General Tips for Reading Persuasive Text

Active readers will get more out of a text if they begin with a series of questions to guide their reading.

What is the author's main idea?

As you are reading, be sure to identify the author's main idea- what is s/he trying to sell, make you believe, or make you do?

What are the author's main points?

Identify the author's main points, or the main arguments to support the point of view.

What support does the author have for the arguments?

Look for and recognize the supporting details- these might include quotes, anecdotes, details, examples, or statistics.

What is the author's purpose?

Look for the action that the author wants from the reader- does the author ask you to think, or believe something? What is it? Does the author want you to buy something? To send money?

Tips for Answering Multiple-Choice Questions

• Read the question and all answers thoroughly before selecting an answer. Note that many of the answers will seem plausible, and in some cases several answers will be correct, but one will be the best answer.
• If you aren't sure, try to eliminate answers that you are sure are incorrect, or are unlikely to be the correct answer.
• For questions that refer to the text, go back and read the whole section of text from which the sample comes- identify the purpose of the section- is it informative? does it attempt to appeal to emotion or logic?