Faced with a long list of readings, you need to learn to read extensively as well as efficiently; it is rarely practical to read everything word for word and line for line. Although close textual reading and interpretation is part of social science tradition, it is often not possible, especially for introductory and intermediate level survey courses. Instead of trying to read every line and word, consider the following suggestions for more effective studying.

Organize Your Reading

Look over the material to be covered. Estimate the amount of reading for the semester and try to divide the work on a weekly basis (plan between 2 and 4 hours of reading per week depending on your pace). Some weeks may have more reading assigned while other weeks less. Although the assignments vary, try to keep your work and pace steady; it will become less burdensome and easier to manage. Make sure to build into your schedule time for test review and written assignments.

How to Take Notes

Read the text and make marginal notes (on post-its or separate piece of paper) indicating what seemed like the strongest parts of the text. When you have completed reading once through the text, go back and take notes in outline form, by paraphrasing sentences or paragraphs until you have reduced the many pages of text to a few pages. (Make sure to keep an accurate citation to the work so that any future use of these notes and paraphrases can be appropriately cited. You do not want to find yourself engaged in plagiarism.) Do not rely on underlining. Do not rely on highlighting. This is insufficient. In order to “know” a text, you need to convert it into your own words. The text needs to be processed in several different ways in your brain. Underlining is passive and does not help you learn the material.

How to Read (Analytically)

1. Look up the author of the piece.
2. Read the title and try to guess what the material is about.
3. Read the abstract.
4. Formulate what you think you know about this issue. You may know nothing about the topic; use this ignorance to devise a list of what you need the author to tell you in order to become informed.
5. Outline the text (bullet points) as you read it.
6. What question(s) does the author claim to address? You might also want to think about how this reading fits into the course. Why did Léa choose this piece, and why did she assign in at this point of the course?
7. What theoretical statements does the author make? A theoretical statement proposes a relationship. For example, in “Society An Organism,” Spencer suggests that a society should be studied like a biological organism.
8. List the key terms used by the author and try to define them with your own words.
9. Does the author make any normative statements (moral judgments)?
10. How does the author’s argument compare with that of others who have addressed the same question? Where are the similarities and differences?
11. Do you agree with the author? If not, on what basis do you rest your disagreement? Is the author uninformed, misinformed, illogical, imprecise, or incomplete? Is the argument well sustained? Be critical but fair; do not pass judgment based on personal opinion, taste, or preference.

The content of this page was inspired by MIT Professor Susan S. Silbey’ OpenCourseWare