Allegheny College Joshua Searle-White, Ph.D.

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In several of my courses, students need to be prepared to give an oral analysis of the reading assignment in case they are called upon to do so at the beginning of class.  Here are some general principles that you can follow that may make this easier for you.
 

• Read the article(s): (It’s hard to do well without doing that.)
• Take notes on the reading.  Highlighting is fine, but it is only the beginning of the process.  The general principle is that the more actively you engage with the reading the more you will get from it.  The two best ways to interact with the reading are to take notes, in which you both highlight the important content and consider your reactions to it, and to discuss the article with your classmates in a structured way. Either of those methods should let you interact well with the article; the notes method has the added advantage of producing a written record of your thoughts.
• Look beyond the content.  What I am looking for is not memorization of the words or the facts.  What I am looking for is that you have read the material and thought about it.  In particular, I want you to try to look beyond the content of the article and try to find out what the issues are that frame that content.  For example, ask yourself these questions as you read and afterwards:
•  What is the main point the author is trying to make?
•  What assumptions and/or biases does the author seem to operate from?
•  Did the author present sufficient evidence for you to believe her/his claims?
• Was there something in the article you had never thought of before, or was it pretty much all old news?
• What part(s) of the article left you confused?
• What of the information or arguments you read would you like to know more about?
• How did you feel (besides relief at finally being finished) when you completed the article?

Remember that the point of all this is not (necessarily) to give you a hard time or make you uncomfortable.  It is to ensure that everybody is prepared for class and to give you the opportunity to examine these articles in depth in a way that will be helpful as you consider similar readings in the future.