RAWS

• Reading


  A cognitive process of decoding symbols to derive meaning from a text. It is always an interaction between the text and the reader.
• Reading is a skill that can be improved through consistent practice
• Previewing


  1. Looking at the readily visible parts of the text, like titles and subtitles, and also visuals and graphs, picture, and charts

  2. Helps familiarize you with the contents of the selection and focus on the important information in the text

  3. Identify your purpose for reading

  4. Examine the title and subtitle of the text

  5. Browse the introduction and the conclusion of the text

  6. Look at the visual elements of the text
• Skimming


  1. Looking for the main point of the reading and identifying the ideas that develop it

  2. Physically moving your eyes rapidly along the page and tracing your finger along the lines of the text to speed up your reading

  3. Involves quickly going through beginning and concluding sentences of paragraphs.
• Scanning


  1. Looking for specific information

  2. Useful when doing research or taking examinations

  3. You do not have to read every word; just read until you locate the details you are searching for.
• Context clues


  Words, phrases, and sentences that surround an unfamiliar word that can help you recognize the meaning of an unknown word because that text gives you information about it
• Types of context clues

  • Synonyms
  • Antonyms
  • Examples
  • Explanations and Definitions
  • Situations
• Denotation


  The basic, precise, literal meaning of the word that can be found in a dictionary
• Connotation


  The positive, negative, or neutral feelings, attitudes, ideas, or associations with a word
• Denotation vs Connotation


  • Father (denotation: a male parent, connotation: association - positive, feelings - love and respect)
  • Daddy (denotation: a male parent, connotation: association - positive, feelings - love, familiarity, childhood)
• Critical reading


  Evaluating claims, seeking definitions, judging information, demanding proof, and questioning assumptions.
• Techniques for critical reading


  • Keeping a reading journal
  • Annotating the text
  • Outlining the text
  • Summarizing the text
  • Questioning the text
• Explicit information


  1.Clearly written and explained in the text so the reader will not be confused

  2. Information that is clearly written
• Implicit information


  Something that is not stated outright in the text
• Inference


  A conclusion that you make based on explicit information and your reasoning and background knowledge
• Claim


  The central argument or thesis statement of the text, which will be proven by providing details, explanations, and other types of evidence
• Characteristics of good claims

  • Argumentative and debatable
  • Specific and focused
  • Interesting and engaging
  • Logical
• Types of claims

  • Claims of Fact
  • Claims of Value
  • Claims of Policy
• Context


  The social, cultural, political, historical, and other related circumstances that surround the text and form the terms from which it can be better understood and evaluated
• Intertextuality


  The connection between language, images, characters, themes, or subjects depending on their similarities in language, genre, or discourse. It is the modelling of a text's meaning by another text.
• Hypertext


  A non-linear way of showing information that connects topics on a screen to related information, graphics, videos, and music
• Assertion


  A declarative sentence that claims something is true about something else. It is a sentence that is either true or false.
• Types of assertions

  • Fact
  • Convention
  • Opinion
  • Preference
• Counterclaim


  A claim made to rebut a previous claim, providing a contrasting perspective to the main argument
• Evidence


  The details given by the author to support their claim, which can include facts, statistics, expert opinions, and personal anecdotes
• Characteristics of good evidence

  • Unified
  • Relevant to the central point
  • Specific and concrete
  • Accurate
  • Representative or typical
• Pre-writing


  The first stage of the writing process, involving techniques to discover ideas before writing the first draft
• Evidence


  Information provided by the writer that substantiates the text, reveals and builds on the position of the writer, and makes the reading more interesting
• Types of evidence

  • Facts and statistics
  • Opinion from experts
  • Personal anecdotes
• Characteristics of good evidence

  • Unified
  • Relevant to the central point
  • Specific and concrete
  • Accurate
  • Representative or typical
• Pre-writing


  1. Discovering ideas before writing the first draft

  2. Identifying what else you need to know about a topic

  3. Refraining from critiquing ideas while they have not yet been fully formed

  4. Communicating with yourself to discover what you want to communicate to your readers
• Determining the writing situation

  • Knowing the kind of paper
  • Writing situation or context of assignment
  • Determining your purpose
  • Recognizing your readers and anticipating their expectations, background, and knowledge of the topic
  • Topic
  • Tone
• Pre-writing strategies

  • Brainstorming
  • Clustering or Mapping
  • Freewriting
• Thesis statement


  The central idea of an essay, around which all other ideas revolve
• Thesis statement should avoid making overly-opinionated stands, announcements, or stating only facts
• Paragraph


  A group of sentences that deals with one particular idea, defined by the point that they support and the controlling idea
• Parts of a paragraph

  • Topic sentence
  • Supporting details
• Making paragraphs effective

  • Unity
  • Adequate development
  • Coherence
• Types of order to achieve coherence

  • Chronological order
  • Spatial order
  • Emphatic order
• Signal devices to achieve coherence

  • Transitions
  • Repetitions
  • Synonyms
  • Pronouns
  • Parallelism