How do we read actively, with pen in hand?
- look for words to look up
- annotate each paragraph
- to say what it’s about
- to say what it’s doing
- what are your thoughts–maybe paragraph by paragraph
- write a summary
- questions:
- what questions do you have?
- what questions could the final exam ask?
- Question A: 1-names the title, author(s), short summary; 2-your task: agree or disagree with a specific claim from the reading; 3-write a thesis-driven essay; 4-use any evidence; 5-use evidence from the text [include at least one quotation and explain how it relates to your argument]
- addresses the central argument of the reading
- asks you to address that central argument as well
- Question B: 1-names the title, author(s), short summary about a specific part of the text, not the whole. 2-elaborating on the point raised in sentence 1; 3-your task: write an essay about more general idea from your experience; 4-elaborating on the task; 5-use any evidence; 6-use a thesis, refer to the reading [include at least one quotation and explain how it relates to your argument]
- more of you recalling your personal experience, less reliant on the text
In the exam, what do you do?
- read the questions
- decide which to answer
- 5
- reread text or notes or parts of the text
- find evidence in the reading or from your experience
- 10
- notes or outline/organization plan
- 15
- then start writing
- 30
- re-read a lot
- maybe pro0fread from the end to the beginning
- make changes as needed
- 15
- done 🙂
