2 Reading in Academic Contexts

We read news sites to know about the events of the day. We read textbooks to learn about history, chemistry, and other academic topics—and other academic sources to do research and develop arguments. We read tweets and blogs to follow (and participate in) conversations about issues that interest us. And as writers, we read our own writing to make sure it says what we mean it to say and proofread our final drafts to make sure they say it the way we intended. In other words, we read many kinds of texts for many different purposes. This chapter offers a number of strategies for various kinds of reading you do in academic contexts.