7 Reading and thinking

7.1 Processing meanings

Reading and thinking requires you to begin to process the material you read in preparation for re-presenting it in assessments. Initially, processing happens in your head. Selecting what to identify and extract will start the process off. Summarizing the arguments continues this process and, crucially, gets you started on reproducing ideas in your own words. The next stage is to develop your notes further by thinking more consciously about the material you have read and the points you have noted down. Indeed, you should be getting the essential point now that reading and thinking merge into one activity. We have already explored some of the possibilities for introducing questions as you read and supplementing highlighted material and short notes with additional words and quotes. Here we will look at two additional issues: how to reorganize notes into a more usable and fuller form, and how to internalize and interrogate them.