read better remember more_part5

VISUALIZING TO REMEMBER 145 VISUALIZING THROUGH COMPARISONS Writers know how important it is for readers to be able to“see”what they read. That’s why they often make comparisons that help create a picture for their readers.“He was angry as a tornado” is an example. This com-pares someone’s anger to the fury of a tornado. This kind of comparison creates a clear picture in your mind, so you can see how angry this per-son is. You probably come across and even use comparisons like this all the time. Here are a few of the most common: He slept like a log. She’s pretty as a picture. He cried like a baby. It was fast as lightning. Beyond these common comparisons, you’ll find more unusual (and therefore more effective) ones like the following: She sat in her office like a bird in a cage. This kind of comparison is meant to create a certain picture in your mind. Imagine how a bird sits in a cage. Now, imagine how a person might sit if she were sitting in her office in a similar way. Based on this comparison, which of the following statements do you think is true? a. She loves to be in her office. b. She feels trapped in her office. c. She has a bird at home. The answer is b—she feels trapped,just like a bird is trapped in a cage. Here are more examples.Read the comparisons carefully and let them create vivid pictures in your mind. The curtains fluttered in the wind like butterflies. The employees marched in like soldiers. Amy slouched in her chair like a limp dishrag. This is trial version www.adultpdf.com 146 READ BETTER, REMEMBER MORE Authors of these comparisons (also called similes) don’t mean to say, for example, that Amy actually looks like a limp dishrag. These aren’t literal comparisons.But her posture reminds the writer of a limp dishrag. By comparing her to a dishrag, the writer has created a picture for read-ers of a woman who is sitting hunched over, crumpled up, worn out. With this comparison, readers can see just how she slouches. PRACTICE 2 Below is an excerpt from the beginning of Booker T.Washington’s autobiog-raphy,A Slave Among Slaves.The ellipses ( . . . )indicate that some of the text has been cut out. Notice how descriptive Washington’s narrative is. As you read,underline all of the descriptive words and details you see and try to cre-ate a vivid picture in your mind’s eye of the cabin where Washington lived. I was born a slave on a plantation in Franklin County, Virginia. I am not quite sure of the exact place or exact date of my birth, but at any rate I suspect I must have been born somewhere and at some time. As nearly as I have been able to learn, I was born near a cross-roads post–office called Hale’s Ford, and the year was 1858 or 1859. . . . My life had its beginning in the midst of the most miser-able, desolate, and discouraging surroundings. This was so, however, not because my owners were especially cruel, for they were not, as compared with many others. I was born in a typical log cabin, about fourteen by sixteen feet square. In this cabin I lived with my mother and a brother and sister till after the Civil War, when we were all declared free. . . . The cabin was not only our living-place,but was also used as the kitchen for the plantation. My mother was the planta-tion cook. The cabin was without glass windows; it had only openings in the side which let in the light, and also the cold, chilly air of winter. There was a door to the cabin—that is something that was called a door—but the uncertain hinges by which it was hung,and the large cracks in it,to say nothing of the fact that it was too small,made the room a very uncom-fortable one. In addition to these openings there was, in the lower right-hand corner of the room, the “cat-hole.” . . . The This is trial version www.adultpdf.com VISUALIZING TO REMEMBER 147 “cat-hole”was a square opening, about seven by eight inches, provided for the purpose of letting the cat pass in and out of the house at will during the night. . . . There was no wooden floor in our cabin,the naked earth being used as a floor.In the centre of the earthen floor there was a large,deep opening cov-ered with boards, which was used as a place in which to store sweet potatoes during the winter. Answer I was born a slave on a plantation in Franklin County, Virginia.I am not quite sure of the exact place or exact date of my birth, but at any rate I suspect I must have been born somewhere and at some time.As nearly as I have been able to learn, I was born near a cross-roads post-office called Hale’s Ford, and the year was 1858 or 1859. . . . My life had its beginning in the midst of the most miser-able, desolate, and discouraging surroundings. This was so, however, not because my owners were especially cruel, for they were not, as compared with many others. I was born in a typical log cabin, about fourteen by sixteen feet square. In this cabin I lived with my mother and a brother and sister till after the Civil War, when we were all declared free. . . . The cabin was not only our living-place, but was also used as the kitchen for the plantation. My mother was the planta-tion cook. The cabin was without glass windows; it had only openings in the side which let in the light, and also the cold, chilly air of winter. There was a door to the cabin—that is something that was called a door—but the uncertain hinges by which it was hung,and the large cracks in it,to say nothing of the fact that it was too small,made the room a very uncom-fortable one. In addition to these openings there was, in the lower right-hand corner of the room, the “cat-hole.” . . . The “cat-hole”was a square opening, about seven by eight inches, provided for the purpose of letting the cat pass in and out of the house at will during the night. . . . There was no wooden floor in our cabin,the naked earth being used as a floor.In the This is trial version www.adultpdf.com 148 READ BETTER, REMEMBER MORE centre of the earthen floor there was a large, deep openingcov-ered with boards, which was used as a place in which to store sweet potatoes during the winter. DRAW YOUR OWN PICTURES When you come across technical or spatial descriptions (like the layout of a room,for example),you can visualize what you read in another way: on paper. Use the description the writer provides to draw what is being described. Don’t worry—you don’t have to be an artist to draw a sketch that can help seal information in your memory. For example, imagine that you’re interested in architecture and you’re reading a book about classical Greek columns. The book describes the columns but doesn’t show you any pictures. Based on the descriptions in the following paragraph, you might try to draw each column. There are three types of Greek columns. What makes them different is the tops,or capitals.Doric columns have the simplest capitals. The bottom of the capital takes a short, sharp turn in. Then it completes a half circle and turns back out beyond the column to curve up in the shape of a large, flat bowl. Ionic columns have more ornate capitals. Where the Doric capital curves in and then out, Ionic capitals remain straight and are decorated with leaf-like swirls and patterns. Laying on top of this section is a large scroll-like section. The two rolls of the scroll lay on either side of the capital. Corinthian columns are the most elaborate of the Greek columns. Whereas the other types have two distinct layers in their capitals,here,the capital is one piece decorated with several layers of swirling, scrolling leaves and floral designs. The layers are shaped so that the capital resembles an upside-down bell. PRACTICE 3 Reread the passage above and draw pictures of the Ionic and Corinthian columns. Here is a sample drawing for the first type of column, Doric. This is trial version www.adultpdf.com VISUALIZING TO REMEMBER 149 Doric Answer Here are sample drawings of the other two types of columns: Ionic Corinthian Creating a picture—whether it’s in your mind’s eye, on paper, or both—will help you remember what you read. PRACTICE 4 As a final practice exercise, read the following passage. Pay attention to both actions and details and try to picture who does what and how.Create a “movie” in your mind’s eye. Then, answer the questions that follow. They’re designed to see how well you paid attention to action and detail.If you do this well, you shouldn’t have to look back at the passage to answer the questions.After you complete the exercise,turn to the end of this chap-ter to see if the diagram of the accident matches the view in your mind. Yesterday, May 12, at 8:15 a.m., I was walking to work when I witnessed an accident. I was walking east down Elmont Avenue—right in front of the main entrance to the college, This is trial version www.adultpdf.com ... - tailieumienphi.vn