{"id":34,"date":"2017-09-04T06:03:55","date_gmt":"2017-09-04T06:03:55","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/americanboard.org\/Subjects\/english\/?page_id=34"},"modified":"2017-09-18T14:40:18","modified_gmt":"2017-09-18T14:40:18","slug":"reading-comprehension","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/americanboard.org\/Subjects\/english\/reading-comprehension\/","title":{"rendered":"Reading Comprehension"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"twelve columns\" style=\"margin-top: 10%;\">\n<div class=\"advance\"><a class=\"button button-primary\" href=\"http:\/\/americanboard.org\/Subjects\/english\/introduction-the-what-how-why-of-expository-text\">\u2b05 Previous Lesson<\/a>\u00a0<a class=\"button\" href=\"http:\/\/americanboard.org\/Subjects\/english\/interpretation-of-expository-texts\">Workshop Index<\/a>\u00a0<a class=\"button button-primary\" href=\"http:\/\/americanboard.org\/Subjects\/english\/interpretations-of-expository-text\">Next Lesson \u27a1<\/a><\/div>\n<p><!-- CONTENT BEGINS HERE --><\/p>\n<h1 id=\"title\">Reading Comprehension<\/h1>\n<h4>Objective<\/h4>\n<p>Review strategies for analyzing expository text.<\/p>\n<p><!-- --><\/p>\n<h4>Previously Covered:<\/h4>\n<p><span class=\"glossary_a\"><em><strong>Exposition<\/strong><\/em><\/span> means \u201cexplanation,\u201d and expository text is\u00a0writing that sets forth or explains a thought or idea.<\/p>\n<p>Interpreting expository text involves the two-step process of reading and writing, or stimulus and response. People\u00a0write in response to some significant stimulus\u2014that is, an important event or experience. Their writing, in\u00a0turn, becomes a stimulus that produces some response in the reader.<\/p>\n<p>We read expository text to understand how other people respond to situations we may never experience on our own. We\u00a0write expository text to share our unique views of the world.<\/p>\n<p><!-- --><\/p>\n<section>The goal in reading is twofold: the first step is to understand the author\u2019s main point, and the second is to\u00a0formulate a response to it. The following sections describe basic strategies for helping new readers improve their\u00a0reading comprehension.<\/p>\n<h3 class=\"lesson_subhead\"><strong> Step One: Vocabulary Check<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>Vocabulary is the biggest stumbling block on the way to reading comprehension, especially for new readers or readers\u00a0faced with complex text. The vocabulary check is a strategy that prepares students for successful reading at any\u00a0level.<\/p>\n<p>The process is simple enough:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Students scan text for words they don\u2019t know and look up their definitions in the dictionary.<\/li>\n<li>Students keep a written list of vocabulary words and their meanings as a guide. This helps students remember the\u00a0definitions and draw connections to new vocabulary words.<\/li>\n<li>The teacher prepares a separate vocabulary list of words that have less common <span class=\"glossary_a\"><abbr title=\"The meaning of a word according to its literal definition.\">denotations<\/abbr><\/span> or\u00a0<span class=\"glossary_a\"><abbr title=\"The meaning suggested by a word beyond its literal definition\">connotations<\/abbr><\/span> in text.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<hr \/>\n<p>An important aspect of the vocabulary check is the use of <span class=\"glossary_a\"><abbr title=\"A phrase whose significance comes from general usage or convention rather than the literal definition of the words that comprise it; a phrase whose significance is determined by a specific culture and which therefore cannot be translated\">idioms<\/abbr><\/span> and\u00a0<span class=\"orange_important\"><abbr class=\"glossary_a\" title=\"An expression that uses words or phrases outside their literal definitions, usually employing simile or metaphor, to convey a new idea. \">figures of speech<\/abbr><\/span>. Idioms\u00a0are phrases or expressions whose significance comes from the common usage within a particular culture rather than a\u00a0dictionary definition. The idiomatic phrase \u201cchewing the fat,\u201d for instance, has nothing to do with a meal of\u00a0underdone roast beef. Similarly, figures of speech are nonliteral expressions that express some sort of <span class=\"orange_important\"><abbr class=\"glossary_a\" title=\"Characterized by having a non-literal meaning: the subject under discussion actually refers to a different thing or idea, rather than to itself\">metaphorical<\/abbr><\/span> or <span class=\"glossary_a\"><abbr title=\"representing or implying something beyond the literal meaning\">symbolic<\/abbr><\/span> truth. Because\u00a0idioms and figures of speech are almost always composed of simple, common words, they are easy to overlook. However,\u00a0they are also heavily freighted with meaning. Here\u2019s a quick vocabulary check practice exercise. Read the following\u00a0passage:<\/p>\n<table border=\"0\" width=\"618\" cellspacing=\"2\" cellpadding=\"10\" align=\"center\" bgcolor=\"#caebea\">\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td>It is of man that I have to speak; and the question I am investigating shows me that it is to men that I\u00a0must address myself: for questions of this sort are not asked by those who are afraid to honor truth. I\u00a0shall then confidently uphold the cause of humanity before the wise men who invite me to do so, and shall\u00a0not be dissatisfied if I acquit myself in a manner worthy of my subject and of my judges.(Jean-Jacques Rousseau, <i>Dissertation On the Origin and Foundation of The Inequality of Mankind<\/i>;\u00a01754.)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<hr \/>\n<section class=\"question\">\n<h4>Question<\/h4>\n<div>\n<p>Imagine that you, the teacher, are preparing your list of words with less common meanings. Which of the\u00a0following verbs would likely be included on your list?<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li>Address<\/li>\n<li>Honor<\/li>\n<li>Invite<\/li>\n<li>Acquit<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/div>\n<p><a class=\"button button-primary q-answer\"> Reveal Answer <\/a><\/p>\n<div class=\"q-reveal\" style=\"display: none;\"><span class=\"lesson_text\">Rousseau employs the primary definition of all these verbs except &#8220;acquit&#8221; (Choice D). Here, instead of its usual meaning (to discharge completely, as of an accusation or obligation), acquit means &#8220;carry&#8221; or &#8220;conduct.&#8221;<\/span><\/div>\n<\/section>\n<h3><\/h3>\n<h3 class=\"lesson_subhead\"><strong>Step Two: Basic Detective Work<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>Once the reader understands the actual words the author has chosen to use, he or she is ready to take the first step\u00a0in figuring out the ideas those words are meant to convey. As any journalist or budding private eye knows, all\u00a0important lines of investigation begin with a few simple question words: who, what, when, where, and why.<\/p>\n<p>The student should read the text with these question words in mind. Each question word can open several different\u00a0lines of inquiry, which the teacher can use to begin a class discussion or as individual writing assignments.<\/p>\n<p>By answering these questions and others like them, students understand more about the content of the text and begin\u00a0to place the text in context.<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<table width=\"98%\">\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<th id=\"h2\" class=\"lesson_text\" width=\"30%\">\n<div class=\"lesson_subhead\" align=\"center\">Question Word<\/div>\n<\/th>\n<th id=\"h3\" class=\"lesson_text\" width=\"70%\">\n<div class=\"lesson_subhead\" align=\"center\">Lines of Inquiry<\/div>\n<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td class=\"lesson_text\" headers=\"h2\">WHO<\/td>\n<td class=\"lesson_text\" headers=\"h3\" width=\"70%\">Who is writing?<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td class=\"lesson_text\" headers=\"h2\"><\/td>\n<td class=\"lesson_text\" headers=\"h3\" width=\"70%\">Who is the author writing about?<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td class=\"lesson_text\" headers=\"h2\"><\/td>\n<td class=\"lesson_text\" headers=\"h3\" width=\"70%\">Who is the author writing for? That is, who is the intended<br \/>\naudience?<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td class=\"lesson_text\" headers=\"h2\"><\/td>\n<td class=\"lesson_text\" headers=\"h3\" width=\"70%\">With whom does the author agree\/disagree?<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td class=\"lesson_text\" headers=\"h2\">WHAT<\/td>\n<td class=\"lesson_text\" headers=\"h3\" width=\"70%\">What does this word\/phrase\/idiom mean?<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td class=\"lesson_text\" headers=\"h2\"><\/td>\n<td class=\"lesson_text\" headers=\"h3\" width=\"70%\">What is the main topic under discussion?<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td class=\"lesson_text\" headers=\"h2\"><\/td>\n<td class=\"lesson_text\" headers=\"h3\" width=\"70%\">What is the context? (Political? Philosophical? Historical?)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td class=\"lesson_text\" headers=\"h2\">WHERE<\/td>\n<td class=\"lesson_text\" headers=\"h3\">Where (geographically, culturally) is the author from?<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td class=\"lesson_text\" headers=\"h2\"><\/td>\n<td class=\"lesson_text\" headers=\"h3\">Where is the piece intended to be read: Locally? Globally?<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td class=\"lesson_text\" headers=\"h2\"><\/td>\n<td class=\"lesson_text\" headers=\"h3\">Where was piece published? In a small, obscure magazine? In a widely<br \/>\ncirculated newspaper?<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td class=\"lesson_text\" headers=\"h2\">WHEN<\/td>\n<td class=\"lesson_text\" headers=\"h3\">When in history was this piece written?<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td class=\"lesson_text\" headers=\"h2\"><\/td>\n<td class=\"lesson_text\" headers=\"h3\">To what historical period does it refer: Past? Present? Future?<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td class=\"lesson_text\" headers=\"h2\"><\/td>\n<td class=\"lesson_text\" headers=\"h3\">What important events were happening at the same time?<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td class=\"lesson_text\" headers=\"h2\">WHY<\/td>\n<td class=\"lesson_text\" headers=\"h3\">What motivated the author to write this piece?<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td class=\"lesson_text\" headers=\"h2\"><\/td>\n<td class=\"lesson_text\" headers=\"h3\">Why is it significant to me (the reader)?<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Keep in mind the above as you read the following excerpt from Jonathan Edwards\u2019 sermon, \u201cSinners in the Hands of an\u00a0Angry God\u201d (1741):<\/p>\n<table border=\"0\" width=\"618\" cellspacing=\"2\" cellpadding=\"10\" align=\"center\" bgcolor=\"#caebea\">\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td>It is no security to wicked men for one moment, that there are no visible means of death at hand. It is no\u00a0security to a natural man, that he is now in health, and that he does not see which way he should now\u00a0immediately go out of the world by any accident, and that there is no visible danger in any respect in his\u00a0circumstances. The manifold and continual experience of the world in all ages, shows this is no evidence,\u00a0that a man is not on the very brink of eternity, and that the next step will not be into another world.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<hr \/>\n<section class=\"question\">\n<h4>Question<\/h4>\n<div>\n<p>Why does Edwards phrase his statements in the negative, going so far as to include a double negative in his\u00a0concluding sentence?<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li>To force his audience to untangle his web of words and thus pay closer attention to his point<\/li>\n<li>To instill fear, or at least uneasiness, in his audience<\/li>\n<li>There is no purpose; the double negative contradicts his earlier statements<\/li>\n<li>To show by subtle linguistic means that wickedness is a negative state<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/div>\n<p><a class=\"button button-primary q-answer\"> Reveal Answer <\/a><\/p>\n<div class=\"q-reveal\" style=\"display: none;\"><span class=\"lesson_text\">The answer is A. By its nature, negation requires the reader to take an extra logical step: we must comprehend the assertion in order to understand that it is being negated. The double negative that Edwards uses in conclusion forces the reader to backtrack through the paragraph and figure out, from context and from the rules of grammar, that the negatives do indeed cancel each other out \u2014<br \/>\nthat is, that history <em>does<\/em> provide evidence that man <em>is<\/em> on the brink of eternity and that his next step <em>could<\/em> very easily deliver him into another world.<\/span><\/div>\n<\/section>\n<hr \/>\n<p><strong>Step Three: Background Investigation<\/strong><\/p>\n<p class=\"lesson_text\">Now for a tougher question about the same passage: In what historical context is Jonathan Edwards\u00a0writing?<\/p>\n<p class=\"lesson_text\">This cannot be answered by the text itself, yet it is just as important in understanding the\u00a0significance of this sermon. Some lines of investigative inquiry can be answered from within the text. Others reach\u00a0beyond the text and require outside research before they can be answered. Because expository text is usually an\u00a0author\u2019s response to some particular event or experience, background knowledge can be essential in understanding the\u00a0author\u2019s perspective and main point.<\/p>\n<p class=\"lesson_text\">Many of the basic lines of inquiry outlined in the previous section raise questions that can\u00a0only be answered with a little research. Usually, the text provides enough clues for students to begin their\u00a0investigations. In the case of the Edwards passage, we have the following clues to go on:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Date of writing: mid-eighteenth century<\/li>\n<li>Topic: religious sermon<\/li>\n<li>Author\u2019s point of view: what would be called \u201cfundamentalist Christian\u201d in contemporary language<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<section class=\"question\">\n<h4>Question<\/h4>\n<div>\n<p>What keywords would likely return the most helpful information from an Internet search?<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li>1741, Christian fundamentalist<\/li>\n<li>Eighteenth century, religion, Edwards<\/li>\n<li>Sermons, Christian, eighteenth century<\/li>\n<li>Fundamentalism, roots, Edwards<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/div>\n<p><a class=\"button button-primary q-answer\"> Reveal Answer <\/a><\/p>\n<div class=\"q-reveal\" style=\"display: none;\"><span class=\"lesson_text\">The answer is B. The words and phrases, <i>Eighteenth century<\/i>, <i>religion<\/i>, and <i>Edwards<\/i> would return the most pertinent data given that they specify the historical period, the name of the author, and the general topic under investigation.<\/span><\/div>\n<\/section>\n<hr \/>\n<h3><strong> S<span class=\"lesson_subhead\">tep Four: Prioritizing Information<\/span><\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>Expository text can contain a lot of extraneous information such as:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Background material<\/li>\n<li>Asides<\/li>\n<li>Tangential thoughts<\/li>\n<li>References to other writers<\/li>\n<li>Related schools of thought<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Not all of these elements are essential to understanding the main idea being conveyed. Students must therefore\u00a0develop the ability to sift through the facts and figure out which are fundamental to the author\u2019s theme. The \u201c<abbr title=\"These are similar methods of reading that serve different purposes. In both skimming and scanning, text is not actually read word for word. Skimming is the process of quickly determining the general meaning of a passage, while scanning is the process of picking out certain types of information from text. To skim text, the reader pays attention to obvious features that are most likely to be significant, such as titles and subtitles, beginning and ending sentences of paragraphs, and active verbs. In scanning, the reader first decides on a question or topic of interest. The next step is to search the text quickly for keywords or phrases that are likely to yield appropriate information.\">skimming and scanning<\/abbr>\u201d methods are handy ways of picking out\u00a0factual information from surrounding text.<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p>Henry David Thoreau\u2019s \u201cA Plea for Captain John Brown\u201d (1859) includes plenty of biographical detail about Thoreau\u2019s\u00a0subject, the insurgent John Brown, who raided the town of Harper\u2019s Ferry, West Virginia, in an attempt to begin an\u00a0insurrection of slaves throughout the South. Thoreau believed Brown\u2019s actions were just and that the government\u00a0should not seek to hang him.<\/p>\n<table border=\"0\" width=\"618\" cellspacing=\"2\" cellpadding=\"10\" align=\"center\" bgcolor=\"#caebea\">\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td>He was one of that class of whom we hear a great deal, but, for the most part, see nothing at all\u2013\u2013the\u00a0Puritans. It would be in vain to kill him. He died lately in the time of Cromwell, but he reappeared here.\u00a0Why should he not? Some of the Puritan stock are said to have come over and settled in New England. They\u00a0were a class that did something else than celebrate their forefathers&#8217; day, and eat parched corn in\u00a0remembrance of that time. They were neither Democrats nor Republicans, but men of simple habits,\u00a0straightforward, prayerful; not thinking much of rulers who did not fear God, not making many compromises,\u00a0nor seeking after available candidates.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<hr \/>\n<section class=\"question\">\n<h4>Question<\/h4>\n<div>\n<p>In the context of Thoreau\u2019s argument, which of these pieces of information about Brown\u2019s Puritanism is most\u00a0important?<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li>Cromwell eradicated the Puritans in England.<\/li>\n<li>The Puritans settled New England.<\/li>\n<li>They established the tradition of Thanksgiving.<\/li>\n<li>They answered to God rather than politicians.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/div>\n<p><a class=\"button button-primary q-answer\"> Reveal Answer <\/a><\/p>\n<div class=\"q-reveal\" style=\"display: none;\"><span class=\"lesson_text\">The answer is B. Thoreau is reminding his audience that Brown is descended from the people whose willingness to stand up for their liberty, regardless of the consequence, resulted in the founding of the nation. <\/span><\/div>\n<\/section>\n<h3 class=\"lesson_subhead\"><strong> Step Five: Paraphrase\/Summarize<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>At this stage of the reading comprehension process, the student is ready to tackle the big question: what is the\u00a0author\u2019s main point?<\/p>\n<p>This is a two-step strategy for students to use.\u00a0 To begin, the teacher selects a significant passage of text\u00a0that communicates the author\u2019s theme. Students then first paraphrase the text selection as succinctly as possible.\u00a0Ideally, the <span class=\"glossary_a\"><abbr title=\"A restatement of a text that conveys the original meaning in different words.\">paraphrase<\/abbr><\/span> will be no more than two or three sentences long. Secondly, students <span class=\"glossary_a\"><abbr title=\"to condense a piece of text in order to convey the original points and structure in abbreviated form\">summarize<\/abbr><\/span> their versions of the text in a\u00a0single sentence.<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p>The goal of this strategy is for the student to create a better understanding of the text, without inserting any\u00a0personal opinions or conclusions about the reading material. The point in reading comprehension is exactly the same:\u00a0the reader is preparing to make a considered, reasonable response to the text.<\/p>\n<p>Read the following passage from Abraham Lincoln\u2019s 1863 Emancipation Proclamation:<\/p>\n<table border=\"0\" width=\"618\" cellspacing=\"2\" cellpadding=\"10\" align=\"center\" bgcolor=\"#caebea\">\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td>That on the first day of January, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, all\u00a0persons held as slaves within any State or designated part of a State, the people whereof shall then be in\u00a0rebellion against the United States, shall be then, thenceforward, and forever free; and the Executive\u00a0Government of the United States, including the military and naval authority thereof, will recognize and\u00a0maintain the freedom of such persons, and will do no act or acts to repress such persons, or any of them, in\u00a0any efforts they may make for their actual freedom.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<hr \/>\n<section class=\"question\">\n<h4>Question<\/h4>\n<div>\n<p>Select the choice that best summarizes its main point.<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li>As of January 1, 1863, all slaves in every state of the Union are free.<\/li>\n<li>On January 1, 1863, all slaves in any of the United States shall be free, and any attempts they make to\u00a0free themselves shall be supported by the U.S. government.<\/li>\n<li>On January 1, 1863, all people who are held as slaves in any state currently in rebellion against the\u00a0United States shall be freed, and the U.S. government will support the efforts of those slaves to free<br \/>\nthemselves.<\/li>\n<li>On January 1, 1863, the government of the United States shall recognize the freedom of persons held as\u00a0slaves, including those under the authority of the military in general and the navy in particular.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/div>\n<p><a class=\"button button-primary q-answer\"> Reveal Answer <\/a><\/p>\n<div class=\"q-reveal\" style=\"display: none;\"><span class=\"lesson_text\">The answer is C. This passage says clearly that only slaves in Confederate states (that is, states in rebellion against the United States) shall be freed. Still, this point is commonly misunderstood, mainly because most people have a preconceived notion that Lincoln ended U.S. slavery once and for all with the Emancipation Proclamation. In fact, this was not achieved until two years later, with the end of the Civil War. <\/span><\/div>\n<\/section>\n<hr \/>\n<\/section>\n<p><!-- CONTENT ENDS HERE --><\/p>\n<div class=\"advance\"><a class=\"button button-primary\" href=\"http:\/\/americanboard.org\/Subjects\/english\/introduction-the-what-how-why-of-expository-text\">\u2b05 Previous Lesson<\/a>\u00a0<a class=\"button\" href=\"http:\/\/americanboard.org\/Subjects\/english\/interpretation-of-expository-texts\">Workshop Index<\/a>\u00a0<a class=\"button button-primary\" href=\"http:\/\/americanboard.org\/Subjects\/english\/interpretations-of-expository-text\">Next Lesson \u27a1<\/a><\/div>\n<p><a class=\"backtotop\" href=\"#title\">Back to Top<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>\u2b05 Previous Lesson\u00a0Workshop Index\u00a0Next Lesson \u27a1 Reading Comprehension Objective Review strategies for analyzing expository text. Previously Covered: Exposition means \u201cexplanation,\u201d and expository text is\u00a0writing that sets forth or explains a thought or idea. Interpreting expository text involves the two-step process of reading and writing, or stimulus and response. People\u00a0write in response to some significant stimulus\u2014that [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-34","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/americanboard.org\/Subjects\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/34","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/americanboard.org\/Subjects\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/americanboard.org\/Subjects\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/americanboard.org\/Subjects\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/americanboard.org\/Subjects\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=34"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/americanboard.org\/Subjects\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/34\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":424,"href":"https:\/\/americanboard.org\/Subjects\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/34\/revisions\/424"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/americanboard.org\/Subjects\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=34"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}