a guide to better comprehension
analysing and its importance
we've all had a time when words seem to escape us. the text on the page in front of you swimming until it looks more alike smudges than legible letters. dense chunks of text are difficult to break down and understand - something that can often turn people away from reading and/or writing! many may find themselves struggling in assessment tasks - unable to understand a question or find information in the text that directly correlates to what you're searching for. unfortunately, if you don't draw conclusions that specifically address your task - you're likely to be marked wrong!
luckily, there are numerous ways in a which a text can be analysed, all of which help to break it down into more understandable and easily comprehensible sections. analysing texts is a lifelong skill - it's useful not only in school/the workplace, but also in everyday life!
the question/prompt
often, texts you find need analysing aren't your 'light' reading - books you'd select for fun. dense texts are common place in more formal settings, such as in research journals or exam stimuli. when preparing to analyse texts such as these, it's important you have a specific question or prompt in mind - one you aim to answer with the use of the text.
for example, a question might ask you to "analyse and identify notable traits of women who have played prominent roles in the media,". from this, we can identify words such as 'notable traits of women', and 'prominent roles in the media'. this allows us to form a simpler question - "what important characteristics did women in the media display?". when analysing a text, it's vital you keep the question you're looking to answer in mind!
skim reading for keywords
whatever you do, don't just jump into reading! you'll find yourself quickly lost in a jumble of words and seemingly endless sentences. instead, scan each paragraph for keywords that will help you answer the question. when you locate them, highlight them! for the example question used above, some key terms you could look for are 'women', 'characteristics', or 'media'. this is especially easy to do on digital devices - use ctrl+f to search the page(s) instantly for these terms!
once you've skim read the text, you should be able to group your highlighted phrases into arguments. they will most likely have cohesive underlying themes - if you're able to identify these, you can base your work (your answer to the question) off them! for example, if you notice the text is often saying women are less seen in the media, you could infer this means women were underrepresented. as such, perhaps women in the media are more likely to display traits such as persistence and determination - characteristics required to succeed in a male dominated field! from this, we've managed to turn a potentially irrelevant phrase from the text into a useful argument for your question.
summarise the text
this is most helpful in scenarios that involve analysing a lengthy piece of text, such as an assignment, non-fiction book, or creative work! after finishing a page/chapter, you may find it helpful to summarise the key points of what you just read. if you return to the text later (which you most likely will!) you'll be able to quickly flip through your notes and identify the most relevant aspects of the text. this also means you won't have to read the whole text again - which is very useful, especially when your document is 120+ pages!
for exams or short pieces of text, utilise your highlighted phrases (from skim reading) to summarise the key points of the article. this is a great way to quickly summarise the text, and draw conclusions that answer your main question.
apply context to your conclusions
when analysing a text, it's important to consider more than just the words written on paper. what do you know about the text, other than what it says? think about who it was written by, when it was written, and where! not only does this allow you to further understand the author's perspective on your topic, it also provides great benefit to the reliability and level of understanding of your analysis.
for example, if you're conducting a research investigation centring around beliefs in the 17th century, a newspaper article published weeks ago may not be the most relevant source of information for your work! however, if you are considering the point of view of a specific demographic, it can also be interesting to mention how other perspectives contrast from this.
taking into account the context of your text ensures you're not missing out on a major chunk of information that could completely alter your argument. by mentioning the background information, not only do you sound smart - you're proving you have a deep understanding of a reliable text.
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