Skimming an article for typographical cues means scanning each page for text that stands out in some way. Typographical cues include titles, subtitles, headings and subheadings, words in bold type, words in italics, bullet points, illustrations, and captions.
It's easy enough to see these features in an article, but what should they tell you about the author's purpose or message? Use the flashcards below to think about what the most common typographical cues indicate. When you think you know the answer to the question on each card, click that card to check your answer.
What do subtitles and subheadings show you?
a shift in the text to focus on specific smaller topics
What does bold face or italics show you?
important vocabulary terms, words from a foreign language, or jargon
What do bullet points indicate?
that the items in a list belong to the same category
What kind of information do illustrations provide?
examples or demonstrations of ideas
Summary
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Question
What can you learn about a text just by skimming it, and noting the typographical cues?
You'll probably find out the topic of the text, some or all of its main ideas, and which kinds of details are most important.
