UPenn Anthropology Graduate Blog

See part one of this series, “Reading to Respond” here.

Writing short, synthetic summaries might feel like a tedious practice. That’s because it is tedious – but it is an important part of your training. It is also a useful technique you can use for many aspects of your graduate training, including writing your dissertation proposal, reviewing literature for field statements or grant applications, and writing your dissertation. Writing these summaries helps you to become a better reader. If you organize and save each précis, think sheet, or reading summary, they will coalesce into a thoroughly annotated bibliography of all of the texts you’ve read in grad school.  When you feel frustrated with reading responses, imagine future you – who forgot much of what s/he/they read – thanking past you for keeping digital records of an author’s argument and your reactions.

Here, we – Kyle, Sara, and Michelle – will share some of our insights about the précis, thinksheet, or reading summary both as class exercises and scholarly tools. Remember, like the other aspects of grad school, learning to write thinksheets is a skill that takes time and practice. Don’t worry if they’re awful at first! You’ll get better with time. (And be less anxious about them, too.) Don’t worry if you hate them at first, think sheets are something to keep doing until you stop dreading them and, maybe, start liking them.

In this second part of our series, Kyle discusses some strategies that he uses to write reading responses that are useful for many different kinds of writing.

Responding to Think

Kyle Olson: Following from my favorite advice book (“Grad School Essentials” by Zachary Shore), here are the fundamental components of any critique that you will be asked to write, whether as a seminar assignment or in your candidacy statements, dissertation, articles, books, exhibitions, blog posts and beyond.

Clearly state the thesis in 1-2 sentences. This follows from the reading advice above. Ideally you would already have put the thesis in your own words. Either way, here you want to polish your notes and fine-tune the register and tone of your summary of the argument.

List the premises, assumptions and evidence that support the thesis. Again this follows directly from the reading advice. Here, you want to elaborate and expand on your notes with the most central examples the author uses in their piece.

Judge whether the conclusions the authors draw follow from the evidence and their reasoning. This is where you make your own argument, about whether you are convinced or unconvinced by the author. This is challenging at first, you’ll get better with practice. Support yourself with your own evidence and reasoning, whether derived from the text itself or from other texts.

Contextualize the thesis and draw out its implications. This is where the real work happens. Compare and contrast the text with other readings. Imagine whether the argument would still hold if some of the evidence were different, or if the domain it concerned were somehow altered. Think about the conditions that make the argument convincing or unconvincing. But don’t stop there! Try to parse out what follows from the thesis. If the thesis holds, what else must also be true or false? Is this convincing or unconvincing? Do what you can to connect these to themes and concepts discussed in previous seminar meetings if relevant. If not, try to connect these implications to your own work.

Ask questions from which you and others can learn. If nothing else, this will help prepare you for seminar discussion -- but it is so much more important than that! Go for the juggular here: why did the author choose to write this piece? Who were they in conversation with? What work does the piece do? Is it helpful to think about the world the way the author wants us to? Don’t hold back, be fierce!

Writing short, synthetic summaries might feel like a tedious practice. That’s because it is tedious -- but it is an important part of your training. It is also a useful technique you can use for many aspects of your graduate training, including writing your dissertation proposal, reviewing literature for field statements or grant applications, and writing your dissertation. Writing these summaries helps you to become a better reader. If you organize and save each précis, think sheet, or reading summary, they will coalesce into a thoroughly annotated bibliography of all of the texts you’ve read in grad school.  When you feel frustrated with reading responses, imagine future you -- who forgot much of what s/he/they read -- thanking past you for keeping digital records of an author’s argument and your reactions.

Here, we -- Kyle, Sara, and Michelle -- will share some of our insights about the précis, thinksheet, or reading summary both as class exercises and scholarly tools. Remember, like the other aspects of grad school, learning to write thinksheets is a skill that takes time and practice. Don’t worry if they’re awful at first! You’ll get better with time. (And be less anxious about them, too.) Don’t worry if you hate them at first, think sheets are something to keep doing until you stop dreading them and, maybe, start liking them. 

This is the first part of a two-post series. See the second post of this series, “Responding to Think”, where we describe strategies for reading in grad school.

Reading to Respond   

There are so many different ways to read a text so that you get what it’s about. We list the approach each of us finds helpful below. Check out this resource and this resource for more advice. 

Despite the real differences between reading responses, think sheets, and précis, ultimately what you are being asked to do is to demonstrate your comprehension of the texts and to use them as a springboard to develop your own thoughts on the ideas.

Sara Rendell (3rd year, medical anthropology): Scan to make a map, read and jot notes, then close read and react.  Three rounds of reading sounds time consuming, but this approach takes less time than trying to read and “get it” on my first read.

1) Scan to make a map. When I scan an article or book to make a map, I look at the layout and try to grab the author’s main argument, the evidence the author uses, what point(s) the author plans to make in each chapter, and new terms the author introduces. I find most of this information in the introductory chapter of a full-length ethnography and in the abstract, introduction, and conclusion of an article.

2) Read and jot notes. Here, I delve into the actually reading the text. I focus on chapters/areas that seem most important to the main argument the author is making. I underline what’s important, circle words I want to look up or citations I’d like to read, and jot reactions in the margins. I also stick a tab next to sections I’d like to “close read” (or return to at the end of the book and read slowly to unpack).

3) Close read and react. When I’m close-reading, I go back to sections I stuck a tab next to and read them slowly. Usually these are one - two paragraph sections that I’ve decided are important to me and to learning from the text. I quote the first and last sentence of section in my notes w/ a [...] in between and then write my first thoughts about it below as I read it slowly and react to it. Often, the questions I ask in a think sheet, précis, or reading summary comes directly out of these close reading notes.

Michelle Munyikwa (5th year, medical anthropology): I follow Professor Deb Thomas’ advice on this, keeping in mind the following questions as I read:

* What is the author’s main point/argument?

* What data does the author use to make this point (e.g. historical sources, statistics,

events, people’s statements and actions, etc.)?

* How did the author collect this data, or, what was the author’s methodology (e.g. participant observation fieldwork, extended interviews, genealogical interviews, archival research, etc.)?

* Do you think the author’s data support his or her point/argument? Why or why not?

* What do you think the author “got right”?

* What do you think the author “got wrong”? That is, what are your critiques of the author’s work? Remember, it’s hard to write a book, so it’s always best to assimilate what you thought was interesting or what made you think about something in a different way, and then critique briefly.

* How do you think this reading (book or article) relates to other course materials?

Kyle Olson (5th year, archaeology): For the first couple of weeks, the amount of required reading will be a shock to the system. As Professor Schurr likes to say, coursework is like learning how to drink from a firehose with a straw! Here are some guidelines that I’ve found helpful for getting through it all.

Before reading, ask some key questions. Who is the author and what do you know about them? Why has this particular reading been assigned? What does the professor want you to get out of engaging with this text? These questions help you get into the active, objective-oriented frame of mind that is necessary to digest an academic text.

Take stock of the text. First look at the text. For a book, start with the table of contents; for an article, read the headings and sub-headings. After this, skim the introduction until you find where the author makes their argument and/or presents the roadmap of the work. If either of these two things do not appear in the introduction, they are in the conclusion. Find these.

Understand the thesis. Before you read anything else, closely re-read the thesis as many times as you need to to be able to restate it in your own words. This is going to be really hard at first. But do your best to translate whatever the author is trying to argue into simpler language. All academic writing is about making arguments, and you need to be able to find and understand them quickly.

Find the evidence the author uses to support their thesis. Ideally, a summary of what evidence the author deploys in their argument will not be located far from the thesis. If not, you need to find it and write in your own words what the categories of evidence are. Without this information you cannot evaluate the validity of the thesis.

Decide what to read and what not to read. Most of the text does not need to be read closely. That said, a good rule of thumb is to make sure your eyes at least see every page. In any case, read just enough to be able to give concrete examples to illustrate the argument and the evidence marshaled to support it in your own words. Particularly crucial passages can be read closely, word-by-word and line-by-line, but this is not a good way to read entire texts.

Take notes. Write down key concepts, jargon, references, and other details to follow up on. Write just enough to jog your memory and no more. Rote copying of large segments of text is a waste of time. You need to learn how to put it in your own words, no matter how elegantly stated it is originally. But, if an extended passage is crucial to know, mark it down so you can find it again easily later. These notes will help you write your precis and also contribute meaningfully to class discussions.

To succeed in graduate school and beyond you need to develop your critical thinking and practical skills. This is a difficult task, in part, because there is no one right way way to do it nor a one-size-fits-all list to check off. It is also challenging because it is an open-ended pursuit with ever-shifting targets, which can make it stressful to set goals and measure your progress. There are many choices and decisions to be made about how you spend your time in the program, and it can be overwhelming at first to chart your path. One strategy to use in solving this problem is to reflect on the “why” of a decision. “Why”, in this context, should never be a rhetorical question; “why” sets you up to make an argument by leading you to take a position, and further, to justify that position with a defensible reason. Learning to carefully consider “why” will not only help you make important decisions about your own development, but will also serve you well when it comes time to write grant proposals, and later to sell your project on the job market.

Coursework

For every course that you select, ask yourself why you are taking it. Especially in the first year, the answer will be because it is required or your adviser suggested you should. This is normal, but does not obviate the need to ask why. Why is the course important? For what purpose are you being asked to commit a significant chunk of your time to learning a body of material? Why will this serve you well in the future? When you have more agency over selecting your courses, you should ask yourself the question again: why? Why should I take this course? Why this course and not another? Why will this course contribute to my project better than all other options? Making sure to have an answer to these questions will help you stay on task and get the most out of the course. But, the ultimate purpose here is to get you to start thinking about a higher-order set of “why” questions”.

Project Development

You’ve arrived in graduate school with an idea for a project in mind, or you may not. Either way, your project will change over the next three-four years especially, and will never stop changing after that. It is important to realize that these changes are features of the system, not bugs, and learning to leverage the power of “why” will help you navigate this terrain. It is by no means easy to think through the “who”, “what”, “when”, “where”, and “how” of your project, but these questions are all in some way subordinate to “why”. For example, you could devise an elegant research proposal to work with flat earth conspiracy theorists (who), and ask them questions about their beliefs (what), in the contemporary moment (when), in the suburbs of Columbus, OH (where), using a combination of social domain analysis, unstructured and semi-structured interviews (how). While that project may have some potential, it would not be a viable scholarly pursuit if the researcher cannot give a convincing warrant for why the study should be done. What questions might it help answer, problems it might solve? Why is this the right approach and not a different one? This is how you connect your work to larger problems in anthropology and beyond, by giving a convincing account of the motivation for doing the work and the potential it has to matter to others.

Investments

Ultimately, this is the purpose of honing your ability to probe the “why” of a decision. Asking “why” will help you articulate your investments, i.e. the things that you truly care about and are committed to. Once you have a reasonably worked-out understanding of what your investments and commitments are, this can help you more easily answer some of the lower-order “why” questions. For example, you can begin to think along the lines of “I want to take x course, because I need it to address y problem in my project about z, and it is the best choice because it gives me the ability to speak to theoretical/practical/moral/ethical/etc. issues a, b, and c that I really care about and am appropriately positioned to argue for their importance to a broader audience”. 

Coda

The first year of your graduate program will be difficult, but it doesn’t have to be miserable. As part of building our stronger departmental culture, we want to foster greater inter-cohort solidarity. One way to do that is to facilitate the passing on of accumulated experience and wisdom from students at every stage in the program to you, the incoming students. We sent out a short survey to the listserv, and this is what people had to say. We hope you find it helpful!

1) What's one thing you know now about graduate school that you wish you had known during the first year?

You don't have to read everything. But you should definitely attend colloquium every week unless you’re at a conference. Don’t sign up for a course Monday at noon. Come, pay attention, work on your listening and note-taking skills, and pay attention to the questions that professors ask during the Q&A and how the speakers answer them. (3rd year, cultural anthropology)

It’s ok to not have a dissertation project right when you get here.  IT’S OK. It’s also fine if you do have one and it changes. Just don’t be worried if it seems like everyone else has a topic and you’re not sure yet, because you’ll have time and proper guidance to help you figure it out. (3rd year, physical anthropology)

There's not as much hand holding as you think, and a project doesn't magically fall into your lap. Be thinking about what you'd like your dissertation project to look like on day one, and start trying to make this happen in your first year. The actual shape of the project, and perhaps the personnel involved, will change, but you have to be the one to take the reins on your dissertation and start trying to make things happen. Think of your PhD as your own "Choose your own adventure" novel. Its pace is totally dependent on how fast you move and how early you start thinking about it. (7th year, physical anthropology)

I've got more than one thing. I wish I had known that writing "think sheets" or "précis" or "reading responses" is a skill that comes with time (a semester or more) and practice; that I can learn a lot from scanning the bibliographies/references and acknowledgments of ethnographies and that the introduction chapters are the roadmap for the entire book; that even bad advice is good advice because it teaches you what your work isn't and what you don't want to be/do; that I should attend as many dissertation defenses in my field as I can; that I'm a terrible ethnographer when I'm not taking care of myself so whatever I do to stay sane (family/friend time, dates, resting, working out, movies, walks...) has to stay a priority; that I'll always feel like I haven't read enough, like I'm chasing the train instead of riding in it; that Annual Reviews of Anthropology and Oxford Bibliography of Anthropology are good starting points when i'm trying to gain familiarity with a subject within my discipline. (3rd year, cultural anthropology)

Not to buy books but instead get them from borrow direct or interlibrary loan (2nd year, physical anthropology)

It can be a very solitary experience, so build relationships, writing groups, social time into your schedule and stick with it!  Use any and all networking opportunities, and have people read your stuff even if they aren't in the same sub-field. Different perspectives can only help!! (4th year, archaeology)

It is important to develop skills. The department is overly theory-heavy, and unless you take it upon yourself to gain practical abilities you will be unprepared when it comes time to start dissertating. Take courses that will teach you how to use film/audio editing software, Adobe Illustrator, R, SPSS, GIS, mySQL, python, Excel, etc. Not only will these serve you well in your academic path, but these are also handy things to have in your toolkit if you decide to pursue an alt-ac career after you’re finished. (5th year, archaeology)

If you haven't been in graduate school before, you might be really overwhelmed by the amount of work you're asked to do -- especially readings in class. They are physically impossible to complete for every class, every week, and your mental and emotional health will likely suffer if you try to do all the readings, word-for-word. Grad school is an exercise in trying to find out what is important to know (for yourself and for the purposes of the professor) and strategizing to get as much of it as you can while also getting a basic grasp of the breadth of your readings. (2nd year, cultural anthropology)

2) What's one of the best decisions you've made that either eased your transition to grad school, made your life easier, or helped your career?

Papers, responses, and etc need to be good enough, but not perfect. Having priorities is important. (3rd year, cultural anthropology)

To build in time on my schedule for exercise, sleep, healthful eating, breaks/vacations- and to hold myself accountable for actually doing these things. And then to remind myself that no one is allowed to make me feel bad for taking care of my mental and physical health. It's easy to overlook that hour you wanted to carve out of your day for yoga because you have a pressing deadline, or to fall into the trap of pulling all nighters to send out a grant in time. A disciplined work/life balance and an unapologetic approach to reasonable self-care, regardless of the tongue clucking your boss/PI/advisor may do (this includes trying really, really hard to not feel guilty when you take vacation time - yes, much of the rest of the U.S. gets two weeks, and yes, you should allow yourself this, too) were actually skills I had to develop but have really helped me maximize my productivity and enjoy the process of grad school. (7th year, physical anthropology)

I'm the wrong person to talk to about this because I somehow made my grad school transition as difficult as possible and had a rough time. That being said, it's all good now so even if your start is rocky, you'll be fine. Hmm, actually, do your best to make friends with people who are ahead of you in the program. It makes a world of difference. (3rd year, cultural anthropology)

I took a lot of walks?  I’m not from the area so it was nice to take time and go exploring on my own or with a friend to different parts of the city.  It allowed me to spend time away from school work and house work and it was relaxing.  Favorite spots include the Woodlands Cemetery, the dog park at Schuylkill River Park, Reading Terminal Market, The Waterworks, and of course wandering around in Old City. (3rd year, physical anthropology)

Getting a gym pass. Applying for the NSF GRFP. (2nd year, physical anthropology)

Take one night a week off, and every Saturday (or at the very least every other!!). You need time to process and recharge, it is just as important as the work, and might even make you more productive and give you better perspective if you step away from it for a bit! (4th year, archaeology)

Treat your academic work like a job. Figure out what hours work for you and set a schedule that will help you stick to them. It can be hard during the first year to set a rhythm, but graduate work has a tendency to expand to fill all the time you allot to it. So budget a specific amount of time for work each week and don’t go over your limit unless absolutely necessary. (5th year, archaeology)

Allowing myself to buy in to the fact that I belong here. We all feel like imposters to varying degrees, and even though you're warned about this, its very difficult to get to a point that you can really feel ok with that feeling and put yourself at some ease and comfort. In my opinion, fighting imposter syndrome is legitimate emotional work that is really important for your health. (2nd year, cultural anthropology)

3) What's one thing that you would like to share about your experience with the program that you think might be helpful for first years?

Take all four core courses if you can, but not necessarily all four comps. (3rd year, cultural anthropology)

Make a network of peers and teachers that transects disciplines from day one, and keep building it. There are lots of people working in your topic of interest (or a related one) in other subdisciplines within anthropology and in different fields, such as the humanities, sciences, etc. These people can be committee members, advisors, and future contacts for field work opportunities and jobs. Example: My masters involved medical anthro and public health personnel, and my PhD committee is an anthropologist, a parasitologist, a population geneticist, and a microbiologist. From this, I've developed a broad range of mentors to give me advice and chaperone interdisciplinary projects through research pipelines, and I've been able to get on training grants outside of anthropology, to get tipped off about cool conferences and meetings, and to take teaching opportunities in other countries. ABN- Always Be Networkin'. (7th year, physical anthropology)

We don't get much formal training in methods, so before your first summer of fieldwork, talk to others about methods and track down some methods handbooks/textbooks to scan over (for example, “Writing Ethnographic Fieldnotes” by Emerson/Fretz/Shaw).  Other people keep you afloat in this program so I suggest you prioritize making friends and staying connected. (3rd year, cultural anthropology)

Your mental health is more important than finishing all of those readings.  It’s easier as an undergrad to finish every assignment and read every paper so it seems like it will be easy to do it your first year too.  And you might throughout the first semester, but when you get to the second semester you kind of realize what is important to finish and what can be skimmed and what can be skipped.  That sounds terrible but save yourself the panic attacks and stress illness because you don’t get a medal for finishing every reading. (3rd year, physical anthropology)

The museum is a really wonderful place, wander around it once in a while.  When things get overwhelming wander the halls among the artifacts and remember why you are here in the first place! (4th year, archaeology)

Don’t take coursework too seriously. Perform well in courses taught by your advisor and potential committee members and focus on learning in language and skills-based courses. Your GPA will not be taken into consideration by hiring committees so just keep it high enough to stay in good standing with SAS. (5th year, archaeology)

We are in a very self-oriented industry and often-times there aren't great systems, or even communities, of support in the different stages of the program. However, nearly everyone is willing to support each other to the best of their abilities. It just may take some degree of reaching out to people in your cohort and those that you know in the program. Don't feel intimidated if they suggest you talk to older students or recent PhDs that you don't even know. We all have been in similar places with similar struggles, and generally everyone wants to be there for people in a way they maybe wished someone had for them. (2nd year, cultural anthropology)