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Sympathy and a few tips
Quote: tjarted68 said:
I am told I am what you would call a "gifted" student, but I have difficulties in reading and writing. I can never seem to figure out what the main idea is when reading a paragraph or a chapter, SO I HIGHLIGHT EVERYTHING I READ PRACTICALLY!
Usually after ABOUT 3,4, EVEN 5 REPETITIONS OF READING SOMETHING I AM ABLE TO BREAK IT DOWN AND UNDERSTAND THE MAIN POINT OF SOMETHING! Usually bettre than most who did it in less time than I did. BUT THAT'S THE PROBLEM! I GET THERE, BUT IT TAKES ME SOOO LONG SOMETIMES!
Hi Tjarted,
I don't know if this helps, but I think I know what you're talking about. When I'm taking notes on a lecture, presentation, or meeting, my hand basically never stops, and I know I miss bits b/c my brain is trying to finish its last thought while new information is streaming in. When reading, I sometimes end up highlighting or underlining almost the whole document, and my discipline in documenting things logically usually breaks down by the end of the article/book (if I even finish it!!). Reading takes me forever, largely because I can't focus on it enough to catch all the important information, and sometimes I get through entire pages or even chapters and realize that I have no clue what I just read.
As for organizing writing, it's always been a bit of a struggle, although somehow my nack for noticing things that others don't has tended to pull me through grade-wise. I tend to do my best in class discussion, however, because then I have someone to help my thread along when it's not quite comprehensible to the non-ADD mind.
Overtime, I've either gotten better in or worked around most of these areas of weakness, although if it's all that I'm doing it soon becomes too much to maintain (which would be why I'm leaving my doctoral program).
For exams that involve writing, my best advice would be practice, practice, PRACTICE! Even doing just a couple of practice essays within the time constraints that you'll have for the exam helps immensely. That's how I got through my MA exam and succeeded on the GRE writing section -- my first practice essays for a given test were sometimes horrible, but eventually I got the hang of it.
The same goes for note-taking. For anything I'm listening to, I attempt to take my notes in outline form (ie intenting for sub-points), so at least they're somewhat organized. Everytime the topic shifts significantly (say, the professor finishes giving the bio of an author and then starts talking about the work we read for class), I treat it as a new section and begin w/a non-indented line. Often I'll go back and "clean up" my notes after class, either in places where I got confused during the lecture, or where I know I'll forget what I meant after a couple of days, or where I simply couldn't finish my thought. If I'm really stuck, sometimes I'll see if another student caught what I missed.
Part of the trick is knowing what to listen/read for. Here are some things I've either been told at one point or another or found out on my own. Sorry if any of them sound ridiculously basic (I don't know what you've been taught), and feel free to take with a huge hunk of salt!!
1) Generally the begininning or end of a paragraph / chapter /article / book hold most of the basic ideas. So introductions, conclusions, thesis statements, concluding statements, and topic sentences are really good places to focus on either if you're forced to skim or if you need to re-read for comprehension. You may not catch everything, but you'll probably be able to follow the main idea of what you just read.
2) Wherever to author/ speaker uses a number, make note of that (eg: something like "I disagree what whatshisname in two ways...", or "there were three major influences in the author's work..."). This includes more generic "numbers" like "several" or "a number of" (eg: "One could raise several objections to this argument"). Each point/fact/whatever is usually then preceded by some variation of "first," "second," "third", and so on. Basically, he/she is handing "the main point" on a plate. Three is an especially common number.
3) If you're having trouble with highlighting everything, I would suggest attempting to read the text in chunks, and only applying ink after each chunk has been read in its entirety (even if just briefly). In other words, read 2 or 3 paragraphs, and then highlight. While it doesn't solve the speed probelm, at least you stand a chance at leaving some of the paper white.
4) Sort of similar to suggestion number 2, watch/listen for words and phrases that serve as markers or transitions. Ones like "however", "yet", "despite", "given", "similarly" or "another" often indicate some sort f relationship between ideas (contrast, cause-effect, comparison). Phrases like "most importantly", "in short", "in other words," or "I argue that" are usually indicators of the condensed version of a whole bunch of detail. "First", "next," "then," "finally", etc. mark either new steps in directions, or new points in an argument, and the crux of that step / point is usally summarized right after.
It's about becoming sensitive to emphasis, whether through language, format (bold, italics, charts, the presenter writing somthing on a blackboard or including it in a powerpoint), or pauses (these included paragraph / chapter breaks!!). Emphasis is code for "DON'T SKIM HERE" and, when done well, is there to do the filtering for you--the rest, again in the case of a good writer / speaker, is there to add meat to the skeleton of the main ideas, and is often less frustrating to sift through if you identify the skeleton that hold it all together.
Hope some of this helps!
FC
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26 Dec 2008 @ 10:34 AM
26 Dec 2008 @ 2:43 PM