<p>I realllly want to improve my reading (speed, comprehension, memory) but I don't know how or how to do it efficiently. I'm reading The Scarlet Letter right now and I don't feel like I really understand everything. I get the general plot and things that happen but sometimes I don't catch important things (that Sparknotes has).</p>
<p>I feel like I don't know if I'm reading... For example I see this word ignominy and I think I know what it means but I'm not really sure. These are the only things that make me a slow reader. I just keep rereading since I think that I have not understood it... but then I don't know if really helps. Does anyone know how I can improve my reading?</p>
<p>Read English books with a pen in one hand and write little notes and observations in the margin. Doing so will cause you to make more observations. And drastically slow your reading speed.</p>
<p>Don't look up every word you don't know, only look up those that prevent you from getting the gist of a sentence. Pause after every paragraph or every narrative unit-description of an event and ask yourself "OK, so what is going on here? How has the plot advanced? What more do we know now?" Then do that again at the end of the chapter and think about which details stick in your mind. What do these details add--if not to the plot , then to a possibly expanded understanding of a character (probably Hester P. Arthur D. or Roger C.) or his/her symbolic importance. Think of the novel as units of meaning that advance our understanding of character and plot--not as a series of words to be decoded. Think about how you listen to music--not note by note but in thematic -melodic strands.</p>
<p>Hope that helps. You might find listening to an audiobook version of the novel helpful because the reader's tone of voice helps to convey meaning.</p>