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TOPIC 3: READING FOR
INFORMATION FROM DIFFERENT SOURCES
Reading
information from different sources involves two types of reading which are
extensive and intensive reading.
Intensive
reading involves reading tasks, passages and
information carefully with the aim of gaining knowledge from the information in
the text.
Read the
introduction: Many introductions contain valuable
insights into the author’s life and his writing, both of which can enrich your
understanding and appreciation of the work. It will often provide background
knowledge on the novel.
Read carefully:
This is no time for speed reading or skimming! A careful reading may seem
slower, but you will ultimately save more time than if you have to reread
everything. Begin reading the novel or short story as soon as it is assigned
and read slowly and with attention to detail
READING INTENSIVELY FOR COMPREHENSION
When reading any comprehension,
one needs to recognize the logical and grammatical relationship among parts of
the concepts. Information can be obtained from newspapers, internet,
television, radio, and other public documents. Usually, information should be
researched and must have facts. Most comprehensions are with questions to be
answered by the reader. There are some important things to understand before
one attempts to answer the questions.
Things to consider when reading comprehension questions:
1. Comprehension questions are
designed to test how well one understands what he/she reads.
2. However competent you are on
the subject, don’t use outside knowledge to answer the comprehension unless
stated by the questions.
3. You have to concentrate o n
the passage and come out with all the answers to the comprehension questions.
4. Before reading a passage, read
the questions that follow it in order to know what information is being asked.
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| Reading |
This involves reading a variety
of books/stories for information and pleasure from different sources,
particularly the library and other books centers. This part also provides
students with sample short stories. However, students should be provide with a
number of books which have various stories, both for information and pleasure.
Remember to write a summary of the story after reading it.
Extensive reading involve reading
novels, plays ,short stories ,poems, biographies, autobiographies, magazines,
journals and many other reading materials. Extensive reading will improve you
English language, will give you information entertain you
Tips on How to Read Extensively
1. Read the blurb and the table
of contents
2. If you are reading a
non-literary task, like history, lines book, take notes of the main points and
supporting point you read
3. If its literary text, at the
end of you reading write a report showing :
- The title of the book
- Novelist
- Playwright or poet
- The setting of the story
- The plot of the novel
- Play or poem
- The central character in the
story
- The main theme or central
message of the literary work
- Any new vocabulary or
expressions that you have come across
Exercise:
Read any novel or a play that is
not part of the literature set texts and then write a report using the
guidelines above
READING SKILLS
Skimming Reading
This involve reading a text
quickly in order to pick out the main features , including:
1. How it is organised
2. The general nature and purpose
of the text
3. Key points of information and
opinion
How to skim a Book
1. Read the cover review and the
information about the author.
2. Read the table of content
3. Read through the sections and
subsection headings if there are any
4. Read the first and last
sentence of each paragraph, they often contain the major points.
5. Take note of names of persons,
places and events
Scanning Reading
Looking quickly of a passage but
this time it is in order to identify relevant features or information. This skill is useful when reading a passage that requires you to
answer questions at the end of the passage.
How to scan a Book
1. Skim the book first
2. Read the questions at the end
of the book
3. Look quickly through the book
to find answers to the questions asked
READING NOVEL
AND SHORT STORIES
When
you are reading a novel or short story, the main areas of focus should be form and content.
Form
refers to the writing style and techniques used and how the elements of design
are implemented. Content refers to what is the literary work talking
about
Parts of Forms
Plot -
Reflection of motivation and causation.
No
plot - The king died and then the queen died.
Plot
- The king died, and then the queen died
of grief.
Character -
Is a fictional person who drives a story or who the story is about.
Setting
- Awork’s natural, manufactured, political, cultural and temporal
environment, including everything that characters know and own (place, time,
objects).
Title
- Is the name of the book
Writer/
author - this s the person who have written a story
Tone
- Methods by which writers and speakers reveal attitudes or feelings
Style
- Ways in which writers assemble words to tell
a story, to develop an argument, dramatise, or they way they use certain words
in the service of content.
Parts of Content
Theme: Results
of general and abstract thinking in literature, themes relate to meaning,
interpretation, explanation and significance.
Literature: embodies
values along with themes are vital to an understanding and appreciation of
literature
Themes:
Are not as obvious as character or setting.
It
is important to consider the meaning of what you’ve read and then develop an
explanatory and comprehensive assertion.
Message:
Is what the reader learns from a literally work.
IDENTIFYING
THEMES
The
theme of a fable is its moral or teaching. The theme of a piece of fiction is
its view about life and how people behave. In
fiction, the theme is not intended to teach or preach. In fact, it is not
presented directly at all. You extract it from the characters, action, and
setting that make up the story. In other words, you must figure out the theme
by yourself.
The
writer's task is to communicate on common ground with the reader. Although the
particulars of your experience may be different from the details of the story,
the general underlying truths behind the story may be just the connection that
both you and the writer are seeking.
Identifying main Features of Different Genres
A
Novel
is a factious prose narrative of book length, typically representing characters
and actions with some degree of realism.
A
Play is
a work of art which involves performance in a stage, and dialogue.
Poetry: Is
made up offigurative language, songs, symbolic language with emphasis on
imagination, emotions, and heartfelt ideas written in stanza and verses. A
stanza is a single line in a poem.
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