Authors of
academic books and articles always seem to have
so much to say. How do you figure out what really
counts?
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Steps: |
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1. |
Look briefly over the entire book or article to get
a feel for its structure and how its argument or
arguments will proceed. |
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2. |
Pay particular attention to introductory and
concluding paragraphs. These often contain summaries
of important points. |
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3. |
Look for certain words and
phrases that can tip you off that something
important is coming up, such as "In sum," "The point
is," "Most importantly," and so on. |
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4. |
Consider reading the
conclusion first. It's like doing a maze
backwards: If you know where you're trying to end
up, you can find and understand the path better.
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5. |
Look back over the book or article the next day,
reading only the highlighted
material. Do so again in about a week. This will
help the material stick better in your mind.
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6. |
Remember that this is a skill: Be patient with
yourself if you're having difficulty with it.
Practice makes perfect. |
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Tips: |
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If, as you go along, you find that half the text is
fluorescent, you're probably highlighting too much.
Be more discriminating. |
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Instead of using a highlighting pen, try marking in
the margins with a pen or pencil. This will save
time. |
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Tips from eHow Users: |
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Signal a change in sub-topic while highlighting
by Alicia
It helps to break down the info you're highlighting
into subcategories by circling the word, then
highlighting the information pertaining to it. For a
history text you can circle the famous person or the
date, then highlight the pertaining information.
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Let somebody else do the work by Jan
Highlighting the huge volumes of pages in the many
texts students are required to sift through these
days takes a whole lot of time, effort and skill.
Time is scarce, so use it wisely. Instead of buying
new books, borrow or buy used ones - preferably
those which have plenty of highlighting in them
already.
1. You save money.
Used books are much less expensive than buying new,
especially if they're a little beaten up and they've
been written in. When you're ready to turn around
and sell them, you're much more likely to make most
or all of your money back than if you had bought
new. Buy used, save money, eat something!
2. You save time.
One or more other students have already located most
of what is important to remember and have either
highlighted or underlined it. They may also have
jotted down useful notes and examples. That cuts
down on the reading and highlighting work you need
to do. If you're a really slow reader the time you
save can be considerable. Now you can spend more of
your valuable time studying only what is most
important.
3. Quality Control
Not everybody is skilled at picking out the
important information and weeding out the fluff. If
you have the opportunity to choose from two or more
used books, see which one has been highlighted best.
How many chapters were highlighted? Was it done
neatly? Examine a chapter or two to see if what is
highlighted is what you would have marked. If you
know the previous owner got an A in the course, you
should be in good shape.
When comparing used books, spending a little more on
the one which has been highlighted more thoroughly
and with better quality will be worth it in the long
run.
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