LibGuides: Reading for College: Books & eBooks

Featured eBooks

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The Art of Poetry : How to Read a Poem A uniquely comprehensive, step-by-step introduction to poetic form, The Art of Poetry moves progressively from smaller units such as the word, line, and image, to larger features such as verse forms and voice.In fourteen engaging, eloquently written chapters, Wolosky explores in depth howpoetry works while offering brilliant readings of some of the finest lyric poetry in the English and American traditions. Both readers new to poetry and poetry veterans will be moved and enlightened as Wolosky interprets works by William Shakespeare, John Donne, William Blake, William Wordsworth,Emily Dickinson, Robert Frost, Sylvia Plath, and others.Featuring a comprehensive bibliography, a glossary of poetic terms, and a new appendix of suggestions for further reading, The Art of Poetry is a rich source of inspiration.
Essaying the Past : How to Read, Write, and Think about History Part research manual, part study guide, and part introduction to the study of history, Essaying the Past guides the reader through the nuts and bolts of producing good historical prose, offering key strategies and useful tips. Includes expert advice on writing about history, conducting good research, and learning how to think analytically Covers important topics such as framing questions, developing a strong introduction and topic sentences, choosing good evidence, and the crucial role of revision An annotated case study takes the reader through one student's process of writing an essay and illustrates how strategies discussed in the book can be successfully implemented Six appendices cover the major issues facing students today, such as the dangers of plagiarism and the role of the internet
Handbook of College Reading and Study Strategy Research This Handbook is the most comprehensive and up-to-date source available for college reading and study strategy practitioners and administrators. In response to changing demographics, politics, policy, issues, and concerns in the field of college reading and study strategies since publication of the first edition in 2000, this new edition has been substantially revised and fully updated to reflect the newest research in the field, including six new chapters and a more user-friendly structure to make it easier for researchers, program administrators, college instructors, and graduate students to find the information that they need. In this thorough and systematic examination of theory, research, and practice, college reading teachers will find information to make better instructional decisions, administrators will find justification for programmatic implementations, and professors will find in one book both theory and practice to better prepare graduate students to understand the parameters and issues of this field. The Handbookis an essential resource for professionals, researchers, and students as they continue to study, research, learn, and share more about college reading and study strategy issues and instruction.
How to Read a Book An award-winning novelist reveals the books that have captivated her and the influence they have had on her life and writing. Highlighting a true love affair with books, this story emphasizes the transformative power of the written word.
How to Read a Paragraph : The Art of Close Reading How to Read a Paragraph introduces the importance of purposeful skilled reading and lays out methods by which to develop close reading skills using the tools of critical thinking. Developing these skills enables students to read for deep understanding, to properly analyze and assess what they read, and to reason within the logic of an author. As readers engage with the thinking of authors and uncover their assumptions and motivations, they glean the most useful information from their written work. This book pairs with How to Write a Paragraph to offer an in-depth introduction to effective reading and writing skills. Activities in the book help sharpen reading comprehension skills for an elevated level of self-understanding, fulfillment, and depth of vision. As part of the Thinker's Guide Library, this book advances the mission of the Foundation for Critical Thinking to promote fairminded critical societies through cultivating essential intellectual abilities and virtues within every field of study across world.
How to Read Literature What makes a work of literature good or bad? How freely can the reader interpret it? Could a nursery rhyme like Baa Baa Black Sheep be full of concealed loathing, resentment, and aggression? In this accessible, delightfully entertaining book, Terry Eagleton addresses these intriguing questions and a host of others. How to Read Literature is the book of choice for students new to the study of literature and for all other readers interested in deepening their understanding and enriching their reading experience. In a series of brilliant analyses, Eagleton shows how to read with due attention to tone, rhythm, texture, syntax, allusion, ambiguity, and other formal aspects of literary works. He also examines broader questions of character, plot, narrative, the creative imagination, the meaning of fictionality, and the tension between what works of literature say and what they show. Unfailingly authoritative and cheerfully opinionated, the author provides useful commentaries on classicism, Romanticism, modernism, and postmodernism along with spellbinding insights into a huge range of authors, from Shakespeare and J. K. Rowling to Jane Austen and Samuel Beckett.
How to Read World Literature The new edition of this highly popular guide, How to Read World Literature, addresses the unique challenges and joys faced when approaching the literature of other cultures and eras. Fully revised to address important developments in World Literature, and generously expanded with new material, this second edition covers a wide variety of genres - from lyric and epic poetry to drama and prose fiction - and discusses how each form has been used in different eras and cultures. An ideal introduction for those new to the study of World Literature, as well as beginners to ancient and foreign literature, this book offers a variety of "modes of entry" to reading these texts. The author, a leading authority in the field, draws on years of teaching experience to provide readers with ways of thinking creatively and systematically about key issues, such as reading across time and cultures, reading works in translation, emerging global perspectives, postcolonialism, orality and literacy, and more. Accessible and enlightening, offers readers the tools to navigate works as varied as Homer, Sophocles, Kalidasa, Du Fu, Dante, Murasaki, Moliere, Kafka, Wole Soyinka, and Derek Walcott Fully revised and expanded to reflect the changing face of the study of World Literature, especially in the English-speaking world Now includes more major authors featured in the undergraduate World Literature syllabus covered within a fuller critical context Features an entirely new chapter on the relationship between World Literature and postcolonial literature How to Read World Literature, Second Edition is an excellent text for undergraduate and postgraduate courses in World Literature. It is also a fascinating and informative read for all readers with an interest in foreign and ancient literature and the history of civilization.
Learning to Read Critically in Language and Literacy `[This book] has definitely aided my understanding of the processes involved in taking a critical stance and would enable me to pick out and maybe even teach the different facets of critical thinking. It has also developed my knowledge in the field of language and literacy education′ - British Journal of Educational Studies Following other volumes in the Learning to Read Critically series, Learning to Read Critically in Language and Literacy aims to develop skills of critical analysis and research design. It presents a series of examples of `best practice′ in language and literacy education research at a time when literacy development and learning through language are key policy issues. This book is an overview of issues in Language and Literacy Education research, as well as a guide to appropriate research methods, and how to do a literature survey. Leading researchers present a research project, together with their gloss on why they did it that way; what they found, or did not find, and why the research worked or in some cases did not work. The book is intended as a reference and teaching text for taught postgraduate courses in the area of language and literacy. This series, edited by Mike Wallace, supports research-based teaching on masters and taught doctorate courses in the humanities and social sciences fields of enquiry. Each book is a ′three in one′ text designed to assist advanced course tutors and dissertation supervisors with key research-based teaching tasks and aims to: * develop students′ critical understanding of research literature * increase students′ appreciation of what can be achieved in small-scale investigations similar to those which they undertake for their dissertation * present students with major findings, generalisations and concepts connected to their particular field.
Read Better and Remember More in 20 Minutes a Day Whether you're studying for an exam, making your way through an instructional manual on the job, keeping up with work-related magazines and newspaper articles, or just coping with everyday situations in life, reading often makes the difference between success and failure. But it isn't how fast you read that's important. It's how well you understand what you read and how much of it you remember. In these pages you'll find easy-to-use techniques to help you remember more of what you read than you ever thought possible. Read Better, Remember More focuses on understanding and remembering what you read - not just on reading faster; emphasizes real-world materials - textbooks, manuals, reports, memos, newspapers, and magazines; gives you simple step-by-step techniques that you can use every time you read; and provides lots of practice exercises - and answers.
Reading Comprehension Success Good reading isn't just about knowing the words. It is about being able to understand what is being read and putting it to use. Reading Comprehension Success: In 20 Minutes a day, 2nd edition guides the reader through the specific techniques of reading comprehension from extracting the main ideas to reading between the lines in an easy 20-step program. Each step takes just twenty minutes a day.
Reading Essays Approaches abound to help us beneficially, enjoyably read fiction, poetry, and drama. Here, for the first time, is a book that aims to do the same for the essay. G. Douglas Atkins performs sustained readings of more than twenty-five major essays, explaining how we can appreciate and understand what this currently resurgent literary form reveals about the ""art of living.""Atkins' readings cover a wide spectrum of writers in the English language - and his readings are themselves essays, gracefully written, engaged, and engaging. Atkins starts with the earliest British practitioners of the form, including Francis Bacon, John Dryden, Alexander Pope, and Samuel Johnson. Transcendentalist writers Henry David Thoreau and Ralph Waldo Emerson are included, as are works by Americans James Baldwin, Zora Neale Hurston, and E. B. White. Atkins also provides readings of a number of contemporary essayists, among them Annie Dillard, Scott Russell Sanders, and Cynthia Ozick.Many of the readings are of essays that Atkins has used successfully in the classroom, with undergraduate and graduate students, for many years. In his introduction Atkins offers practical advice on the specific demands essays make and the unique opportunities they offer, especially for college courses. The appendix treats the writing of essays, furthering the author's contention that reading should not be separated from writing.""Reading Essays"" continues in the tradition of such definitive texts as ""Understanding Poetry"" and ""Understanding Fiction"". Throughout, Atkins reveals the joy, delight, grace, freedom, and wisdom of ""the glorious essay.
Reading Poetry Witty, direct and articulate, Peter Barry illustrates the key elements of poetry at work, covering many different kinds of verse, from traditional forms to innovative versions of the art, such as 'concrete' poetry, minimalism and word-free poems. The emphasis is on meanings rather than words, looking beyond technical devices like alliteration and assonance so that poems are understood as dynamic structures creating specific ends and effects. The three sections cover progressively expanding areas - 'Reading the lines' deals with such basics as imagery, diction and metre; 'Reading between the lines' concerns broader matters, such as poetry and context, and the reading of sequences of poems, while 'Reading beyond the lines' looks at 'theorised' readings and the 'textual genesis' of poems from manuscript to print. Reading poetry is for students, lecturers and teachers looking for new ways of discussing poetry, and all those seriously interested in poetry, whether as readers or writers.

Featured Print Books

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100% Student Success 100% Student Success is part of the new 100% Success Series that is directed at the development of professional skills and characteristics that begin in college and extend through the job search and into the lifelong learning environment of the workplace. This first textbook in the series serves as a comprehensive resource for student academic success. It emphasizes the development of self-management and professional skills with the assumption that entering college students must acquire, develop, practice, and enhance these skills in order to be prepared for the workplace. The content is designed to be applied throughout the academic experience and into the workplace. It is based on the premise that self-management and professional skills must be developed consistently over time and in every class. Students are encouraged to develop practices and habits that will support them in their academic, personal, and professional lives. Content applies to developing general professional traits or can be applied to specific fields, and there are multiple supplements to help reinforce the message, including a Learning Portfolio. Students will also benefit from electronic supplements including an online companion and web tutors.
Bridging the Gap : College Reading Bridging the Gap was the first book to focus on how to read college textbooks. This college-level focus has since evolved to connect textbook readings to academic and everyday reading sources and represent three bridges of reading: text-to-text, text-to-world, and text-to-self.
Slow Reading in a Hurried Age Wrapped in the glow of the computer or phone screen, we cruise websites; we skim and skip. We glance for a brief moment at whatever catches our eye and then move on. Slow Reading in a Hurried Age reminds us of another mode of reading--the kind that requires our full attention and that has as its goal not the mere gathering of information but the deeper understanding that only good books can offer. Slow Reading in a Hurried Age is a practical guide for anyone who yearns for a more meaningful and satisfying reading experience, and who wants to sharpen reading skills and improve concentration. David Mikics, a noted literary scholar, demonstrates exactly how the tried-and-true methods of slow reading can provide a more immersive, fulfilling experience. He begins with fourteen preliminary rules for slow reading and shows us how to apply them. The rules are followed by excursions into key genres, including short stories, novels, poems, plays, and essays. Reading, Mikics says, should not be drudgery, and not mere escape either, but a way to live life at a higher pitch. A good book is a pathway to finding ourselves, by getting lost in the words and works of others.
Strategies for College Readers Strategies for College Readers is based on the idea that students who apply strategies as they read are better able to develop as college readers, and thus the author emphasizes fifteen easy reading strategies -- one for each skill -- that students can use to gain confidence while they achieve mastery of essential reading skills.