Getting the Gist
Some people are naturally good at finding the main idea of an essay, and the people we find with the most talent for this tend to be dyslexic. That's right, if you're like me and the ten percent of the population thought to have this disorder - congratulations - you are naturally equipped to be able to quickly get the 'gist' of written works.
Merriam-Webster defines gist as the main point or part: the essence. It's what the author spent all that time and all those words trying to deliver to you. Being able to get to the gist allows you to read more efficiently and more effectively. It allows you to read with purpose. Most people read by looking at every word, every sentence, every paragraph as its own independent piece. This is the equivalent of listening to an orchestra play and trying to isolate every note of each instrument independent of one another.
Not only is this a very inefficient way to listen to music, it also misses the point of what the composer and the conductor were trying to deliver to you. They wanted you to get the 'gist', the moment, the mood, the message of the music. Such is the case in reading. If you concentrate too heavily on each piece in isolation, you can easily miss the message the author was trying to portray.
Getting the gist guides you through the reading process. It allows you to put together the pieces of the puzzle the author is weaving for you, it allows you to stay with the author for the entire piece - eliminating the need to continue to go back and re-read the information. It helps you to place the author's work in not only short term, but long term memory by more quickly linking it with other information you are familiar with. It even allows you to compare and contrast with other information you have encountered in the past - having a proper dialog with the piece while reading through it. It takes you from simply 'reading' a piece to engaging with the author and making the time taken to read more worthwhile. Gist puts you in the proper frame of mind to read the piece as intended. Have you ever had a conversation with someone simply to look up and think 'what the heck are they talking about?'
Yeah, reading for the gist helps that not happen so often. You will be much more properly grounded in the 'conversation' your mind is having with the author - increasing your reading efficiency and reading comprehension significantly. There really is nothing worse than reading a chapter in a book - than realizing you have to read it again because you didn't get the point. And when taking a timed test - from a CLEP exam to the SAT or a final exam - you don't have the option of re-reading passages. You have to get the point the first time you read through a passage.
So, now you know what gist is, and you're convinced you want to get good at finding it. How do we help that happen? I am going to give you four steps to improving your reading and helping you quickly and efficiently find the gist of a piece of writing - no matter if it is a paragraph, a blog entry, a chapter in a book or an entire textbook.