Skip to Main Content

WRTG 105A & 105E Language as a Window into the Mind (Gegg-Harrison)

TED Talk: Working Memory

Close Reading & Note-taking

Strategies When Taking Notes

Summarize

Read the article, put it aside and write a few sentences about what you remember.

Interrogate

Read the article and, any time an idea or question pops into your head, write it down near the quote that sparked the idea. See example below:

 

BEAM

Read the article and, as you read, classify each phrase or paragraph according to BEAM. Is it background information? Write B besides the phrase. See example below:

 

 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License by Justina Elmore, University of Rochester.  Adapted from Kristin M. Woodward & Kate Ganski's "What Could A Writer Do With This Source?" {{cc-by-4.0}}

Scan & Skim First

 

​Ask Yourself

  • What terms and keywords are being used by the author?
  • Do I need to do further research to understand these concepts (e.g., look it up in DiscoverUR or Wikipedia)?
  • What is the paper's main topic?
  • What are the paper's subtopics or subsections?
  • Is the author successful in making their argument and/or is there further room for study?

Diagram of a Scholarly Journal Article