and what are its implications?
The first chapter typically provides an overview of the topics discussed, shares the structure of the book and why it is structured that particular way and gives a preliminary history of the subject matter. Even if the first chapter is the only part of a book you can read, you will often find that you can take away new insights.
For books assigned in the social sciences, be sure to spend time with the “Methods” and “Discussion” section of a book. Academic books from the social sciences are often based on research questions and usually have a chapter or chapter section that is dedicated to how the research question was approached. This section, the Methods section, usually highlights the thought processes of the author(s) and could key you in on elements of the rest of the book. The Methods section is also a place where you can find flaws within the author’s/authors’ research – including people who were and weren’t included in a study, how long (or short!) the research investigation period was, and if the way the author(s) approached the research question is still feasible in 2021. The Discussion section of a book is another great section of a book to spend time in! This portion of the book is where the author explains their results, what they mean, and what the implications of their results are. The Discussion section is also a place where the author shares about what information was missing from their research and how future research could be conducted.
For STEM classes, while being assigned an entire textbook as an assignment is unlikely, being assigned multiple chapters is common. In this case, be sure to carefully read the end-of-chapter summaries that exist in most textbooks. This section often highlights the key terms and concepts that were introduced in the chapter and gives you the information of 20-40 pages of a textbook chapter in a quick 1-3 pages. If, after reading these summaries, something is still unclear to you, you can then return to those sections of the chapter for closer inspection.
For readings such as fiction novels, poetry, and other creative readings; reading creative pieces requires a different approach than the “traditional” academic readings. For long books that are broken into chapters or sections, be sure to read the chapter or section titles and read the areas that seem most related to the upcoming class. This way, you can engage with the text while making the most of your time. As you read, consider keeping the following questions in mind:
- Why did the author introduce a character this particular?
- What are common themes throughout this text and why do you think the author decided to engage with that theme?
- Is there a recurring term or description that
- Why did the author use particular language in certain points of the t
- What are the aims/goals of the writer?
- What is the evidence/materials of the writer?
- What are their methods?
- Who is the intended audience of this text?
You can also maximize your time when reading creative text as you can read creative books anywhere! You can’t read textbooks on the 1 train, but for fiction, you can read any and everywhere! On the 1 train, in the park, wherever works best, which will allow you to chip away at assigned readings. One of the best parts about being assigned fiction readings is that an audiobook version of the text could exist! Engaging with your assigned reading also includes engaging in a different medium!
Regardless of the type of book you will be engaging with, the book is likely to have a book review. Book reviews are critiques or responses to a particular text – whether it's a textbook, a creative work, or a social science book – that provide a summary of the text at hand and can also provide insight to strengths and weaknesses of the work. Reading a book review is a great way to supplement any readings that you have for class and gain a better understanding of the assigned text.
What’s Relevant is What Matters
Large readings also become far more manageable when you focus on the most relevant elements! This pick-and-choose reading method is also helpful due to the pre-work that is required to do this effectively.
To figure out what is most relevant in a reading, but sure to:
- Read your class syllabus → The syllabus is your professor’s outline and overview of how the class will be structured. Take some time to sit down with your syllabus and note major themes and the unit for each week of your class. Once this is done, the relevance of a topic within a reading becomes clearer. For example, if you have been assigned a large reading and the class theme for the week is “The Economics of Coffee Bean Trade,” you can probably skip or loosely skim the chapter that covers “The Economics of Car Manufacturing.”
- Refer back to the main learning objectives of the course → In other words, figure out the “goal” of your class. If a main goal of the course is to critically think about surveillance in daily life, then perhaps focus more on chapters and sections of reading that center on the workplace or school, rather than areas of the reading about the government.
Additionally, when reading for relevance, try to read with a broader lens, especially when reading texts that might be a bit out of your element. For example, if your philosophy instructor assigns a reading from a political scientist, read knowing that you might not understand the exact terms or jargon within the text – and you don’t need to, since it is likely not relevant. But rather, read with a focus on what does matter in the course, which, for a philosophy course might be the theory, ethics, and logical argument.
Tag-Team Tough Readings!
There does come a time where large and tough readings might be too much for you to handle alone. In situations like this (or as we all try to find community post-Zoom school!), see if you can find a class buddy who can serve as your accountability partner and work with you on readings! This buddy would be a person you can work through reading with. So if there is a book to read or a long article – you would take the first four chapters and the other person would take the last four. This method also makes sure each person does their part of the reading so neither person is left completely confused when they come to the next class session.
If you are someone who can learn well in partner-work, this is a great way to finish readings without them claiming all of your time! You would be able to read in smaller chunks with more attention to detail, and have a partner with whom to discuss readings. Having a reading buddy is also beneficial as it allows for teaching course material to each other as well! Teaching someone about a particular topic is a great way to learn about the topic yourself and confirm information you know.