This is a review of the reading strategies presented in English 9. These steps can be built into any reading assignment:

Step 1: Pre-reading and prediction

Before the students begin to read, they can use prior knowledge to predict what information may be in the selection. They can get clues from the title, the subject, or even an accompanying picture.
 

Step 2: Skimming/scanning

Students read through the selection quickly to find any additional information. This information can augment and modify information from the pre-reading stage.
 

Step 3: Looking for cognates

To further refine the understanding of the passage, the students can look for words that are similar to words in English.
 

Step 4: Looking for meaning through context

Students can sometimes get the meaning of unfamiliar words by looking at the context where the words are found.
 

Step 5: Careful reading

Too often students begin reading with this step. They find the passage difficult, get discouraged, and quit reading. With the preceding steps, students are better equipped to read a selection.
 

Step 6: Application

The application step taps the students' creativity and higher level thinking skills. In this step, the students apply the concepts of the reading passage to a new situation.
 

 For more information on reading comprehension, review the following sites:

Reading comprehension includes knowing what words mean, or defining them.  Understanding how pronouns relate to nouns in sentences is also a part of reading comprehension. It also includes understanding the meaning of phrases.  Some reading comprehension involves literal questions, or answers that are right there in the passage. Others are inferential, or answers come from what you know combined with the information in the passage.  The author may suggest something in the passage. Another type of reading comprehension asks the reader to identify the main idea of the passage.   The main idea is never very specific; it is a general, overall topic of the passage.

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Part one: Please read the passage carefully using the strategies described above.
 

Wolfgang Clemen
 

"Shakespeare and the Modern World"
 

Today it would be a commonplace to say that the greatest poets may be read and understood anew by each age and each generation, that new aspects of their work are continually being discovered and that they appeal to each generation in a new and different manner. This statement, however, provokes the question whether the understanding and interpretation of Shakespeare in each new generation is rather a reflection of the preoccupations and contemporary problems of that generation or whether it represents a genuine advance of scholarly insight-a better, because fuller and more objective comprehension. The truth may perhaps lie between these two alternatives: for our present knowledge and appreciation of Shakespeare, besides incorporating some of our own concerns and predilections, is also cumulative; much of what was discovered in Shakespeare during the eighteenth century, the Romantic period and the later nineteenth century has been taken over by present-day criticism and has been included in and integrated into our reading of his plays. Thus an analysis of Shakespeare's impact on the modern world would have to point out the connection existing between new and characteristic responses on the part of a modern audience to Shakespeare's plays and the chief trend of modern Shakespeare criticism, both seen in relation to the typical problems and preoccupations of our own generation.

Clemen, Wolfgang. "Shakespeare and the Modern World." Shakespeare Survey Volume 16: Shakespeare in the Modern World. Ed. Allardyce Nicoll. Cambridge University Press, 1963. Cambridge Collections Online. Cambridge University Press. February 4, 2008. http://cco.cambridge.org/extract?id=ccol0521064295_CCOL0521064295A007

1. Based on the title of the selection, what would you expect to find in the passage?

2. What is the meaning of "predilections" in the passage?

A. contempt or hate for an object

B. Predicting an outcome

C. A preference for something

D. A language dialect

3. Which statement best sums up the message of the passage?

A. Great poets are understood by all generations.

B. Shakespeare is discussed as having an impact on every generation; however, comprehension of his works has become more objective.

C. Shakespeare's works are not relevant today.

D. Literary criticism of Shakespeare has not changed over the last 200 years.

4. Predict what the next chapter would be if this passage appeared in a book:

A. "Our Generation and Shakespeare"

B. "Shakespeare and his Love Life"

C. "Writing like Shakespeare"

D. "A Critic Looks at Shakespeare's Plays"

Part 2:

Find an online article of your choice, of at least 300 words, that you consider useful in your life. Provide a citation and URL for the source so that I may see it, too. After reading the article, please answer the following questions:

 

1. In one sentence, tell me the main idea of the article.

2. How can this article help you in your life?

3. Have you ever read an article on this topic before?

If you answer "yes", was the information the same or different and in what ways are they the same or different.

If you answer "no", what made you want to read this article?

4. If you had to write a book about this article, what would you call or title the book?