Characteristics of the reader include reading skills, interest in the topic, physical factors such as sleepiness or hunger. Some reading is easy and moves along quickly, while other reading is quite dense and perhaps even tedious, packed with information. The next factor, strategies employed by the reader, makes all the difference. The goal of this handout is to give you a larger repertoire of reading strategies, to help you read less and get more out of it. The final consideration is the purpose.
Some students are good readers.
Perhaps their parents read to them when they were young, and as adults they read a great deal, read for pleasure, and find reading easy. They instinctively understand how to use reading strategies. For instance, when reading a newspaper, these students have no difficulty scanning the pages quickly, then slowing down to focus on one interesting article. Others are lazy and inattentive about reading, or feel insecure and easily intimidated by complex material. They have never had to read anything as difficult as their college textbooks and research materials.