Describe how to pre-view a nonfiction textbook and explain why a reader might want to do this.

Question

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

Pre-viewing a textbook is like looking over a road map to find the driving route before going somewhere new. To do this, you need to look at a few things. The first thing to look at is the title and subtitle, as it should give you an indication of what the book is about. It is smart to look at the author's name and to locate information about him/her in the book so you know their qualifications for writing the book. The copyright date, found near the title page, tells you how new or old the material is. If a student is in a science class reading a five-year-old book, she can be certain it won't mention new technologies or scientific discoveries from the last five years. The preface tells you why the author wrote the book and what you might need to know. The table of contents is essentially the outline of the book. It tells you the strategy the author used to convey the information. The materials at the end of the book can include an index, a glossary, appendices, and a bibliography. All are useful for knowing what resources you have available within the book. It is especially useful when you can check your answers to chapter questions in the appendix!