Description: Basic comprehension and critical thinking skills are the key to success in any endeavor. Helping to distinguish fact and opinion, evaluate evidence, and recognize basic fallacies in reasoning, these skills must be built on a firm foundation whose most essential component is the ability to recognize and understand main ideas and to differentiate major and minor details. This book provides such a foundation, paving the road to success for all its readers. This book is organized around the two most common difficulties that poor readers face -- understanding the author's purpose and recognizing the author's main idea. The integrated approach of idea and purpose allows readers to recognize what their relationship to the writer is, and to learn not only about "what" they are reading, but "why" they are reading it. The book is divided into sections with three goals: mastering information, persuading to belief, and persuading to action. The first section introduces readers to recognizing and working with these patterns in sentences, paragraphs, and short passages. The second and third sections present these eight kinds of main ideas as the controlling ideas for longer passages and full-length articles. Reading instructors, special educators, and people of all ages who want to improve their reading and comprehension skills.

Please Wait