Reading Comprehension

The Process of Reading

Reading is more than just looking at the letters of the page and stringing them into words. For reading to be effective, to gain the full picture, you must engage with the text. Clues to intended meaning can be found by looking at text signals. You can gain further insights into the ideas in writing by connecting to ideas you already know about and asking questions about what you have just read. Click on the links above to explore each of the processes involved in engaging meaningfully with a text, then try them out on the next thing you read.

Why is Reading Important?

Think of all the time you spend reading things in a day. These can be books or articles for school, signs on the street, instructions, contracts, texts from your Mom, and even recipes. Whether you want to believe it or not, reading is still a very big part of our culture, and holds the key to understanding the cultures of the past.

Marshall McLuhen (1911 - 1980), a media expert, spoke of the "hotness" and "coolness" of media. A "cool" media can be consumed passively. It does not require a whole lot of intellectual engagement. You can often multi-task as you are consuming a "cool" media (think - knitting as you watch television). "Hot" media requires the full attention of the consumer. It engages more of the brain and requires more action from it. When you are consuming this media, multi-tasking is not possible because your attention needs to be focused on the task at hand. It also leads to more detailed and in-depth understanding of the concepts covered in media, and thus, a more intellectual understanding.

As British writer, Joseph Addison (1672 - 1719) has said:

Reading is to the Mind as Exercise is to the Body.

Keep reading, connecting, and analyzing a variety of materials to expand and strengthen your mind. Who knows what can happen?