Reading Guide
Below are the questions that you should put to each text that you read:
- What is the argument of the text?
- What claims are made by each chapter or article and how do these claims develop or support the text’s argument?
- What evidence does the author provide as support for their claims and for the text’s overall argument?
- Is this evidence compelling?
- What assumptions are presupposed by the author and what is the intellectual, political, and moral status of these assumptions?
- What is the historical context of the work and how does the text reflect this context?
Here are a few suggestions for close reading:
- After looking for the author’s arguments and the evidence she uses to support them, ask yourself: What is the main claim she makes? With whom is she disagreeing? Then consider your reactions to the author’s work: Does this make sense to you? Why or why not? What are the weaknesses of the argument?
- If you can, read with a pencil in hand. Jot down thoughts you want to raise in class. Write your reactions to the text in the margins. If you’re reading from a computer, consider using a notetaking application (Evernote, Zotero, or even Google Docs) to keep all of your notes in one place. Above all, think about what you are reading; if you find yourself turning pages numbly, stop, take a pause, and then refocus on the author’s chain of thought. If you need help figuring out a notetaking application, please let me know.
- Plan your readings to be spaced out in reasonable increments. Thoughtful reading takes time and energy. It is more pleasant and productive to read over several days than to try and compress all the reading into a couple of nights.
- Writing comments (e.g., “good counterpoint to Huntington”) helps a reader engage with the text—READING IS NOT A SPECTATOR SPORT.
- Keep track of the parts of the text where you had questions, objections, or fierce agreement with the author’s points. Note page numbers on a separate sheet of paper. You may also want to use post-it flags for quick reference to key passages.
- When you are done reading, check to see that you can summarize the author’s argument in a few sentences. You may want to take 5 minutes and write down this summary, particularly if you are reading several different texts in a given week.
- Remember that the goal of close reading is not turning pages but being able to say something about the material and evaluate it.
These tips may seem unfamiliar at first, but they can become useful habits when practiced over time.
Conceptual Resources
Some of the readings will assume some background knowledge in political theory or philosophy. A great resource for understanding important thinkers and the basic concepts they rely on is the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy:
Other readings assume some knowledge of financial or economic concepts. The following resources can provide some guidance on basic theories and concepts of economics and political economy:
- Robin Hahnel, The ABCs of Political Economy (Pluto Press),Chapters 4-7, 9:
- John Goddard, John O.S. Wilson, Banking: A Very Short Introduction (Oxford, 2016).
Writing Resources
Writing is more art than science. Nevertheless, this short book is a good guide:
- Strunk and White, The Elements of Style.
Beyond this handy book, I encourage all students to make use of SLU’s Writing Center:
The SLU Writing Center
Seeking out feedback on a writing project is the mark of an advanced writer, and writing center use is strongly correlated with successful completion of academic programs. At the SLU Writing Center, professional writing consultants are available to work with students at any stage of the writing process, at any point in the semester.
We offer several options for remote appointments, all of which are detailed here.
Students can make a Writing Center appointment by visiting our online schedule.
Writing resources and information about writing workshops and writing groups can be found here.
Questions? Please contact Michael Rymer at Michael.Rymer@slu.cuny.edu or 646-313-8322.
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