By Jodie Baeyens
Faculty Member, English at American Public University
As children and as students, we are often told by our parents and teachers not to write in our books. While this is great advice for collectors’ items and library or textbooks, it shouldn’t apply to reading comprehension. In fact, if you want to become a stronger reader, pick up a pencil or pen.
The first key to reading is to read what you love, from cars and sports, to Harry Potter or Stephen King. You will read the classics in school. When working on your reading comprehension at home, stick with what interests you.
Buy a cheap copy from a used bookstore. There are a number of websites that sell used books for only a few dollars. Reading a used book is a great way to get over the fear of writing in it. Now, pick up a pen! If you are reading with the purpose of making notes, you are telling your brain to look for information and not just absorb it. This will help keep you focused.
When reading, make note of words that you don’t know or can’t define. Look up these words. You can make a list and look them up later, but if you have a smartphone, look them up as you go. Looking up words that you sort of know is often enlightening. You would be surprised at how many of your friends are using words incorrectly, all the time.
If something in the book doesn’t make sense, or leaves you with questions, write it in the margins. Reading is a conversation between you and the author. A good author will answer any questions you have.
Think about what is being said, why it is being said and what it means. Ask yourself if there is a deeper meaning. Look beyond the surface meaning. At first, this may seem frustrating. Why don’t the authors just say what they mean? However, once you get used to looking beneath the surface of the words, you will come to enjoy this aspect of reading. It gives the reading layers and richness. Hidden meaning in a story or poem is like the salt in salted caramel ice cream. You don’t expect it to be there, you may not think you want it there, and too much is overpowering; however, the right amount makes it so much better.
Think of Jonathan Swift’s A Modest Proposal. On the surface, Swift encouraged people to eat their babies. If you take this story on its surface meaning, Swift’s argument is scary and outrageous. However, Swift never intended for anyone to eat their children. Swift used satire, and his work had a much deeper meaning. Swift used an outrageous example to shock people and show the horrors of what was happening in Ireland, during the famine. Sometimes it takes fiction to show the larger truths. Many people had said that the landlords took advantage of the poor people. By making the analogy of eating babies, Swift revealed how terrible the situation was.
I always tell my students to look at the differences between fact and truth. Something may feel true, but not be a fact and vice versa. You may say, it is a million degrees out today. This is not a fact. However, this captures a true feeling. If you say, it is 89 degrees out today with a humidity level of 90 percent; you may be stating a fact and not capturing the truth of how it feels. Look beyond the fact or the fiction for the truth of the emotion in what you read.
About the Author:
Professor Baeyens graduated with her MFA from National University. Her concentration was in Creative Writing – Poetry. She earned her BA from Hunter College in New York City. She is a New York City native, now residing in Arizona.
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