Efficient and Flexible Reading 5th Edition Kathleen McWhorter

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Efficient and Flexible Reading5th
EditionKathleen McWhorter

• Chapter 6
• Reading Essays and Articles
• PowerPoint presentation by Ceil Fillenworth,
• St. Cloud State University, 1999

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In this chapter you will learn

• The difference between essays and articles
• The parts of formal essays
• The differences among narrative, descriptive and
  expository essays
• How to read press and journal articles
• How to analyze essays and articles

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Essays and Articles Defined

• Short pieces of writing that examine a single
  topic and focus on a single idea about that topic
• Essays and articles differ mainly in their
  viewpoints

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Differences Between Essays and Articles

• Essays
• Present personal view of an author on a subject
• More subjective
• Put a personal spin on the information presented

• Articles
• Author assumes the role of a reporter
• More objective
• Avoid personal feelings--concentrate on directly
  stating the facts

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Structure of an Essay

• Title
• Introduction
• Thesis Statement
• Body (Supporting Information)
• Summary or Conclusion

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Structure of an Essay

• Title

• Suggests the subject
• Captures or creates interest
• If a subtitle is included, it more directly
  states the subject

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Structure of an Essay

• Introduction

• Includes the thesis statement (main point of the
  essay)
• Identifies the topic
• Interests the reader
• Provides background
• Defines terms
• Builds interest

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Structure of an Essay

• Body
• (Supporting Information)

• Supports and explains the thesis statement
• Presents each main supporting point in a separate
  paragraph
• Provides, in each paragraph, details that make
  each main point understandable
• Uses examples, statistics, quotes, reasons, etc.

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Structure of an Essay

• Conclusion

• Final paragraph
• Reemphasizes (not restates) thesis
• Draws essay to a close
• May suggest direction of further thought, or
  introduce a new way to look at topic

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Four Types of Essays

• Narrative
• Descriptive
• Expository
• Argumentative

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Narrative EssaysRelate a sequence of events,
often in the form of a story

• Establish the setting.
• Notice how the story is told and who is telling
  it.
• Look beyond specific events to discover the
  overall meaning.
• Watch for the writers commentary as s/he tells
  the story.

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Descriptive EssaysProvide extensive sensory
details about the characteristics of people or
places

• Identify the subject of the essay
• Pay close attention to the choice of words
• Establish the overall impression being created
• Pay special attention to the first and last
  paragraphs

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Expository EssaysPresent and explain the facts
as the author understands them on a given topic

• Establish authors authority
• Pay attention to background information provided
• Identify the authors thesis
• Pay attention to new terminology
• Highlight as you read
• Outline, map, or summarize the essay

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Argumentative EssaysMake an assertion and
provide supporting evidence to support that
assertion

• Used to establish and evaluate positions on
  controversial issues
• See Chapter 12 for a thorough explanation of this
  type of essay.

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Articles

• Popular press articles
• Feature articles
• Scholarly articles

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Popular Press Articles

• Hard-News Articles
• Directly report serious news
• Organized in Inverted Pyramid or Action Story
  Structure

• Feature Articles
• Longer and greater depth than hard news
• Structure different than hard news because of
  length

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Hard News Format

• Title, Datelines, Credit Lines, Bylines, Summary
  Lead, Body, or Development presented in order of
  importance
• Action Story variations include (1) a
  presentation of events in chronological order,
  and (2) a conclusion containing information that
  does not fit within the chronology used in the
  body

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Feature Length Article Format

• Title, Byline, Credit Line and Dateline
• Feature Lead (sparks interest rather than
  summarizing contents)
• Nut Graph (explains the nature and scope of the
  article) - Read Carefully!
• Body or Development
• Conclusion

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Scholarly Journal Articles(Report developments
and research in particular fields)

• Used in research papers
• Format includes Abstract, summary of related
  research, description of research, results,
  implications, discussion and conclusions, and
  further research

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Reading Scholarly Journals

• Be sure you understand the authors purpose
• Highlight as you read
• Use index cards
• Use quotations

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Analyzing Essays and Articles

• Who is the author?
• What is the authors purpose?
• What does the introduction or lead add to the
  piece of writing?
• What is the authors thesis?
• Does the author adequately support the thesis?
• Does the author supply sources, references, or
  citations for facts and statistics presented?

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Evaluating Research Sources

• Read Critical Thinking Tip 6 carefully. The
  five suggestions will help you evaluate reference
  sources as you search for information.

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SummaryAfter reading the chapter you should have
learned

• The difference between essays and articles
• How essays and articles are organized
• Four types of essays
• The types of popular press articles
• How scholarly journals are organized
• How to critically read essays and articles

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For additional readings and exercises, visit the
Longman English Skills Web page at

• http//longman.awl.com/englishpages