1. Introduction

This resource was created using resources developed by Ontario Education. A full version is available online at: http://www.edu.gov.on.ca/eng/studentsuccess/thinkliteracy/files/Reading.pdf

As students progress through school, they are asked to read increasingly complex informational and graphical texts in their courses. The ability to understand and use the information in these texts is key to a student’s success in learning. Successful students have a repertoire of strategies to draw upon, and know how to use them in different contexts. This resource is to assist readers in the development of these strategies so they may become better readers.

These strategies can be used in all courses. However, let's begin with some information about how to best approach reading texts in English.

Reading Literary Texts

Literary texts (such as stories, descriptions, essays, biographies, dialogues, novels, scripts, and poems) are written to entertain, provide insights, or communicate a writerÂ’s ideas and viewpoints. Literary texts are sometimes incorporated into informational text forms. Providing students with an approach to read ing this type of text can help them to become effective readers in other contexts as well.

Hopefully you will become familiar with the elements and features of literary texts used in the course. This will allow you to explore a process for reading literary texts, using a range of strategies for before, during and after
reading. You will read for information and enjoyment and practise essential reading strategies and apply them to different types of course-related materials.


Literary texts come in a wide range of fiction and non-fiction, with many forms and genres. Each uses language and literary elements in particular ways to communicate something significant. Some of the elements of fiction are characters, plot, setting, theme (big idea), perspective (point-of-view taken by the narrator), style, language, and structure. Dramas (scripts and dialogues) use many of the same elements as novels and short stories, but may include special features such as stage directions, acts and scenes, and notations. Poems use elements such as structure, rhythm, rhyme, imagery and figurative language to communicate an idea, feeling or image.
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Non-fiction literary texts include biographies and essays. Biographies often tell the story of their subject through narrative elements. Elements of biography include setting (how it influences the events in the personÂ’s life), characterization of the subject (representation of the subjectÂ’s character and motives), theme, accuracy, structure (time sequence), illustrations, graphic features, structural patterns, and organizational features (table of contents, index, references). Essays might be persuasive, personal, or descriptive but often use the same elements to communicate a significant idea or viewpoint. These elements include thesis, introduction, body, conclusion,
arguments, and evidence.

Many of the strategies used for reading informational and graphical texts can be used effectively to read literary texts. Focus one or two tips at a time to help you before, during and after the assigned reading. You may wish to create an organizer to guide you as you read a particular text.

Tips for Reading Literary Texts

Before Reading

  • Read the title and think about what might happen in the story or what the essay might be about. Does the title suggest any connections to your own life or raise any questions?
    • Recall other selections you may have read by this author.
    • Look at any illustrations. What do they tell you about the story or subject?
    • Look the text over and sample the text to note its length, organization, level of language,  and structure. Pay attention to punctuation.

During Reading

  • As you read, ask questions about what is happening. Make predictions about what might happen next.
  • Form opinions about what is going on. Think about your responses and reactions to what you are reading. Making notes can help you focus your thinking as you read.
  • Picture the setting, events or images in your mind. Sketch them. As you read, imagine how the words will be spoken and see the action.
  • While reading a narrative selection, try the following:
    • Read the first page and pause. What do you know so far about the people (characters), setting, conflict, and point of view? Where do you think the storyline is going? Make connections to what you already know.
    • Who are the people and how are they related to each other?  Put yourself in their place. What would you say or do?

After Reading

  • Write down favourite quotations from the text. Share and compare them with a partner.
  • Create a visual interpretation of the text, such as a web, story map, or timeline, to show the relationships among the major characters and their feelings and attitudes.
  • Create a sensory web of the setting. Use a graphic organizer to illustrate the story’s plot or sequence of events (situation, complications, climax, resolution).
  • Retell/summarize the content in your own words, orally or in writing.

Please become familar with the following strategies. Use the one you need to help you understand what you are reading. You would never use all of them at once, but it is important to have a good selection to choose from to help you form understandings about what you are reading.