hat is, in this mode it is wise to first look at the Table of Contents (at the beginning) and the Index (at the end) to get a feel for the kinds of topics, ideas, or information this book contains. Based on your initial evaluation of how useful the book will be for you, dip into a chapter or two. Read the introductory and concluding paragraphs of a chapter or a subsection to see if that will give you the gist. If the result here is useful, then dip deeper in. Synoptic Reading requires practical reasoning, i.e., your ability to discern what is useful for the task you have in mind. Like Textbook reading, synoptic reasoning is about extracting information. However, because it relies on your ability to select what is really useful in a text, it can be risky to read in this way when you find yourself in a new territory, because you don’t yet know what to look for and what to dismiss.
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