Analytical

Reading
Introduction
 Reading is the complex cognitive process of decoding symbols to derive
meaning. Reading is a receptive skill.

 The adjective, analytical, and the related verb analyze can both be traced

back to the Greek verb, analyein — "to break up, to loosen." If you are
analytical, you are good at taking a problem or task and breaking it down into
smaller elements in order to solve the problem or complete the task.

 Analytical reading is a high-level cognitive skill. It’s important brain work!

Analytical reading is an approach that probes more deeply to understand the
message and goal of the piece you read. 
Cont.
 Analytical reading is thorough reading, complete reading, or good reading –
the best reading you can do. The analytical reader must ask many organized
questions about what he is reading. On this level of reading, the reader grasps
a book and works on it until the book becomes his own.

 Francis Bacon once remarked that “some books are to be tasted, others to be
swallowed, and some few to be chewed and digested.” Reading a book
analytically is chewing and digesting it.
Cont.

 You don’t need to do this type of reading for just anything. Only
undertake it if you really want to get the most out of the book in
front of you.
 This is where you really dive into a text. You read slowly and
closely, you take notes, you look up words or references you
don’t understand, and you try to get into the author’s head in
order to be able to really get what’s being said.
 Steps of analytical reading.

 First, look up a bit about the author and the other books he/she has
written. 
Before picking up a book, always look up the author and/or the book itself on
Wikipedia, to know how old the writer is, what some of his or her motivations
were etc. This just gives you a little context into the author’s life that will
hopefully help you understand the book a little better.
 Second, do a quick inspectional reading. 
A good, thorough reading of any book will include inspectional reading. Look at
the cover, always read the opening pages, etc. Many people never read
introductions and just get right onto page one. You’re skipping the valuable
information that can actually frame the entire way you read the book. You don’t
need to jump ahead to the conclusion, but at least get all that you can out of the
cover and those opening pages.
Cont.
 Third, read the book all the way through, somewhat quickly.
this is also known as “superficial reading”; you’re simply trying to digest the
overall purpose of the book. Now, this doesn’t necessarily mean speed-reading. It
more means that you won’t stop and scrutinize the meaning of each and every
paragraph. It means that when you get stuck in a place that’s hard to understand,
you’ll keep on going anyway. In this reading you are underlining or circling or
taking notes on things you have questions about, but you aren’t looking into
those questions just yet. When you’re done with the book, go back through and
look at what you underlined or circled or took some notes about. Try your best to
answer a few of those questions you had. If you have the time and desire, re-
read the whole thing again.
This is where many people struggle with reading older or more complicated
books because they get too confused about the language and the style. It’s
actually best to just power through that and understand what you can, and then
come back to your misunderstandings later. Better to have some knowledge than
none at all.
Cont.
 Fourth, use aids, only if you have to.
If there is a word you don’t know, first look at the context to try to recognize its
meaning. Use your own brain to get things going. If it’s something you simply
can’t get past, or the word is clearly too important for you to glance over, then
pull out the dictionary. If there’s a cultural reference that you can tell is important
to understanding the particular passage, Google it. The main point is that you can
use the tools around you, but don’t lean on them. Let your brain work a little bit
before letting Google work for you.
 Fifth, answer the following four questions as best as you can. 
Now, these questions could have been listed as the first step, as you should keep
these in mind from the second you start reading. But, they quite obviously can’t
be answered until you’ve read the book. This is actually the key to analytical
reading. To be able to answer these questions shows that you have at least some
understanding of the book. If you can’t answer them, you probably haven’t quite
paid attention well enough.
 Cont.
1. What is the book about, as a whole? This is essentially the back cover write-
up. Don’t cheat, though. Come up, in your own words, with a few sentences
or even a paragraph that describes what the book is about. This can actually
be surface level; you don’t have to dig too deep. 
2. What is being said in detail, and how? This is where you start to dig a little
deeper. When you’re done with that first reading of the book, write an outline
of the book yourself so you get a feel for its organization and overall meaning.
3. Is the book true, in whole or in part? These last two questions are where we
get to the essence of reading. As before, for non-fiction, this is a relatively
easy (or at least easier) question to answer. Is what the author said true? Are
the facts they presented true? With fiction, it’s more about asking if what was
written is true to the general human experience, or even to your own
experience.
4. What of it? What’s the significance? If the book is indeed saying something
true about something, what’s the takeaway? If something strikes a chord with
you, and you do nothing with it, it becomes at least partially wasted.
Cont.
 Sixth, critique and share your thoughts with others. 
Notice that this step is dead last. Only after having read the entire
book, and thoughtfully answered the questions above, can you
critique or have meaningful discussions about the book. Be extra
careful about coming right out and saying, “I understand the book.”
You can certainly understand parts of a book, but to have no
questions at all probably means that it wasn’t actually a good book
to start with, or you are full of yourself. When discussing, be precise
in your areas of agreement or disagreement. To simply say, “This is
stupid,” or, “I don’t like it,” offers nothing to a conversation. Also
know that you don’t have to agree or disagree with everything
about or in a book. You can love some parts and really dislike
others.
 Why Read Analytically?

 Increases your attention span. 

 Enhances your critical thinking abilities.
 Shapes you into a better man. 
 Analytical Reading Strategies
 Skimming:
1. Ask Yourself: How Should I Read This? (Why am I reading it?
What kind of text is it?)
2. Read the introduction and conclusion, looking for the thesis.
3. Scan the text for section headings, bolded terms, big ideas.
4. Read the first few sentences of each section.
5. State, for yourself, your working summary (thesis and main
reasons).
Cont.
 Re-Reading:
When you encounter difficult passages. Slow down, re-read the text,
and pause until you can summarize for yourself in 1-2 sentences. To
ensure understanding of difficult points before moving on.
1. Slow down - find the last place you understood the reading.
2. Read the passage again slowly (perhaps out loud).
3. Identify any terms you don’t understand and look them up.
4. Identify any claims that were established earlier in the essay and
review them.
5. Repeat until you can provide a 1-2 sentence summary of the
passage to yourself.
Cont.
 Integration is done when encountering a central idea, or when
an idea reminds you of something else. Identify central ideas,
think about what else you know or have read on those ideas and
consider similarities and differences. Promotes deeper
understanding.
1. Start with an inventory of the central claims and concepts.
2. Where have you seen similar ideas and concepts in other texts
we have read?
3. How are the uses of the concepts or claims similar?
4. How are the uses of the concepts or claims different?