This lesson has asked you to think about the impact of a novel's setting details on its characters. But setting plays an important role in the stories you tell your friends as well, and you have probably learned by now which details to emphasize. For example, when you return from a family vacation and your best friend asks how it was, how do you respond? Do you describe what you packed and how long the flight was, or do you jump right to the best parts, such as swimming in the ocean or visiting a candy factory?
When you tell a story, you don't want to bore your friends with every single detail so you focus on the most exciting parts. But did you know that you can approach the task of reading a novel the same way? You will not remember every single detail from every page, but you can make sure you're understanding the story by reflecting on key parts that move the plot forward and help develop the theme. The video below will show you how.
Decisiveness is a good skill to develop in life. Whether it be deciding what to do, deciding what to purchase, or deciding what to say, making timely judgments and decisions is important. Just like in life, it's important in literature to discern the most important pieces of information and commit them to memory. To do this, we can implement what is called the golden keys strategy.
The golden keys strategy is used to get a reader to quickly identify key concepts, sentences, and vocabulary in a text. In a word, to use the golden keys strategy is to pay specific attention to the most important parts of a text.
When reading, look for key parts of the text—snippets of information that pertain directly to the story or message. You're looking for sentences and symbolism that indicate foreshadowing, events in the story that drive the plot, and changes in the story that are of great significance to the characters.
Ideally, you'll gather between three and five golden keys per chapter or passage that you read. You may choose to write these down in a reading journal or just highlight the text if you are able to do so. By identifying golden keys in every chapter and committing them to memory, you'll find that the text is much easier to keep track with and understand. Aren't golden keys just the bees knees?
Question
How do golden keys help you summarize text?
