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Kindle Notes & Highlights
by
Kam Knight
Read between
November 22 - November 30, 2022
Purpose has power with reading as well. When a goal or purpose is applied to a reading assignment, the mind suddenly stops wandering, and instead, becomes focused on the material at hand. Education writer Janelle Cox notes purpose for reading helps keep students focused and engaged while reading, and gives them a mission so that comprehension can be reinforced. Since
purpose has such power, anytime you sit down to read, set a goal or purpose. Determine
beforehand what you want or hope to gain fro...
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We believe that when we know what we want, our minds will automatically know as well. Sadly, that isn’t true.
Clarifying your purpose helps the mind tremendously. Instead of deciding which of the hundred urges to follow, it has a clear directive. It knows what to tune out and where to turn its attention. In other words, if you want your mind to know and pursue your goals and intentions, you must identify and clearly state them.
Therefore, whenever you pick up something to read, state the purpose or intention for reading it. The clearer the purpose, the easier it will be for the mind to grasp the information—and the faster you can sift through it. Your
I’m reviewing yesterday’s notes to find answers for tomorrow’s assignment.
The key is to determine why you are reading the text or what you want to know once finished. If reading for an assignment, you might ask why the instructor assigned the chapter or section. Two universal examples include: What can I get out of this material or How will reading it help me?
Another option is to ask yourself specific questions that you’d like the material to answer.
am reading this book to learn money-saving strategies to grow my business. • I am studying chapters 4, 5, and 6 of the history textbook to ace next week’s mid-terms. • My goal for reading this manual is to improve my computer programming skills for the new project at work. • I am reading this novel to prepare for tomorrow’s literature discussion.
am reviewing this book to learn all the facts I need to write an engaging research paper deserving of an A. • The purpose of reading for the next few hours is to unwind, relax, and get lost in the author’s tale. • I am researching the internet to find a better treatment for my illness.
Purpose is valuable because it helps us determine what we want to get out of the material. Once we know, we can examine it to see if it will meet our goal.
This is how I want you to approach reading, to preview material before reading it. That means scrolling through the text, scanning the table of contents, major headings, any words in bold or italics, visual aids, and any information that seems relevant. Preview is one of the most valuable steps readers can take to improve reading speed and comprehension. That’s because previewing gives the mind a framework of what will be discussed. It helps the mind understand the type of information that will be presented and how it will be organized.
One reason is that the mind doesn’t necessarily respond to what is happening in real-time, but to what it thinks is going to happen. In other words, the mind is constantly making predictions about the future.
mind is perpetually preparing for the unexpected—such as a predator jumping out at
is extremely useful to make snap judgments about the environment and to act on those judgments.
says the brain is essentially a prediction machine.
we respond to people not based on what they are saying, but on what we assume they are going to say.
We react to situations not based on the outcome, but rather on our fear and anticipation of the outcome.
we respond not based on the actual question someone asks, but on the question the mind believes is being asked. When our pre...
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vision starts with an expectation of what is around the corner, and also, the brain does not meet every situation with a clean sheet, but with a lot of predictions[13]
So, whether you’re about to read an article, report, manual, novel, or chapter from a textbook, preview it before reading.
Preview Guidelines
Articles and Reports
Read the first and last paragraphs, examine words in bold or italics, read any quoted texts, and glance at any illustrations.
Read the front and back covers. Review the table of contents to get a feel for the organization, and notice if the book is divided into sections or parts. Read the chapter headings to get a sense of the topics that will be covered. Next, read samples of the text. If there is a preface, begin there. Read also the entire introduction and conclusion. Finally, skim through the book and notice items in bold, italics, quotes, and any diagrams or tables. While skimming, read the first and last paragraphs of each chapter.
Textbooks
Therefore, the reading will be assigned one chapter at a time—or even one subheading at a time. So, instead of previewing the entire textbook, focus only on the portion that is assigned.
chapter objectives,
summaries at the start of each chapter.
questions at the end of each chapter or section; read these and keep them in mind. As always, examine all items in bold, italics, quotes, a...
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Stories & Novels
If reading a story or novel for pleasure, you may want to avoid any sort of preview; otherwise, you’ll uncover too much of the plot, or worse, the ending. Knowing too much takes away from the joy of reading such material.
identify sections or topics to which the author devotes the most amount of time and space,
topics that use visual aids are also likely to be important.
To remember all this, the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE) recommends the acronym T.H.I.E.V.E.S[14]: • Title • Headings • Introduction • Every word in bold, underline, quote, and italics • Visual Aids • End of Chapter Questions • Summary/Conclusion Since preview is only a preparation step, do not spend too much time at this stage. The goal is to sample the material, not get caught up in the details.
Therefore, spend no more than 45 seconds to 5 minutes. Typically, this means 45 seconds to 1 minute for shorter items like articles and reports, and 3 to 5 minutes for lengthier ones, such as books and manuals.
speed reading isn’t about how fast one moves through text, but how fast facts and ideas are understood.
preview can help determine if the text will meet the goal or purpose you established in Chapter
After reviewing the article, pick something else, such as a book. Since books are lengthier, start with the summary and blurb on the back
table of contents,
paying careful attention to the chapter titles and subheadings. Next, read the first and last chapters, and finally, scan through the content for important information, or anything else that catche...
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• What am I trying to gain from the material—background information on a topic I know little about or specific details and facts to support an argument? • How long will the information be relevant—for the moment, to clear a temporary hurdle, or for the foreseeable future of my profession? • How difficult is the material to read and comprehend? Based on your answers, adjust speed accordingly. This is the reason we spent so much time on the first two chapters on purpose and preview, because they uncover these insights. Following the steps outlined in Chapters 1 and 2 will reveal the
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Take the materials you were asked to gather—the different reports, articles, and books—and read a few pages of each. Based on your assessment from the preview step about the style, form, genre, and relevance, adjust your reading pace and rhythm.
The eye has the ability to process an image both as a whole and as
a collection of individual parts.
speedreadingprefix For a list of more suffixes, please visit: mindlily.com/speedreadingsuffix
The way to prevent forgetting is to do what I term Recall and Review. While reading, stop at some point and recall what you just read or learned up to that point. You can stop either every half hour or so, or every chapter, lesson, or subsection.
The fact is if you don’t actively do something to remember what you read, you’re going to lose it. It’s not a question of if, but when, and that when is usually within hours.
