UNRAVEL Reading Strategy
Introduction: Good readers interact with a text as they read. This means that they pause to think about the significance of
the text features, unfamiliar words, key conflicts, matter-of-fact statements, definitions, etc. Good readers also stay
constantly inquisitive, meaning that they question the circumstances, make predictions, and draw conclusions based off of
evidence (otherwise known as making inferences). In short, good readers realize that the information that is passing
through their minds will likely need to be retrieved in order to answer questions or perform key tasks at a later time. One
way to make this information easier to retrieve is to use an acronym to help provide an easy-to-remember, step-by-step
method of analyzing a text. One such method is commonly known as UNRAVEL, and this strategy will help you unravel the
important parts of whatever you choose to read.
U
Underline the title. Make notes around the title. What do you already know about the topics featured in the
title? What do you predict will likely be in the text? What is most likely the purpose of what you’re about to
read? Texts with simple titles such as “Icebergs” and “Tidal Waves” are likely informative, simply providing
information about that particular topic. However, texts with titles such as “Do Aliens Exist?” or Bill Cosby’s
“Going to the Dentist” might be persuasive or entertaining.
N
Number the paragraphs (or lines, whichever makes more sense). As a prereading strategy, numbering paragraphs
(or lines if not already numbered) makes it easier later whenever you want to go back and find specific
information, especially when answering test questions. This can also help you with parenthetical citations if page
numbers are not available.
R
Read the questions first. If questions follow whatever you’re reading, then another good prereading strategy is to
read the questions first. This will help provide a focus for you whenever you begin reading. Note: If questions do
not follow the text, then a good postreading strategy is to create leveled questions for what you’ve read. This
strategy forces you to go back and consider the text from different perspectives.
A
Are you circling the important words? Circle the important words within the questions and be sure that you fully
understand each question. Make notes as needed. Then, scan the text for significant words. Look for text
features: headings and subheadings, graphs, maps, emphasized words (often in bold print or underlined), pictures
and captions, etc. Just as you did with the title, use these words to make inferences and to provide a better focus
as you read.
V
Venture through the text. Read the text, but be sure to interact with it. Mark it up. Place question marks by
things you don’t understand or want to know more about, and place exclamation marks by things that surprised
you or by predictions that have been validated. Underline or highlight answers to questions, important words,
dates, matter-of-fact phrases, etc.
E
Eliminate choices that make no sense. Multiple-choice tests are usually designed with one or two choices that are
considered distracters, meaning that they will distract you from the correct answer if you did not read carefully.
Mark out these distracters and then consider carefully the choices that are left.
L
Let yourself answer the question, but only do so after you have carefully considered all questions, have
eliminated the distracters, and then have gone back into the text to find evidence that supports the choice that
you believe is the best. Occasionally, you might encounter questions for which there does not seem to be a
correct choice available. On such occasions, remember that the creator of the test is not necessarily challenging
you to find the one accurate answer. Instead, the challenge is to find the best answer among the available
choices.
Example PEEC for “Area 51”
The government might not acknowledge or deny an area that it uses because it does not want to leak
important national secrets to enemy nations or terrorist organizations. In a time of satellites, Google Maps, and
ever-diminishing privacy, any government naturally craves restricted and hidden land in order to conduct military
operations and experiments designed to produce the latest technology. Area 51, a secretive military base on a
remote patch of Nevada land, is a good example of this much-needed real estate: “Lockheed Corporation, a
leading aerospace company, had been developing many secret aircraft since World War II, some of which has
been tested at this military base” (“Area 51” para. 1). Although the government is willing to cooperate with the
Lockheed corporation, it can’t afford to disclose the details of this base to the public: “The base is not visible
because it is surrounded by mountains[,] does not appear on public government maps[, and is] permanently offlimits to all traffic and heavily guarded” (para. 2). This evidence suggests that the operations at the base are
important to national security. Therefore, the reason that the government will not acknowledge or deny its
existence is that it needs to look out for the safety of its citizens. If too many people are savvy concerning the
details of this base, then (in an age where information travels at the speed of fingers on a computer keyboard)
other nations or terrorist organizations might obtain the particulars of the technology that is likely being
developed within such bases. The consequence could be that the government is no longer one step ahead of its
enemies, thus making its citizens subject to attacks.