The Three Levels of Reading: Getting at Multiple Meanings by Using the Text Itself
Literature As Conversation
When we read, we are in conversation with both ourselves and the book. What we are reading might give voice to a feeling or an experience we have actually had, it might challenge our own beliefs, or it might invite us to enter an entirely unfamiliar world. Sometimes we extend that conversation by discussing what we read with friends or with classmates.
Level One Questions (Literal): These questions can be answered with facts found explicitly in the text. factual--can be answered definitely with facts address key elements of the text answers found directly in the text have one correct answer require reading of the work, but require little thought or understanding good answers lead to an accurate and complete summary of the text Example: After hearing the news of her husband's death, where does Louise Mallard go?
Level Two Questions (Interpretive): The answers to these questions are implied rather than stated directly in the text. Asking these types of questions requires you to draw inferences based on specific information found in answers to level one questions. inferential--answers to these questions may be implied rather than stated directly in the reading address motive of author or a character reader must make inferences based on specific information they can cite to back up their conclusions found by following patterns and seeing relationships among parts of the text call for longer answers and more thinking require reading of the work AND consideration of what has been read good answers lead to an identification of the significant patterns Example: Why is Louise Mallard's bedroom described as having an "open window" and a "comfortable, roomy armchair"?
Level Three Questions (Global): These questions and their answers can help improve commentary in your essays by adding further interpretation and explanation. These questions are more abstract than level one and two and go outside the text to present issues for discussion. connecting--answers to these questions emphasize the “So what?” of the text link text to prior knowledge, other texts, or human experiences in life found by testing the ideas of a text against readers’ schema require the reader to think more abstractly and relate the text to real life good answers lead to an appreciation of the text and further discussion Example: Does marriage today have the same stifling effect on women?
Improving Your Reading Comprehension Levels of questions should relate to one another. Level Two inferences must stem from level one evidence and that universal themes come from level three questions. To demonstrate reading comprehension, you MUST ground your answers in the text.
GROUP TASK Set up a three-column entry: Column One: Page number with first and last sentence Column Two: Questions about the excerpt (Level 1, 2 and 3) for a total of three questions Column Three: Response to the question