Joe Cortina,
Richland College Janet Elder,
Richland College
ISBN: 0072997664 Copyright year: 2005
Table of Contents
Opening Doors: Understanding College Reading, Fourth Edition
*New reading selections for this edition
PART ONE: ORIENTATION: Preparing and Organizing Yourself for Success in College
CHAPTER ONE: MAKING YOURSELF SUCCESSFUL IN COLLEGE
Skills:
Doing What Successful Students Do
Setting Your Goals
Motivating Yourself
Managing Your Time
Setting up a weekly study schedule
Making the most of your study time
Planning further ahead: Creating a monthly assignment calendar and using
a daily “to do” list
Creating Your Summary: Developing Chapter Review Cards
Readings
Selection 1-1 “Why Go to College?” from P.O.W.E.R. LEARNING: Strategies for
Success in College and Life by Robert S. Feldman (Study Skills)
*Selection 1-2 “Getting Ready for Prime Time: Learning the Skills Needed to
Succeed Today and Tomorrow” by Bill Nickels, Jim McHugh and Susan McHugh (Business)
Selection 1-3 “Saved,” from The Autobiography of Malcolm X, as told to Alex
Haley (Autobiography)
CHAPTER TWO: APPROACHING COLLEGE READING AND DEVELOPING A COLLEGE-LEVEL VOCABULARY
Skills:
Understanding the Reading Process
Improving Your Reading
Predicting as you read
Monitoring your comprehension
Adjusting your reading rate
Developing a College-Level Vocabulary
Using context clues
Using word-structure clues
Using a dictionary pronunciation key
Understanding denotations and connotations of words
Understanding figurative language
Creating Your Summary: Developing Chapter Review Cards
Readings
* Selection 2-1 “Music Revolution: Napster and Recording in the Digital Age”
by Joseph R. Dominick (Mass Communications)
Selection 2-2 “The Yellow Ribbon” by Pete Hamill (Short Story)
Selection 2-3 “A Whale of a Survival Problem” by John Postlethwait (Biology)
CHAPTER THREE: APPROACHING COLLEGE ASSIGNMENTS: READING TEXTBOOKS AND FOLLOWING
DIRECTIONS
Skills:
College Textbooks: A Process for Reading and Studying Effectively
Step 1: Prepare to read
Step 2: Ask and answer questions to guide your reading
Step 3: Review by rehearsing the answers to your questions
Following Directions in Textbooks and on Tests
Guidelines for following directions
Example: Directions from a Textbook
Example: Directions on a test
Creating Your Summary: Developing Chapter Review Cards
Readings
*Selection 3-1 “African Americans: The Struggle for Equality” by Thomas E.
Patterson (Government)
Selection 3-2 “Parenthood?” by Diane E. Papalia & Sally Wendkos Olds (Human
Development)
Selection 3-3 “Art in the Service of Religion” by Rita Gilbert (Art Appreciation)
PART TWO: COMPREHENSION: Understanding College Textbooks by Reading for Ideas
CHAPTER FOUR: DETERMINING THE TOPIC AND THE STATED MAIN IDEA
Skills:
The Topic of a Paragraph
What is the topic of a paragraph, and why is it important?
Determining and expressing the topic
The Stated Main Idea of a Paragraph
What is a stated main idea, and why is it important?
Locating the stated main idea sentence
How to tell if you have identified the stated main idea sentence
How to avoid two common errors in locating a stated main idea
Stated overall main ideas in longer passages
A Word about Standardized Reading Tests: Topics and Stated Main Ideas
Creating Your Summary: Developing Chapter Review Cards
Readings
Selection 4-1 “People with Disabilities: The New Workforce” by Michelle Conlin
(Magazine Article)
Selection 4-2 “Latinos: An Emerging Influence” by Richard J. Gelles & Ann
Levine (Sociology)
Selection 4-3 “Muhammad” by Michael Hart (History)
CHAPTER FIVE: FORMULATING IMPLIED MAIN IDEAS
Skills:
Implied Main Ideas in Paragraphs
What is an implied main idea?
Why is formulating implied main ideas important?
Formulating an Implied Main Idea
Steps to follow
How to use information in a paragraph to formulate the main idea
Requirements for correctly formulated main idea sentences
Implied overall main idea in longer passages
A Word about Standardized Reading Tests: Implied Main Ideas
Creating Your Summary: Developing Chapter Review Cards
Readings
*Selection 5-1 “Identity Theft: You Are at Risk” (Personal Finance)
Selection 5-2 “The Changing Roles of Men and Women” by Merrill McLoughlin
and others (Sociology)
Selection 5-3 “Demography” by Richard J. Gelles and Ann Levine (Sociology)
CHAPTER SIX: IDENTIFYING SUPPORTING DETAILS
Skills:
Supporting Details in Paragraphs
What are supporting details?
Why are supporting details important?
Identifying and Listing Supporting Details
Major and Minor Details, and How to Tell the Difference
A Word about Standardized Reading Tests: Supporting Details
Creating Your Summary: Developing Chapter Review Cards
Readings
*Selection 6-1: “Diabetes: A New Epidemic” by Paul Insel and Walton Roth (Health)
Selection 6-2: “Communication Close-Up at Ben and Jerry’s Homemade” by Courtland
\ Bovée and John Thill (Business)
Selection 6-3: From A Beginner’s Guide to the World Economy by Randy Charles
Epping (Economics)
A Word about Standardized Reading Tests: Writing Patterns
Creating Your Summary: Developing Chapter Review Cards
Readings
Selection 7-1: “Career Choice” by Jack R. Kapoor, et al. (Personal Finance)
Selection 7-2: “The Decision to Marry” by Marvin Levy, Mark Dignan, and Janet
Shirreffs (Health)
Selection 7-3: “Reactions to Impending Death” by Dennis Coon (Psychology)
CHAPTER EIGHT: READING CRITICALLY
Skills:
What Is Critical Reading?
Critical Reading Skills
Determining an author’s purpose and intended audience
Determining an author’s point of view, tone, and intended meaning
A Word about Standardized Reading Tests: Critical Reading
Creating Your Summary: Developing Chapter Review Cards
Readings
*Selection 8-1: “Think Before You Speak: Public Speaking in a Multicultural
World” By Stephen E. Lucas (Speech Communication)
Selection 8-2: From Having Our Say: The Delany Sisters’ First 100 Years by
Sarah and Elizabeth Delany with Amy Hill Hearth (Memoir)
Selection 8-3: From Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan (Fiction)
CHAPTER NINE: THINKING CRITICALLY
Skills:
What Is Critical Thinking?
Critical Thinking Skills
Why Readers Fail to Think Critically
Distinguishing facts fromopinions and determining whether opinions are well
supported
Making inferences and drawing logical conclusions
Distinguishing between deductive inductive reasoning
Evaluating an author’s argument
Identifying propaganda devices
A Word about Standardized Reading Tests: Critical Thinking
Creating Your Summary: Developing Chapter Review Cards
Readings
Selection 9-1: "Sport Utility Vehicles: How Do I Hate Thee? Let Me Count the
Ways" by Geneva Overholser (Editorial)
Selection 9-2: “Why Vote? Politicians Are All the Same" by Janet Flammang,
et al. (Government)
Selection 9-3: “Take Out the Trash, and Put It…Where?" by Bernard Gavzer (Magazine
Article)
PART THREE: SYSTEMS FOR STUDYING TEXTBOOKS: Developing a System that Works
for You
CHAPTER TEN: SELECTING AND ORGANIZING TEXTBOOK INFORMATION
Skills:
Studying Better Rather Than Harder
Three Keys to Studying College Textbooks
Key 1: Selectivity
Key 2: Organization
Key 3: Rehearsal
Using Textbook Features
Prefaces
Tables of contents
Part openings
Chapter outlines
Chapter objectives and introductions
Lists and sequences
Boxes
Tables
Graphic aids
Vocabulary aids
Study questions and activities
Chapter summaries
Appendixes
Bibliographies and suggested readings
Indexes
Additional features and supplements
Marking Textbooks: Undelining, Highlighting and Annotating
Taking Notes from Textbooks: Outlining, Mapping, and Summarizing
Guidelines for outlining
Guidelines for the Cornell Method of note-taking
Guidelines for mapping
Guidelines for summarizing
Interpreting Graphic Material
Bar graphs
Line graphs
Pie charts
Flowcharts
Tables
Creating Your Summary: Developing Chapter Review Cards
Readings
*Selection 10-1: “The Age of Globalization” by Alan Brinkley (History)
CHAPTER ELEVEN: REHEARSING TEXTBOOK INFORMATION AND PREPARING FOR TESTS
Skills:
Rehearsal and Memory
Studying for Tests
General guidelines
Five-day test review plan
Using review cards to prepare for a test
Using test review sheets
Creating Your Summary: Developing Chapter Review Cards
Readings
*Selection 11-1: “Cultural Diversity: Family Strengths and Challenges,” by
David Olsen and John DeFrain (Marriage and Family)
Appendix 1 Glossary of Key Reading and Study Skills Terms
Appendix 2 A List of Word Parts: Prefixes, Roots and Suffixes
Appendix 3 United States Map, World Map and List of World Capitals
Credits
Index
Vocabulary Log
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