I’m currently stuck on my own idea. But it’s not take long time to generate new ideas unless I should read more. That is, reading. By reading we will survive a lot of things over our life sometimes. But remember, read only the erudite materials will give us benefit and refreshing our brain with interactive and attractive facts otherwise we could contribute on it. Sometimes, I heard somebody yearn with their reading. They told, they didn’t get anything while reading. They’re work hard on reading but poor. They might understand their reading but only a little bit, then lost. I kindly want to share with you are some useful tips to make our reading understandable and effective. That is, you should prepare yourself as a critical reader first.
STEP 1: SKIM THE WORK. Skim means you read quickly just to get an overview of the story or you may read the summarize first. It will take about 15-20 minutes (books) and 5-10 minutes (articles). It will save your time by sparing you the ‘task’ of rereading. However, before you get start on reading, prepare these questions:
1) What issue is the author writing about
2) What is the author’s position on this issue
3) What are the main divisions(subtopics) of the book or article
4) How much evidence does the author offer in support of his or her view
5) What type(s) or evidence
STEP 2: REFLECT ON YOUR VIEWS. It’s requesting to ask yourself by questioning ‘what ideas do I have about this subject that could create a bias for against the author’s view and prevent me from giving it a fair hearing?’
STEP 3: READ THE WORK. Means you need to highlight the idea and it is a good to summarize what you read.
STEP 4: EVALUATE WHAT YOU READ
STEP 5: EXPRESS YOUR JUDGEMENT. Either you agree or disagree with the statement.
Source: The art of Thinking, A guide to critical and creative thought by Vincent Ryan Ruggiero, 2010
….Good reader will encounter his/her destiny….
