HOW DO WE READ?

Reading comprehension pieces in the examinations always seem to scare people.

Strange!!!!

Reading is supposed to give us pure enjoyment and undiluted ecstasy. After all we are going through the wonderful thought processes of people who are sensitive and emotional.Come to think of it, why do people write?

Writing is a wonderful way to respond to stimulus.
An artist paints, a singer sings and a writer writes. The stimulus to write could either be internal or external. I see a beautiful flower, a radiant sunset, the snowy peaks of the Himalayas, I am moved and so I write.
It could be internal. I am happy or sad, I maybe moved by strange stirrings of the heart and the soul, and so I write.
I write a sentence. It's an opinion, a view, a thought or a simple description.
I needn't write more because what I have written is the abstraction of what I see or what I feel. Then I realise that others might be reading my line. As they cannot see my stimulus there would be a lot of grey areas in their minds. So, I start a dialogue with an imaginary reader. I describe the stimulus or I support my view point with examples. I write logical coherent sentences and soon I have a paragraph.


So, my dear students...put yourself in the shoes of the "imaginary" reader and walk down the passage with the author.
You are going to enjoy and comprehend the "stimulus" the writer had.

What are the hurdles?
WORDS obviously, COLLOCATIONS, phrases, idioms and so on.
So, we are back to the roots of words.
Thus, my dear students, don't bother about answering questions when you are reading a comprehension piece. If you can comprehend well, you will easily be able to answer the questions and pick out the answer option easily.

Remember, reading fast is really not the issue; if you read too fast, you'll miss the sensuous pleasure of the stimulus and there will be a thought disconnect...which means you have to re-read.
You'll misunderstand the authors stimulus, you'll get irritated and you will want to escape.
enough for today...tomorrow I will bring to you some short writing pieces and tell you how to read them.
"Remember, reading maketh a man."
I would like to talk to you about a word called gambit.
It originates from the Spanish word "gambetto". This means an act of tripping someone in a wrestling bout so that one can get an advantage over someone. Now, in chess, the gambit means "tripping" the opponent by sacrificing a pawn. Thus, it means a smart and well calculated move, so, we can say, the decision to lower taxes before the panchayat elections was a masterly gambit.
It could also mean the opening line of a conversation which could give one an advantage aver the other. The same root also gives rise to another word called 'gambol', which is a kind of dancing or prancing movement.
I am going to reply to the queries tomorrow.
Till then,
Good night and keep dreaming.