HOW TO READ AND REMEMBER

Retentive memory is memory that retains information for a long time. When you have one, it means you never read and forget. You need retentive memory to be at the top of your class. You especially need retentive memory to scale through the school internal exams and other external exams where you have to provide answers to objective questions.

Retentive memory comes naturally to some students but you could learn the habit of reading to remember everything you have read. Here’s how

• Skim first: start by scanning the pages, putting an emphasis on the following; captions, pictures, graphs, tables, and key paragraphs (which are usually at the beginning and the end). Depending on the purpose, you should slow down and read carefully only the parts that are very vital for your class work.
• Understand what careful reading requires: after scanning the pages and selecting your key topics, go for a second reading but discipline your eyes when you are reading this second time. When you were scanning the pages, your eyes moved from one point to the other without being fixed in one area but during the second reading, you have to focus on the paragraph and stay there until it has absorbed the text and its meaning. When you have digested this paragraph, you can then move on to the next.
• Mark out the important points: use a marking pen to mark a few key points to act as the basis for mental pictures and reminder cues. Write down important words in your jotter if you don’t find useful points to mark. Always thing about the meaning of a text and rehearse the portions you have highlighted in the context of how it fits with your assignment, why it needs to be remembered, and how it fits with important materials that you have read before. Stop after every few paragraphs, close the book and try to remember of write down what you have read. Then open the book again and check to see if you have jotted down everything from memory. Make sure you preserve the jotter so you could be making reference to it during revision.
• Think in picture: a picture may not be worth a thousand words, but it can certainly capture the essence of dozens of words. Moreover, pictures are much easier to memorize than words. Create mental images and meanings of the text you have read. You can turn the highlighted text into pictures in your mind. You only have to spot the important words think of the pictures you can convey. For example if you have marked something like “the red curtain across the hallway” you immediately have a mental picture. In the same way a word like “haughty” also gives you a mental picture.
• Rehearse as you go along: read in short segments (a few paragraphs to a few pages), all the while thinking about the meaning of what is written. To rehearse what you are memorizing, see how many of the mental pictures you can reconstruct. Use headings and highlighted words if needed to help you reinforce the mental pictures. Rehearse the mental picture every day or so for the first few days after reading.
• Operate within you attention span: paying attention is central to memorization. Trying to read when you can’t concentrate is wasting time. Since most people have short attention spans, they should not try to read dense material for more than 10 or 15 minutes at a time. After such a session, they should take a break and quiz themselves on what they just read.

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