Question

How to Learn (English, reading-focused)

Answer 1

In middle school and high school you will be frequently assigned books and passages to read, either for school or for standardized tests like the SAT. Unfortunately not all of them will be interesting, so you will have to learn how to focus.

For passages, the key idea is to pay attention to what is written inside the passage, and make sure you can support or refute claims using evidence inside the passage.

For books, the key idea is to understand things like: plot, characters, characterization, tone, themes, etc. Try not to rely on sparknotes/cliffs notes alone - they only cover the surface-level interpretation.

Answer 2

In order to become a good reader, go out of your way to read books that aren't assigned for school. Avoid youth fiction/fantasy and focus on classics and non-fiction books for a high school to early college level of reader. Build an extensive vocabulary by writing down words you don't know and looking up their definitions. Become accustomed to different styles of writing.

Answer 3

Here is a list of 100 literary novels you can read (you don't have to read all of them, just pick 2-5 that seem interesting to you)

https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/13086.Goodreads_Top_100_Literary_Novels_of_All_Time

Answer 4

As you are reading, here are some things to keep track of:

1. setting - what time and place does the story take place in? does it span a short time or a long time? what effect does this add to the story and characters? do characters make decisions that seem weird for our time but normal for their setting?

Answer 5

2. characters - who are the main characters and what is the main conflict? how do the other characters resolve or make conflicts worse? why? which of the characters do you like? which of the characters do you not like? why?

Answer 6

3. conflict - what is the main problem being solved? is it man against man? man against nature? man against society? man against itself? what are the secondary, less important conflicts?

Answer 7

4. theme and motifs - what ideas about life are expressed through the writing? what elements (objects, symbols, ideas) come up frequently?

Answer 8

5. style - what type of writing does the author use? does he use short sentences? or is his language poetic and flowery? is his vocabulary simple? or does he use many complex words? what about figurative language?

Answer 9

there's more to reading than just reading though - often, you will be asked to write an essay supporting or going against a prompt

for example: let's take a common novel: 1984. Here is a question taken from schmoop.com

Think about Newspeak. Does language shape thought? Action? Is language necessary for either thought or action? Without language, does reality exist? Does perception?

Answer 10

you could use examples from the book (how newspeak limits the ability to create complex, controversial writing) or from real life (cultures without a developed language system)

Answer 11

An important part of reading is annotating - marking books to identify interesting passages and their significance to the theme of the book. Annotating is NOT just highlighting - you must be able to explain why the highlighted text is important.

Answer 12

https://www.act.org/content/dam/act/unsecured/documents/reading.pdf