Suggestions for questions
There are 4 categories of questions one could ask when exploring a book. A selection from 2 or more categories is useful for non fiction books while the general questions are enough for Novels... though there are some additional useful questions that can be added when reading novels for school or book reports.
General questions... using trigger words, subheads and index, turn these into the who, what, why, when, where and how questions. If you have difficulty answering any of these questions you'll know your not understanding the significance of the text.
Application to Life... these questions are along the line of "How can I use this information?", "Whom can I help or tell about this?" "What practial applications can I have for this information?", "What long term benefits are in it for me?" etc. These questions help as a memory aid.
Inferential Questions...these questions are one where you are asking yourself how your doing, Eg. "What is my purpose?", "How easy or hard is it for me to understand this?", "Will this suit my needs?". These questions help you to judge how much time you need to put into actually gaining information from a book.
Questions that need more information Here you are specifically asking yourself questions about what you don't understand. Eg. "What does the author mean by... ?", "Where is the author going with this?" "Why is that considered important?" These help you gain even more from the text and engage your critical thinking about what you've read.
Alex
