SPA 301
Estrategias para la lectura
 

TIPS FOR READING
The nature of reading:
  • Reading is a PROCESS; one that you accomplish through a series of steps.
  • Reading is ACTIVE.  A good reader does not sit passively in front of a text but is actively engaged with it.
  • Reading is also INTERACTIVE, because the writer intends to communicate ideas or information and the reader expects to understand them.
  • Reading involves a particular CONTEXT.  This includes the form of the text itself; information presupposed by the writer, and the background knowledge already possessed by the reader.  It is by drawing on the context that you can read successfully without understanding every word or even every sentence.
  • Reading is fundamentally a MENTAL activity.  Whether you are conscious of it or not, you have to concentrate and keep in mind what you already know whenever you read.
Reading with a purpose:
Before we even begin to read something, we first look at it by moving our eyes over it rapidly, in order to identify what sort of passage it is and to see how it is organized.  We are surrounded by writing that is not at a particular moment being read.  Reading activities include:
  • SCANNING - to find a specific piece of information (date, address, etc.)
  • SKIMMING - to discover the general idea of a passage without trying to remember specific details.
  • PARTS - sometimes we read parts to determine if we want to read any more of it (for example, magazines or newspapers).
  • TO COMPREHEND - Close reading to comprehend every word (a textbook or legal paper).  Those are the times you read and reread a passage, perhaps underlining or outlining, and looking up unfamiliar words.  ***Many beginning readers approach all passages in a foreign language as if their purpose were close reading, but in reality close reading is a very specialized task.
  • FOR PLEASURE - might include rapid reading for plot, or close reading with attention to each word and phrase.  Some readers read casually to find out the latest information about some pastime or simply because they enjoy the lovely rhythms and rhymes in a stylish writer's prose.

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READING STRATEGIES

1. Make sure your dictionary is CLOSED.
2. Quickly scan the passage just to familiarize yourself with the format, printing style, level of difficulty, and the type of vocabulary.  For a textbook that you are already accustomed to reading, look at the chapter title and subheadings.
3. Now read the passage at a moderate pace, looking for meaning and the main idea of each   paragraph (pay attention to lead sentences.)  Do NOT stop to re-read sentences or to look up new words in a dictionary or glossary.
4. Repeat step 3.
5. Now read for specific meaning, focusing on the information provided by each grammatical phrase and its relationship with the preceding and following sentences.
6. Look back at the sentences that gave you problems.  Re-read them slowly, paying attention to syntax.  Identify the subject, verbs, modifiers, and connectives.  Look up any words you do not know and write them down (if there is a glossary, check it first before using a dictionary.)  Now rearrange the sentence and look for familiar grammatical patterns.  Does this provide more meaning?
7. Jot down the main ideas.  For a short paragraph, there may be only one.  For a long passage, include two or more.
8. You may want to summarize the whole passage by writing one paragraph or page in English.  Do NOT translate.
Other hints:
9. INFERENCE OR CONTEXT:  Examine how major words and phrases are being used and their relation to preceding sentences.  Eg., "Era hermosa y valiente" --Who was the last female person/object mentioned?  For words that you do not know, see if the context can help you with meaning.
10. SPANISH COGNATES AND INTERRELATED WORDS:  Does PART of the word look familiar (root, prefix, suffix)?  Does it indicate what part of speech it might be (-ando, -mente, -ción, etc)?  Does it remind you of another Spanish word you know ("perdición, perder," "poema, poeta, poesía, poetizar," "útil, utilizar.")  Be careful not to confuse nonrelated words, such as "sin" and "sino."
11. SPANISH-ENGLISH COGNATES:  Look for cognates.  Does the problem word look like another word you know in English ("neutral," "divorcio")?  Pronounce the word aloud, as best you can.  Does it SOUND like something you know ("anticuada")?  Be careful of false cognates -- use your memory and dictionary for help.
12. PROBLEMS:  If you are still having serious problems with a particular sentence, go back over the words that you assume you have guessed correctly.  An incorrect translation of one part might be affecting the section on which you are having problems.
13. WORD TOOLS:  Use your glossary and dictionary.  Remember to recheck the word you have chosen from the dictionary by looking up its equivalent(s) in the opposite language.  Always record new words.  However, do not use your dictionary as a crutch!
USE creative thinking!  Focus on comprehension NOT translation!!


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Pasos específicos para la lectura:
I. Antes de empezar a leer un cuento:
1. Lea la introducción
2. Lea con cuidado las preguntas (si las hay)
II. Durante la lectura:
1. Use el contexto para comprender palabras nuevas
2. Tenga en cuenta -
¿cuándo
¿dónde?
¿quién(es)?
¿qué?
¿cómo?
3. Trate de evitar digresiones
4. Trate de comprender 
a.
b.		 lo que dice (los hechos)
lo que quiere decir (el significado)
5. Tema:
a.
b.

c.		 lo que significa
interpretar el tema basándose en el contexo comunicativo - el estilo (por ejemplo - ironía)
 es el mensaje - el significado no lo dicho
6. Simbolismo:
a.
b.		 ¿qué símbolos se usa?
¿qué representan?
7. Análisis literaria textual:
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.
f.
g.


h.		 punto de vista narrativa
escenario
personajes
trama/argumento
tema
estilo
lenguaje
   connotativo (implícito)
   denotativo (explícito
estructura


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El análisis literario textual:

**La prosa
1. Punto de vista narrativa -

Narrador omnisciente
Narrador omnisciente limitado (3ª persona)
Narrador protagonista (1ª persona)
Narrador testigo u observador (personaje secundario)  

2. Escenario -
Donde tiene lugar el narrativo
3. Personajes -

Protagonista                          Personajes sencillos
Personajes secundarios          Personajes complejos
Personaje colectivo
4. Trama o argumento -
Lo que ocurre
5. Tema -
El mensaje o lo que nos dice la narrativa
6. Estilo -

Descripción expositiva  (mucha descripción del lugar y/o de las personas)
Descripción dramática (mucha acción)
Diálogo
Monólogo interior
7. Lenguaje -

Connotativo  (implícito)
Denotativo  (explícito)
Coloquial  (dialecto)
8. Tono -

Humorístico           Filosófico
Cínico                   Fatalista
Pesimista               Cómico
Meditativo
9. Estructura -

Cronológica          Acronológica
Cerrada                Abierta
Intercalada

**La poesía
1. Estructura -

Número de estrofas  (stanzas)
Número de versos (lines) en la estrofa
        Cuarteto          - 4 versos
        Quinteto          - 5 versos
        Sextilla            - 6 versos
        Séptima          - 7 versos
        Octavo           - 8 versos
        Décima          - 10 versos
        Soneto           - 14 versos
                                ( estos sólo son ejemplos; hay otros)
 
2. Encabalgamiento -
La oración continúa de una estrofa a otra sin parar
 
3. Rima -

Rima asonante            - rima sólo en los vocals
Rima consonante        - rima en los vocales y los consonantes 
4. Medida métrica -

Verso llano        - número exacto de sílabas
         “Es te que ves en ga ño co lo ri do”   (11 sílabas)
 
Verso agudo     - número de sílabas menos una (-1)
         “El cis ne can ta ba só lo pa ra mo rir _”   (12 + 1 = 13 sílabas)
 
Verso esdrújula - número de sílabas más una (+1)
         “En los mon tes bai la ban los ár _ les”   (11 – 1 = 10 sílabas)

 Palabra aguda             - acento en la última sílaba
Palabra llana               - acento en la penúltima sílaba
Palabra esdrújula        - acento en la antepenúltima sílaba
 
5. Sinalefa -
Se une la última sílaba de una palabra con la primera sílaba de la siguiente palabra cuando una termina y la otra empieza con vocal.
     “que-el al ma me-u ne con ti go”    (8 sílabas)
Hiato -
Se rompe la sinalefa, o sea, no se une las vocales de dos palabras distintas en una sóla sílaba.
     “que el al ma me u ne con ti go”   (10 sílabas)
Sinérisis -
Se une dos vocales fuertes en una sóla sílaba dentro de una palabra.  
     “el le-ón dor mi rá con las o ve jas”   (10 sílabas)
Diérisis -
Se separa dos vocales débiles, o un vocal débil y uno fuerte.
     “el so ni do del gü i ro”   (8 sílabas)
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