What is my purpose for reading?

The main reason people read is to learn new information. You need to be clear of your purpose for reading. Decide why you are reading. Examples of different reasons for reading include:

• to learn new facts
• to have new experiences
• to learn another person’s thoughts or feelings
• to be entertained
• to find the main idea
• to be able to summarize the information later
• to be able to retell the information
• to improve reading speed
• to increase vocabulary
• to be able to criticize the ideas
• to determine if ideas are logical.

You may have more than one purpose for reading. Your purpose for reading will influence “how you decide to read”.

How do I need to read?

You should decide how you will read before reading the literature. We have already explained that part of this decision is based on why you want to read. Other factors include: your reading skill, the type of literature, your familiarity with the type of literature, the writer’s style, and your knowledge of vocabulary.

Depending on your purpose, ability, and reading material, you may need to read slowly or quickly. For example, you may need to read a poem slowly, reread the poem, and look up new words in a dictionary. If you wanted to know last night’s hockey scores, you could scan the sports section quickly, skipping over information. Following a reading process will help you decide how you need to read.