What I Do as a Reader

Well, I didn't expect this to be as challenging as it is turning out to be. Reading this book has reminded me of when I was in college and took a course on Milton-pretty tough to get through. While trying to get through this book, I found myself resorting back to some strategies I had used during my Milton days.

One strategy that I found fairly useful and may seem obvious, was to set a goal for myself. Force myself to get through a certain amount of pages before I out the book down. With The Sound and the Fury, I need this. I find myself zoning out on almost every page, but I refuse to put the book down before I have read a good amount. The key with this is to read slowly. Reading just to read would serve no purpose and I would not recall anything.

Another thing I tend to do is reread which may be for several reasons-not concentrating, not understanding, etc. I find that if I do go back and read something over again, I will have more of a grasp on whatever I had been missing.

Something else I find myself doing is annotating, whether it is highlighting, underlining, circling words. I don't do this very often, and not even on every page, but when something sticks out to me or seems important, I'll make note of it. The act of underlining or highlighting in and of itself helps me remember whatever it is I found to be significant. Also, when I go back and reread, it will stick out to me and I'll rethink why I made note of it in the first place.

Reading in small amounts is major for me, especially with a challenging text like this. I am finding this book to be not in my area of interest, so I can't read a large amount at once. Plus, reading a small amount ensures I will stay focused enough to meet the goal I have set for myself.