Intensive reading

The intensive Reading Technique is reading for a high degree of comprehension and retention over a long period of time.

Intensive Reading is basically a "study" technique for organizing readings which will have to be understood and remembered. One may have good comprehension while reading line-by-line, but remembering is what counts!

Intensive Reading is not a careful, single reading, but is a method based on a variety of techniques like scanning, the surveying techniques of planning your purpose, and others.

Principles of Intensive Reading

OVERVIEW: We have two methods to obtain and overview - surveying or skimming. Both are concerned with reading only the more important parts. With either we would start with the summary, if one existed. We would next read the title, the beginning, headings, and endings, and note illustrations. Where headings are missing or inadequate or where unfamiliar material demands a more complete overview, we would resort to skimming with its greater attention to topic and summary sentences, and other cues within the paragraphs. As you get an overview of a long section, you may only survey part and skim the sections that are hard to understand. From this you should get the general theme and main ideas from the important topics and questions discussed and the major conclusions. The principle to guide you is to spend the least amount of time and effort required to secure these elements and only these elements.

PLANNING PURPOSE: Planning your purpose means to take a few seconds before you begin your reading to formalize or clearly state to yourself what you wish to get from the reading. This will give us the most useful "mental set" for getting the information we need.

We need to know: What information we need;

How detailed the comprehension should be; and
Whether the emphasis should be placed on ideas,
Sequence, specific facts, etc.;
How long we need to retain this information - only
Until a test the next day or for the rest of our lives;
How we use the information - to think with, to write a report, to take a test.

QUESTIONS: A good time to record questions is after your overview and planning purpose. The question should be in the same sequence as they appear in the material, if possible. This does not prevent adding new questions, but it does prevent forgetting about an important question that occurs to you during the overview. Ideally, the headings can be converted into questions which will provide a suitable outline of the important information in the selection. Where this is not the case, the basic interrogatives or who, what, when, why, and how, frequently supply aid in suggesting important concepts in almost all reading selections.

READING: The most familiar technique and the heart of intensive reading is to read carefully and thoughtfully.

SUMMARIZING: An important part of summarizing is organizing the ideas and supporting points. This organizing should begin in the reading but should be finalized and expressed in notes. Generally, each paragraph will have one or two ideas or important concepts. Also in summarizing, it is important to state in your own words and aloud, the points you wish to remember. The most effective type of summarizing which lends itself to both organizing and testing is an outline of questions reflecting major ideas and concepts. The sub points are indented so as to show clearly that they are related to the main point in a supporting role.