Reading phase I: Pre-reading

La pre-reading is a preparatory activity for reading itself, which allows you to do a general idea on the content of a topic and on how to deal with it.

Before undertaking an analytical reading, word for word, it is useful to frame the text, evaluating some general elements in it. For example, before starting to read a text it is useful to observe some of the following elements:

• The first pages, to know the first synthetic information about the content.
• The general index, to understand how the information is distributed inside.
• The analytical index, to verify if the text contains the topics and problems that interest us and about which we are looking for information
• The first chapter that, together with the introduction, often frames the text in the field of study.
• The last chapter, which often offers a synthesis of the results that appear in the topic or book.
• The bibliography, which allows to examine the breadth and type of sources.
• The notes, which give indications about difficulties or ease of the text.

One of the objectives of pre-reading is to awaken our attention through the creation of expectations that help us understand a text, this objective can be achieved by preparing questions about the content of the text, to which the reading should provide answers. The text can be interpreted in light of these questions.