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64
a. Which part of a scientific report would you read carefully (after glancing briefly through the rest of the
text), if you're not really interested in how the experiment was done or why it was done, but you know you will
be required to explain why it was important?
b. Which of the three types of discourse would you normally read most intensively, hardly skipping a word?
c. Why does a joke stop being funny when you try to explain it?
d. Which of the three types of discourse would it normally be safest to glance over superficially, simply to
get a general idea of what the writer is getting at?
Exercise A:
1. Using Kinneavy's categories, how would you describe the following piece of discourse («On Silence»)? Is
it in the style of a diary or journal? — of a textbook? — of a novel or a poem? — of a sermon? — of any other
kind of writing with which you are familiar?
2. What is the common assumption about the nature of silence that the writer intends to qualify or modify in
some way?
3. What geographic location does the writer seem to have in mind while describing the various types of
silence?
ON SILENCE
Extract from the «Wartime Writings: 1939-44» of Antoine de Saint-Exupery (The Yew York Times Book
Review, Sept. 14,1986).
One silence even diners from another. There is the tranquil silence when tribes are at peace, when night
brings coolness and one seems to be anchored with furled sails in a quiet harbor. There is the midday silence
when the sun suspends all thought and movement. There is the deceptive silence when the north wind bears
down, bringing insects borne like pollen from the oases of the interior and heralding the advent of a sandstorm
from the East. There is the silence of conspiracy when it is known that a distant tribe is preparing to revolt.
There is the silence of mystery when the Arabs are gathered together for one of their secret meetings. There is
the pregnant silence when the messenger is late returning, the shrill silence when in the night one holds one's
breath in order to hear, the melancholy silence when one remembers one's beloved.
Exercise B:
There are many different organizational or discourse structures which may be used in creating any type of
text. Some of the common patterns are: describing, defining, comparing, contrasting, analyzing, giving
examples, classifying, presenting information chronologically, presenting information of a cause and/or effect
nature. Which type(s) of organization seem to apply to the excerpt «On Silence»?
UNIT 2. READING STRATEGIES
DIFFERENT KINDS OF TEXTS, SERVING DIFFERENT PURPOSES, REQUIRE DIFFERENT
READING STRATEGIES
The following are the most commonly used strategies for reading scientific texts:
A. SKIMMING -
This involves:
1. Reading through the opening section until you have some idea of what the writer's thesis is — what he's
out to reveal or prove. Usually the first paragraph will be enough, but sometimes the writer doesn't get down to
his actual thesis until after a few introductory paragraphs. If this seems to be the case, glance over the
introductory section and only begin reading carefully after the writer actually gets down to the issue he's
presently concerned with. Then when you feel you know what his thesis is, you can start to «skim» rapidly
through the rest of the text.
2. Glancing over the rest of the text, paragraph by paragraph, trying to locate the key sentence within each
paragraph and to follow the writer's train of thought (to follow his argument). If you get lost (if you find that