Doing things with text:

Ways to use writing to engage your mind with assigned

readings/writings

Adapted from Mary L. Kennedy and Hadley M. Smith’s book, Reading

and Writing in the Academic Community.

1. Agree or disagree with a statement in the text and give

reasons for your agreement or disagreement.
2. Compare or contrast your reactions to the topic (for
example, “At first I thought . . . but now I think . . .”).
3. Extend one of the author’s points.
4. Draw attention to what the author has neglected to say
about the topic.
5. Discover an idea implied by the text but not stated by the
author.
6. Provide additional details by fleshing out a point made by
the author.
7. Illustrate the text with an example, incident, scenario, or
anecdote.
8. Embellish the author’s point with a vivid image, metaphor,
or example.
9. Test one of the author’s claims.
10. Compare one of the author’s points with your own prior
knowledge of the topic or with your own or others’ experiences.
11. Interpret the text in the light of your prior topic knowledge
or experiences.
12. Personalize one of the author’s statements.
13. Question one of the author’s points.
14. Speculate about one of the author’s points by:
a. Asking questions
b. Predicting consequences
c. Drawing implications from an idea
d. Applying the idea to a hypothetical situation
e. Giving a concrete instance of a point made in the text.
15. Draw comparisons between the text and books, articles, films, or
other media.
a. Discover relations between ideas in the text that are unstated
by the author.
b. Extend an idea with a personal recollection or reflection.