Steena asked me a while ago if I have any tips on how to read academic papers. She likes to ask professors and students this question, because everyone seems to have a different approach. My own style of reading academic writing is a combination of things I have picked up from professors and made my own.
What makes academic reading different from more casual reading is that it’s difficult and there’s a lot of it. As an undergrad I tried at first to read for school the same way I read for pleasure, and that worked well enough because I was a lit major, but it was less effective when I started reading theological and philosophical texts.
In grad school, the first thing you should learn is that you’re going to be given way more work than you can possibly do, and it will be up to you to develop priorities. Except, no one actually told me this until I was nearly done with my MA, so for a long time I was trying to read everything closely and feeling constantly guilty that I couldn’t get through it all. I would lay down on my bed with the plan to get through a hundred pages and wake up an hour later with a book on my face.
Out of necessity, I started reading while sitting up. It’s not pretty. I’m usually hunched over a desk with a pen in my hand. That’s another thing I do: write all over my books. Mostly I underline important passages. My margin notes are rarely insightful–they mostly just call attention to things, so I’ll be able to find them again when I’m going back through the material to write a paper. I make a lot of stars as well and I’m no stranger to exclamation marks. This is how I make sure I’m actually paying attention and not just looking at the words while thinking something completely different.
When I was working for a professor of mine several years ago, he gave me some helpful suggestions on how to scan quickly. I do this rather sloppily, but it does make it possible for me to get through a lot of text in a short amount of time. It’s never the same as having read every word, but I can quickly get a sense of an article and then read it more closely when I’m working on a paper. To keep myself on track, I run my finger back and forth horizontally, skipping several lines at a time. It gives my eyes something to follow. I make a point of reading the first and last paragraph of each chapter, as well as the first sentence of each paragraph. I also watch out for important words like, “my thesis is” and “in conclusion” and “first/second/third.”
It has been helpful for me to try on the habits of other people to see what works for me. I vary my reading style depending on what I’m going to use the information for. If it’s just a class discussion, then I’m trying to absorb as much as I can and maybe focus on a few things (so I’ll have something to say). If I’m writing a paper, then I try to leave helpful notes for myself, so I’ll be able to easily find the appropriate information again. If I have to present on the material, then I go over it first for the main points and then slowly for all the detail. I rarely take summary notes, because they are so time-consuming, but when I do, I make note of page numbers and also use T for top of the page, M for middle, and B for bottom.
I’d like to say I jump back and forth easily between reading academic writing and reading for fun, but it’s something I’ve been struggling with for more than a year now. While Steena surveys people for their tips on academic reading, I find myself asking people how they read for pleasure. How often do you read? When do you read? How quickly do you get through books? I also interview all former and current grad students to be sure I’m not the only one who nearly gave up reading for fun while in the midst of coursework.
I feel like I broke a 20 year habit of reading for fun, and now I can’t get it back. My eyes dart around instead of reading every word, I find myself thinking about other things instead of being involved in a story, I look at the page numbers trying to figure out how I can finish the book as quickly as possible, I feel guilty that I’m not writing instead, and I have fallen into this binge pattern of reading a book in a day and then reading nothing for a couple weeks. I keep thinking, “Relax, you crazy person. This is not a competition,” but even though I really miss reading and long for the friendlier relationship I used to have with books, I can’t seem to fit it back into my life in a natural way.
So, I’ve decided to stop reading. I kid! I’m going to keep trying until I develop a habit that works for me. Also, I would like to mention that the original notes for this post were: “Reading is awkward. Reading is like that friend you used to be really close to.”
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I love that quote at the end! It’s so true, though. I haven’t been a good reader all summer, and I don’t even have school as an excuse anymore. I’m officially taking a one year break from academics because I didn’t get my crap together before my final semester of college in order to figure out that what I really wanted to do was get my Master’s in English, whether it was my M.A. in American or British literature or my MFA in creative writing. I’m wanting to go for both now. I actually got accepted into a program, but had to defer until next fall because I didn’t get the funding. That happened because I ended up applying late, but at least I now have a year to qualify for scholarships and assistantships. My goal is to get experience teaching in a college setting. I don’t know why I’ve been so taken with that lately, but I’m itching for it.
I’m glad I’m not the only one who highlights important passages, but doesn’t have anything brilliant to say in the margins. I used to feel like I had to have something insightful to add to the passage, but what usually came out of my pen was just what struck me about it in the first place. I think that’s unnecessary pressure, though. It’s more helpful to list what draws out attention to a particular passage than straining our brains to add onto it. That comes during paper-writing time, like you said.
How much longer do you have on your degree?
Thanks for writing this Ashley! I really enjoyed this post. I do believe this is the second post you’ve written for me! I’m going to use your paper reading technique tomorrow. :)
I’ve always been a skim reader, which helped me at university. Vastly. (Also, you’re better than me – I quickly learned to do the bare minimum in reading while doing my bachelor’s, or else I would have not had time to sleep as well as work).
Skimming also helps me as I often have to read reports and then write about them, so pulling out key points quickly is key.
I completely relate to the last line.
In an attempt to get a smooth transition from academic reading to #acwri, I started to build up a database of quotes, excerpts, thoughts and such in Citavi a couple of years ago (www.citavi.com). On paper, I write in the margins, nothing major, mainly just notes that help me find the structure of a text, but everything I want to keep in order to use it in my writing, I keep in my Citavi project. I am constantly searching for immediate gut reactions when I read academic texts and as soon as I’ve found one, I try to get it written down.
When I’m reading without a computer at hand and I find something to keep, I pull out my phone and record myself reading the passages I want to keep. That way, I can recall an entire book within just a couple of minutes.
These are great strategies! I’ve been trying to lately parse out what I choose to read to learn and what I read for fun, and it’s pretty interesting. When I just look at my bookshelf and ask myself on a lazy Sunday “What do I want to read?” I tend to choose kind of academic-y (it’s a word, trust me) books, but then I feel guilty that I don’t read fiction enough. Definitely relate to that last line!
It’s funny- one of the reasons I’ve been lamenting going back for my PhD is because I’m enjoying pleasure reading so much that I can’t think to give it up for academic reading.
When I was in grad school, I wish the first lesson I’d received was about scanning books. After being swamped in my first month in a grad seminar, I asked a 3rd year their secret. When they told me to just carefully read a book or article’s intros and conclusions and the same with the chapters, it was like I’d been let in on a secret grad school handshake.
Now that I’m out of grad school I look at those books I only skimmed and want to get back to reading them- maybe someday!
I’m a big fan of exclamation points, stars, and question marks in the margins. There’s also a lot of “YES!” in my books.
I find myself binging on fun books when on breaks. Last summer, I took a summer course but had 10 days before the fall semester began and I read the entire Harry Potter series. It was glorious.
I’m going to force myself to skim better this fall… I’ll need that skill to be especially honed, I’m sure. Definitely following some of your strategies!
Tips on easing back into reading for fun (or at least what worked for me):
*I did not read for pleasure while in classes for my masters course work. I would only read for pleasure during breaks.
*I only went as far as my masters; I didn’t have to do this whole dissertation phase of school, so I don’t know how to balance thesis/dissertation work and reading for fun. If it did, I would probably try to read for fun on traditional break times.
*While on breaks, I read stuff that was interesting to me/still relevant to what I was doing in school. For example- I was interning at a middle school during the whole Twilight mania when the first movie was coming out. Clearly, in order to relate better to the kids, I had to know what this whole Twilight thing was about. So, I read all 4 books over two weeks of my winter break. I came back to the middle school after break not only in the know, but refreshed because I had fun with books again. (please don’t judge.)
*That first summer after I graduated, I took time off from all things paper and with binding. It was nice to just come home, and not have to be in a book all the time. That break saved me from reading.
*I started off reading slow- I would allow myself as much time to read a book as I needed to.
*I reread books I loved pre grad school. It’s easy/safe/familiar. Plus, it’s always fun to rediscover why you loved them so much. I call them gateway books- a gateway into loving reading again. My stand by’s are One Hundred Years of Solitude and Crime and Punishment. (heavy books? yes. But I read them in high school, and they’ve been with me ever since. It’s like home.)
*I set goals for reading books. And made lists of the books I wanted to read. And I got a library card.
*BOOK SWAPS with friends/strangers are amazing.
*Book clubs can be fun as well, but that is a lot of pressure to read. I haven’t gotten there yet in my rehabilitation from grad school.
*Pick a mainstream series. Read all the books in the series and do not be ashamed. Whether it is Hunger Games or Fifty Shades of Grey, Harry Potter, or something else- do it. (I chose Hunger Games- in the theme of that whole working with kids thing again…)
It’s a process. Books and I had less of a strained relationship than the one I have with movies. I have a very hard time watching movies, and I’ve only just started being able to see movies in theaters again. It just seemed like a big time suck, when I could be doing so many more things. And I really can’t do anything without my laptop demanding at least half of my attention…
Good luck!