In the article "Active Reading Strategies," we discussed lots of techniques you can use to help yourself comprehend difficult texts of the sort you will be assigned to read in college. In this article, we dive deep into an additional reading strategy not mentioned there: PTIC.
PTIC (it stands for purpose, topic, issue question, and conclusion) is a strategy that helps you cut straight to the heart of any informative or persuasive text you might need to read. It was developed by Dr. Kip Hartvigsen, a former colleague of mine, and it has helped thousands of students improve their reading comprehension.°
In this article, I explain how to perform a PTIC analysis of a text. Though the strategy is intensive—involving steps before, during, and after reading—it is extremely helpful in focusing your attention on the key elements of a text and thus ensuring a high degree of understanding.
Step 1: Preview the Text
The first step of PTIC is to read only the introduction and conclusion of the text and then determine, as best you can with this limited information, the purpose, topic, issue question, and conclusion of the text.
I'll explain what I mean by each of these and give tips on finding each in the following sections.
Purpose
The P in PTIC stands for purpose. You are asking the question: "Why is the writer writing?"
Broadly speaking, there are three main purposes that writers have for writing. They are writing either to entertain, to inform, or to persuade.
Writing to entertain is usually the focus of creative writers, people who write fiction, poetry, drama, etc. Unless you are specifically in a course that focuses on such creative writing, this is unlikely to be the main purpose of the sorts of texts you are assigned for college.°
Writing to inform is when the writer's purpose is primarily to convey information but not to tell the reader what to think about that information. College textbooks, reference works like encyclopedias and dictionaries, and basic journalism are all examples of writing to inform. We sometimes call this type of writing "expository" writing.
Writing to persuade is when the writer's purpose is to change the reader's beliefs, stance, or actions in some way. Opinions and editorials in newspapers and magazines, closing arguments in a criminal trial, and advertisements are all examples of writing to persuade. We often refer to any persuasive writing as an "argument."
Why is determining a writer's purpose important?
Determining the writer's purpose helps you adopt the best frame of mind to interpret and respond to the text you'll be reading. For example, if the writer's purpose is to inform, then you might adopt an open mindset that is ready to accept the information while remaining alert to identify anything you don't understand or need more information about.
If the writer's purpose is to persuade, however, than you might adopt a more cautious stance, lest you be convinced of their argument without even realizing it. You look for the author's claim and the reasons and evidence given to support it, and you judge whether you find the argument convincing.
How can I determine the writer's purpose?
One tip is to consider the context of the text you are reading. A newspaper article, for example, is typically meant to be informative and minimally biased, so you can assume the primary purpose is to inform. However, an editorial in the same newspaper° is meant to convey the writer's opinions on an issue, so you can assume the primary purpose is to persuade.
A second strategy is to examine the writer's wording, especially in the introduction and conclusion. Persuasive writing will often use (or imply) the word "should," indicating that the writer is trying to convince the reader to adopt a belief or course of action: "We should outlaw spanking in America" or "America must reconsider the price of college."
Beware, however, that persuasive writers often downplay the persuasive nature of their writing, making it seem like they are merely informing the reader when in fact they are trying to persuade. Similarly, keep in mind that any persuasive writing will, by necessity, do a fair amount of informing along the way—we are interested in the writer's main purpose, however, so persuasion, if it is present, trumps informing as the purpose.
Topic
The T in PTIC stands for topic. You are asking the question: "What is the writer writing about?"
Topic refers to the general area of interest the writer is writing about, something like "childhood obesity" or "environmental policy." We don't need to get too exact when determining the topic—a single word or short phrase is enough.
Keep in mind that a writer may be exploring the intersection of two or more topics, such as "violence in high school" and "video games," so be sure to jot down any topics that you see represented as you preview the text, as this can help you sort out the next part of PTIC.
Issue Question
The I in PTIC stands for issue question. You are asking the question: "What is the main question the writer seems to be asking in this text?"
Issue questions are where PTIC gets a bit more difficult because writers often only imply the question that is driving their writing—it's rare to see an issue question stated directly. It can be helpful, therefore, to look at the potential topics you jotted down before, as these typically offer a clue.
For example, if you jotted down "violence in high school" and "video games" as potential topics, you could try to frame these as part of a single question and then look for confirmation in the introduction and conclusion of the essay you are previewing. Maybe the writer is asking "Does the increase in violence in video games lead to higher levels of violence among high schoolers?"
Be careful, however: that is only one possible way to link those topics. It's important to read the text closely and see if that is indeed the writer's issue question or if another is present. For example, maybe the writer is asking "Should Congress pass legislation to curb violence in video games due to the corresponding rise in high school violence?"
Another thing to keep in mind is that, if the writer's purpose is to persuade, the issue question can probably be phrased as a "should" question. Notice how the first potential issue question above is phrased with the verb "does"—this could indicate that the text is primarily informative. The second potential issue question is phrased with the verb "should," indicating that the text is likely persuasive in nature.
Conclusion
The C in PTIC stands for Conclusion. You are asking the question: "How does the writer answer the issue question?"
In other words, you can phrase the C as the answer that the writer gives to the issue question. For example, "Scientific research show that the increase in violence in video games is leading to higher levels of violence among high schoolers" could be the conclusion to one of our sample questions above, and "Congress should pass legislation to curb violence in video games in order to counter the rise in high school violence" could be the conclusion to the other.
Conclusion is really just another term for main idea or thesis statement. And that's been the point all along—PTIC is a strategy to help you quickly and efficiently identify a text's thesis, to ensure that you don't miss the most important thing.
Writers almost always state their thesis both in the introduction and conclusion of a text, but it can be hard to find when writers use fancy, difficult, or unclear language. By working through P, T, I, and then C and by focusing first on just the intro and conclusion, you give yourself the best chance at identifying it early on, which makes reading the rest of the text much easier.
Let's Try It Out
The following are the first and last paragraphs of a 2007 article in Slate magazine called "Hitting Bottom: Why America Should Outlaw Spanking" by Emily Bazelon. Read them and jot down your own ideas about the PTIC of the article.
Introduction
Sally Lieber, the California assemblywoman who proposed a ban on spanking last week, must be sorry she ever opened her mouth. Before Lieber could introduce her bill, a poll showed that only 23 percent of respondents supported it. Some pediatricians disparaged the idea of outlawing spanking, and her fellow politicians called her crazy. Anyone with the slightest libertarian streak seems to believe that outlawing corporal punishment is silly. More government intrusion, and for what—to spare kids a few swats? Or, if you’re pro-spanking, a spanking ban represents a sinister effort to take a crucial disciplinary tool out of the hands of good mothers and fathers—and to encourage the sort of permissive parenting that turns kids ratty and rotten.
Conclusion
It’s always difficult and awkward—and arguably misguided—to use the law as a tool for changing attitudes. In the case of corporal punishment, though, I’m not sure we’d be crazy to try. A hard-and-fast rule like Sweden’s would infuriate and frustrate some perfectly loving parents. It would also make it easier for police and prosecutors to go after the really bad ones. The state would have more power over parents. But then parents have near infinite amounts of power over their kids.
Don't worry if you find this difficult at first. PTIC takes practice, after all. Also, don't worry too much about being right—the point isn't to be correct on the first try; it's to help us focus our reading in the next step of PTIC, explained below.
Listen, I'm not going to tell you what your PTIC of Bazelon should be at this point. But I will give you a hint. (Shhh: Her purpose is to persuade.)
Step 2: Read the Whole Text
Once you've previewed the text and made notes about what you think the purpose, topic, issue question, and conclusion might be, the next step is to go back and read the entire thing. As you read, stay focused on PTIC, asking yourself if the text as a whole validates or challenges your initial guesses.
It might be helpful to use other active reading strategies as you read, particularly annotating or taking notes. You'll find that having a specific purpose in mind—that of evaluating your PTIC—will help you focus as you read.
If you'd like to practice, you can read the entirety of Hitting Bottom" directly from the Slate site for free. It's not long at all.
C'mon, you know you want to see what Bazelon has to say!
Don't worry—I'll wait.
Step 3: Revise Your PTIC
The last step is to now revise your PTIC to match what you learned by reading the whole text.
In revising, try to link your answers to specific lines from the text that show that your reading of the text is defensibly accurate.° For example, if you can identify a specific sentence (likely in the intro or conclusion) as the author's thesis statement, that is a strong piece of evidence that you've correctly understood the text. If you can't find one, you might need to reread and reconsider again.
I'm often surprised at how a sentence that I mostly overlooked the first time I read it is later revealed to be the author's thesis once I've completed the PTIC process. For example, here is my finalized PTIC for "Hitting Bottom" (informed by reading and discussing this essay with dozens of classes over many years):
- Purpose: to persuade
- Topic: corporal punishment and child abuse
- Issue Question: Should the US outlaw corporal punishment?
- Conclusion: The US should outlaw corporal punishment of children in order to make it easier to protect vulnerable children from child abuse.
Knowing that Bazelon is in favor of banning spanking makes me reread her concluding paragraph with fresh eyes, and it's this unlikely sentence that stands out as her thesis:
In the case of corporal punishment, though, I’m not sure we’d be crazy to try [outlawing it].
"Not sure we'd be crazy to try" is a very strange, very roundabout way of implying "we should," and she leaves the thing we should do unstated (it's named in the next sentence). But that's her thesis. And in fact, it jives with the article's subtitle, "Why America Should Outlaw Spanking"—which you might have only just noticed is a pretty perfect issue question.
Conclusion
Reading is hard, and college-level and real-world texts are challenging. There are infinite ways of phrasing things, of structuring things, or of stating or implying one's meaning. Texts can have a lot of nuance and a lot of distraction, and not all writers are equally skilled at being clear and concise.
A strategy like PTIC makes it easier to try to cut to the heart of what you read and identify the author's purpose and thesis relatively quickly. But keep in mind that this method isn't foolproof, and you won't always be right—I teach this stuff and still find myself regularly challenged by texts I encounter.
But using PTIC will move you much further along the path to understanding any particular informative or persuasive text you meet. Happy reading!
