The new sixth edition of Joe Cortina and Janet Elder's "Opening Doors: Understanding College Reading" continues to offer a clear, effective, and systematic way to approach college reading assignments. Its twenty-seven full-length reading selections and two chapter-length selections, culled from textbooks and other college-level materials, provide ample opportunities for integrated, recursive practice of essential reading comprehension skills, critical reading and thinking skills, and study strategies.
Table of Contents
* - 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 Motivating Yourself Setting Your Goals Identifying Your Learning Style 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 Reading Selections: 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" from Understanding Business 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 A Word about Standardized Reading Tests: Vocabulary in Context and Figurative Language Questions Creating Your Summary: Developing Chapter Review Cards Reading Selections: Selection 2-1 "Making It Happen: Creating Positive Change to Become a Peak Performer" (Student Success) Selection 2-2 "Fighting Terrorism in a Global Age" (History) 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 Method for Reading and Studying Effectively The SQ3R Study System Step 1: Prepare to Read Step 2: Ask and Answer Questions to Enhance 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 for a Test Creating Your Summary: Developing Chapter Review Cards Reading Selections: Selection 3-1 "African Americans: The Struggle for Equality" by Thomas E. Patterson (Government) Selection 3-2 "Parenthood: Now, Later, ...Never?" by Diane E. Papalia and 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 Test Your Understanding: Determing the Topic and Stated Main Idea Reading Selections: *Selection 4-1 "A Warning to Students: Plagiarism, Term Papers and Web Research" by Brian Williams and Stacy Sawyer (Infornation Technology) Selection 4-2 "Latinos: An Emerging Influence in the United States" by Richard J. Gelles and Ann Levine(Sociology) Selection 4-3 "Muhammed" 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 Threee formulas for Using Information in a Paragraph to Formulate the MainThree Requirements for Correctly Formulated Main Idea Sentences Implied Overall Main Ideas in Longer Passages A Word about Standardized Reading Tests: Implied Main Ideas Creating Your Summary: Developing Chapter Review Cards Test Your Understanding: Formulating Implied Main Ideas Reading Selections: Selection 5-1 "Identity Theft: You are at Risk" (Personal Finance) Selection 5-2 "Violence in Television and Video Games: Does the Media's Message Matter?" (Psychology) 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 Test Your Understanding: Identifying Supporting Details Reading Selections: *Selection 6-1 "Shaping Your Health: The Millenial Generation and Early Adulthood" by Wayne Payne, Dale Hahn, and Ellen Lucas (Health) Selection 6-2 "America's Most Popular Drug: Caffeine" (Health) Selection 6-3 "What Can Be Done to Help Third World Countries?" From A Beginner's Guide to the World Economy by Randy Charles Epping (Economics) CHAPTER SEVEN: Recognizing Authors' Writing Patterns Skills: Patterns of Writing What are Authors' Writing Patterns? Why is Recognizing Writing Patterns Important? Recognizing Authors' Writing Patterns List Pattern Sequence Pattern Definition Pattern Comparison-Contrast Pattern Cause-Effect Pattern Spacial Order Pattern Avoid Seeing Everything as a List Other Writing Patterns Addition Pattern Generalization and Example Pattern Statement and Classification Pattern Summary Pattern Mixed Pattern Relationships within and between Sentences A Word about Standardized Reading Tests: Authors' Writing Patterns Creating Your Summary: Developing Chapter Review Cards Test Your Understanding: Part One - Basic Writing Patterns Reading Selections: Selection 7-1 "E-Commerce? It's E-Normous!" (Business) *Selection 7-2 "The Development of Rock Music and Rock in American Society" by Roger Kamien (Music Appreciation) 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 Determining an Author's 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 Reading Selections: *Selection 8-1 Prologue from The Illustrated Man, by Ray Bradbury (Literature) *Selection 8-2 "Think Before You Speak: Public Speaking in a Multicultural World" by Stephen Lucas (Speech Communications) *Selection 8-3 From The Things They Carried by Tim O'Brien (Literature) CHAPTER NINE: Thinking Critically Skills: What is Critical Thinking, and Why is it Important? Critical Thinking Skills Why Readers Fail to Think Critically Distinguishing Facts from Opinions and Determining Whether Opinions Are Well Supported Making Inferences and Drawing Logical Conclusions Evaluating an Author's Argument Distinguishing between Deductive and Inductive Reasoning Identifying Propaganda Devices A Word about Standardized Reading Tests: Critical Thinking Creating Your Summary: Developing Chapter Review Cards Test Your Understanding: Thinking Critically Reading Selections: Selection 9-1 "Poverty in America and Improving Social Welfare through Public Education" (Government) Selection 9-2 "Sport Utility Vehicles: How Do I Hate Thee? Let Me Count the Ways" by Geneva Overholser (Editorial) 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 Marking Textbooks: Underlining, Highlighting, and Annotating Taking Notes from Textbooks: Outlining, Mapping, and Summarizing Taking Notes on a Laptop Guidelines for Outlining Guidelines for the Cornell Method of Note-Taking Guidelines for Mapping Guidelines for Summarizing Interpreting Graphs and Visual Aids Bar Graphs Line Graphs Pie Charts Tables Photographs Diagrams Flowcharts Maps Cartoons Creating Your Summary: Developing Chapter Review Cards Reading Selection: *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 Creating Review Cards to Prepare for a Test Creating Test Review Sheets Creating Your Summary: De veloping Chapter Review Cards Reading Selection: Selection 11-1: "Cultural Diversity: Family Strengths and Challenges" by David Olson 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 * Appendix 4 List of Reading Selection Vocabulary from the Vocabulary-in-Context Exercises for each Reading Selection Credits Index Vocabulary Log
Author Biography
Joe Cortina earned his B.A. degree in English from San Diego State University and his master's degree and doctoral degree in curriculum and instruction in reading from the University of North Texas. He has taught undergraduate teacher education courses in reading at the University of North Texas and Texas Woman's University. In 1981 he was selected to represent the Dallas County Community College District as a nominee for the Piper Award for Teaching Excellence. In addition, Dr. Cortina was chosen as his division's Piper Award nominee for excellence in teaching in 1987, 1988,, and 1993. In 1992 he was selected as an honored alumnus by the Department of Elementary, Early Childhood, and Reading Education at the University of North Texas, and in 1994 he was a recipient of an Excellence Award given by the National Institute for Staff and Organizational Development. In addition to teaching reading courses at Richland College, he has served as faculty leader of Richland's Writing Across the Curriculum Program. Dr. Cortina has served as a member of the advisory board of The Journal of Adolescent and Adult Literacy. He is a frequent speaker at professional meetings. He has worked with Janet Elder as a writing team since 1985. Their first book, Comprehending College Textbooks: Steps to Understanding and Remembering What You Read, is now in its third edition. The second edition of Opening Doors: Understanding College Reading was published in 1998. Janet Elder was graduated summa cum laude from the University of Texas in Austin with a B.A. in English and Latin. She is a member of Phi Beta Kappa. She was the recipient of a government fellowship for Southern Methodist University's Reading Research Program, which resulted in a master's degree. Her Ph.D. in curriculum and instruction in reading is from Texas Woman's University, where the College of Education presented her the Outstanding Dissertation Award. She established the Richland College Honors Program and directed it for many years. She periodically serves as a member of the teaching teams in honors English and humanities courses. She has served ona task force that reevaluated Richland's college-wide writing program. She received the Extra Mile Award from special services students, has been her division's Piper Award nominee for excellence in teaching, and in 1993 received an Excellence Award from the National Institute for Staff and Organizational Development. She used a recent sabbatical to create multimedia instructional materials. In addition, Dr. Elder and Dr. Gonnet co-authored the reading section of How to Prepare for the TASP, 2/e, a study guide for entering college students who must take the Texas Academic Skills Program Test.Dr. Elder serves as a presenter at many professional conferences.
