| Have you ever tried to build a jigsaw puzzle without the picture on the box? You open the packet, pour out hundreds of tiny pieces, and you’re immediately faced with chaos. The colours and shapes seem to have no meaning. It’s not that you’re unintelligent — it’s that you can’t see how the parts fit together. You lack the overview.  But once you’ve glimpsed the picture on the box, everything changes. Now you can sort the edge pieces, gather colours that belong together, and start clustering patterns. The puzzle is still challenging, but it’s no longer overwhelming. You’re not just looking at individual pieces — you’re starting to understand the whole. Reading an academic text works exactly the same way. When we open a textbook, article, or research report, we are often tempted to begin at the first word and move sentence by sentence, paragraph by paragraph, hoping that understanding will somehow appear along the way. Sometimes it does. But more often, we end up confused, frustrated, or worse — bored. Why? Because we haven’t seen the picture on the box. We don’t yet know how the author has structured the text — what the main ideas are, how they’ve been grouped, how the argument unfolds. We’re trying to build a puzzle with no guide. And without that structure in mind, it’s hard to remember what we’ve read, and even harder to explain it to someone else. That’s why developing the skill to divide a text into headings, subheadings, and sub-subheadings is so powerful. It turns passive reading into active understanding. Think of headings as the puzzle’s borders — they give shape and scope to the topic. Subheadings are the clusters of colour or texture within the frame — they help you see where one part of the argument ends and another begins. Sub-subheadings, if they’re present (or if you add them yourself), are like the fine details — smaller sections that make the larger picture more manageable. Let’s say you’re reading a chapter on climate change. Without structure, it’s just 15 pages of dense text. But with headings in place, you can start to make sense of the flow: Introduction (what is climate change and why it matters) Causes (human and natural factors) Effects (rising temperatures, extreme weather, biodiversity loss) Solutions (policy, technology, behaviour change) Conclusion (summary and future directions) Each heading divides the text into a meaningful chunk. Within those, subheadings might explore further details: for example, under “Effects,” you might have sections on heatwaves, droughts, sea-level rise, and ecosystem collapse. With this structure in place, your mind can begin to see how the pieces fit together. Now you’re not just reading — you’re understanding. And more than that, you’re preparing yourself to remember and communicate what you’ve read. So how do you apply this? Before you read, skim the text to find existing headings and subheadings. If they aren’t obvious, create your own. Use highlighters, sticky notes, or digital comments to mark transitions in the argument. Ask: What is the author’s main point? How is the text divided? What question is each section answering? How do the examples support the main ideas? While reading, pause after each section to summarise the heading in your own words. You might even sketch a diagram or outline. These are your puzzle clusters — and the more clearly you see them, the easier it is to put everything in place. After reading, test yourself: Could you explain the structure to a friend or write a summary using your own headings? The goal is not just to collect information — it’s to organise it. To fit the pieces into a bigger picture. That’s what real understanding looks like. So this week, as you tackle academic texts, remember: Don’t get lost in the pieces. Look for the picture on the box. Understanding is not just about knowing facts. It’s about seeing how they fit — and knowing where each one belongs. Happy studying! The GRAD team —————————- Did someone forward this newsletter to you? click here to subscribe. If you’d rather listen to this newsletter, click here. Click here to check out our other podcasts If you like our content, forward and share! GRAD – your guide to university success is a partnership project of Ruda Landman, StudyTrust, Van Schaik Publishers and Capitec Bank. 
|
|---|