Mastering the Grad School essentials: Reading and writing

strategies
Missed our first Read/Write/Present workshop? No worries. These tips and resources come our
way via workshop leader Kester Dyer, who shares his notes on the most effective reading and
writing strategies for grad school.
Here's what to do if you want to

1.

...do well in class discussion

Before class: In addition to doing class readings, you should note down questions and
comments while reading that you can bring to the discussion, writes University of Washington
Professor Ralina Joseph.
Once youre in class, Joseph recommends staying away from lambasting the reading or author
of the week. Instead, attempt to articulate its contributions/interventions as well as limitation,
she writes. If you can, connect the weeks reading with those from other classes or with your
prior knowledge.
Kester also recommends rephrasing the texts conclusions in discussion. If you're looking for a
good way to ground an argument is to begin with examples from the text.
2. ...get through those stacks of readings
Dont skip a reading! Thats one of Beth Azars main points in her reading tips for the American
Psychological Association. Instead, giving yourself a daily goal of pages to read will break down
the reading into more manageable chunks. If youre doing well in one class, Azar suggests
concentrating on a class where you need to spend the extra time on the material.
A note on skim reading: Evidence shows skim reading can lead to more information absorbed
than by only thoroughly reading part of a text, writes Azar. However, she warns that by skim
reading you will sacrifice a deeper understanding of the text. She recommends saving the
technique for those classes youre already doing well in.
3. ...read more efficiently
Azar recommends using the SQ3R Method of active reading. The method has five steps:
surveying, questioning, reading, reciting, and reviewing.
Another active reading method Kester brings up is Frame Reading, to which he was
introduced by Prof. Salazkina from the Mel Hoppenheim School of Cinema.
Heres a run-down of how it works:

Be sure to reserve a significant amount of time to devote to reading;

Frame Read the text scanning and skimming it;
Identify markers of structure and emphasis, such as In this essay, I will Three
important things need to be said" First, , second, or For example, .

Back-cast as you read paragraphs, reading each paragraph without underlining, looking
up anything unclear, summarizing the key idea of each paragraph and circling or underlining it in
the text.
4. ...improve your organizational skills
Organizing your readings is beneficial on a number of levels. Whether youre writing a lit review
or a dissertation, being able to refer back to your notes quickly will save you time and allow you
to write more thoroughly and creatively. Reviewing for exams or writing assignments like
annotated bibliographies will become a piece of cake (especially if you follow one of the active
reading strategies outlined above). Plus, youll be able to respond more quickly and effectively
to calls for papers, or apply for funding.
Here are a few tips on organizing your readings and notes:
1. Keep printed articles in file folders.
2. Keep different notebooks for different purposes (one seminar per notebook is a good way to
separate topics).
3. Generate annotated bibliographies.
4. Use Refworks. (If youre not sure how, check out the workshop Using RefWorks for
Graduates: Citations and Bibliographies Simplified given by the Concordia library on Oct. 28).

5. ...improve your writing

Write every day! Writing regularly is one of the fastest ways to improve.
Got a writing buddy? Ask them to peer edit your work and give you feedback.
Try writing a reverse outline, where you remove everything but your most important
points from your draft to test whether your paper has met its goal. The University of Wisconsins
Writing Handbook is a good resource if youve never done this before.
Avoid stringing quotes together, recommends Kester. Your work should be written
primarily in your own words (aim for a 75/25 ratio of your own words to other authors', if that
helps).
Purdue Universitys OWL (Online Writing Lab) is full of quality writing resources.
6. ...write a literature review
If youre tasked with writing a review of the literature - often a component of the introduction to a
longer paper - you will be surveying the previous significant scholarly work on your topic.
Your literature review should be relevant to your research question; summarize what is and is
not known about your topic; define areas of controversy that have arisen in the literature; and
formulate questions that need further research, writes Dena Taylor for the University of
Toronto.
Taylor also provides a list of questions you should ask yourself about each text you are
reviewing. (For example: Has the author formulated a problem/issue? Is it clearly defined?
Could it have been approached more effectively from another perspective? Etc.)
If youre still not sure on how to write that lit review, check out this helpful How-To provided by
the Concordia library.