Street Light, by Giancoma Balla
Reading for Research
Your reading habits will be a key influence on how well you take notes, represent the different sides of an argument, and are likely to influence your ability to defend yourself from a charge of plagiarism (using information without giving credit to the source). A few tips:
- Start reading early (at least 4 weeks before the paper is due). This will give you time to understand the ideas and the trends in the research.
- Read materials at least twice: once to grasp the main idea, then a second time to see how that main idea relates to other ideas (in that source and in other sources).
- Read for context, not just facts that support what you want to say (see the "Reading Critically" tab).
Evaluating What You Read
Regardless of where you find the information you are reading, the suggestions and strategies in these sites apply to all academic and critical reading. And, yes, this same box appears in Steps 5, 6, and 7 as a reminder that you'll want to evaluate what you read (or hear) regardless of its source.
- Reading & ResearchingGood advice on how to read critically, how to take good research notes, and how to get the most out of your reading. Thanks to the University of Toronto Writing web site.
- Reading to WriteGreat suggestions from the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill on how to read intelligently. Good strategies for remembering what your read and incorporating it into your writing and your revisions.
