THE AMERICAN ENGLISH EXPRESS
CHAPTER V
Reading Process or “How to become a self-confident reader.”
Reading: The Bill of Rights
In my life, I have studied several languages, in addition to English: German, French, Spanish, Italian and Latin. I have learned much about these languages, but my great weakness in using them for communication is that I have a very limited vocabulary. I only know a small number of words, and how to use them, in each language.
I have learned that building one’s vocabulary is one of the keys to success when learning a new language. In the case of the English language, there are too many words for anyone to learn them all, even in a lifetime. Nevertheless, for you, as a new English language communicator, expanding your vocabulary will be one key to your success. The path to building your vocabulary is reading. In this chapter, we will go beyond merely reading words and reach for reading comprehension (understanding) which is critical, active and designed to improve your command of English.
Active, critical reading requires that you apply your skills. This is hard work but the reward is worth it. At this stage in your English learning process, you should take the time and invest the effort to learn all of the new words that you encounter (come across).
In Chapter III we discussed the learning/teaching/proving process.
We learned about the different perspectives one must adopt in order to understand these processes: teacher, learner, or someone who has to prove something to someone.
And we learned that there are steps in the process that must be followed in order to achieve the desired result: teaching, learning or proving something to someone.
Reading is a process as well, with identifiable (distinct) steps!
The 10 steps in the reading process:
1. Who are you?
2. Why are you reading this?
3. Who wrote what are you reading? Consider the source.
4. How is it written? Observe the structure of what you are reading.
5. When was it written? Understand/define the context of the document.
6. For whom was it written? Understand the intended audience for the document.
7. Read the document, sentence by sentence.
8. Think about the meaning of each phrase and the complete idea that the sentence is expressing.
9. Re-read sentences, paragraphs, and pages as you need to.
10. Take notes that address (relate to) why you are reading this document.
Let’s review these steps in detail and then let’s practice the steps together.
Step 1: Who are you?
Ask yourself this question. It is important for how you will go about reading this document, passage, paragraph, essay, book, article, or whatever. Throughout your life, you have been reading, and you will continue to read in the future: on the job as an employee, as a citizen, as a student, as a parent, and as a consumer, for example.
In this case, as noted in the introduction, you are a student in America, attempting to understand American culture through the acquisition of American language skills. Or you are a college student seeking to improve your reading/writing/communication skills. Or you are a professional or professional student who needs to be to communicate effectively with clients or patients. Or you are an adult who is considering re-entering college to launch a new career. Or you are an individual who wants to know what standard formal English is all about, perhaps for career advancement or a social goal. Whoever you are, while reading this book you are a student of English.
Step 2: Why are you reading this?
Ask yourself this question. It will set the context for your goals. The primary goal of reading is communication, which requires both a sender of information and a receiver of information. In this case, you are the latter (the latter refers to the last of two people or things mentioned; in this case the receiver of information). The former (referring to the first of two mentioned, in this case the sender of information) is the author of the document who has something to communicate: your goal as a reader is to understand what this is.
When reading at the college level, your goal is always to understand. The comprehension goals of a college student are to understand
1. what you are reading.
2. why you are reading it.
3. how this information fits into what you are learning now.
4. how this information relates to what you have already learned.
5. how this information connects with what you will learn next.
Many times when you are reading you will be asked to write about what you have learned. This could be in college, on the job, or even in a formal situation when you have to represent your interests or the interests of a loved one.
Step 3: Who wrote what are you reading? Consider the source.
Ask yourself: Is the document a primary or secondary source? (see Chapter III for a discussion of sources). This is important so that you know how to evaluate the information in the document. Where is the document contained? Is it a magazine or newspaper article? Who wrote it? (Who is the author?) Was it a reporter or a specialist in the field? Or was it a critic offering his or her opinion? Was it written by an expert in the field?
The paragraphs below are from a document that is a primary source. The authors were representatives of the individual states who gathered together to discuss the Constitution (the written guidelines for governing the nation) of the United States. The language you are about to read is a modern copy of the original words. Some of the nouns are capitalized, as was the custom in the 18th Century (1700 – 1800).
This is very different from a pleasure book, written for entertainment. It is also different from a self-help book, designed to help you improve your skills to accomplish a job or task or increase your knowledge about a topic or issue. An historical document is also different from a textbook, which is designed to deliver facts and information about a subject.
Step 4: How is it written?
Observe the structure of what you are reading. What kind of document is it? How is it organized?
In this case, the first document is a paragraph: it is called the pre-amble (or introduction) to the Constitution. Next there is a list of 10 items. Each was an amendment (an addition) to the Constitution. The Liberty Bell
Step 5. When and why was it written? Understand the context of the document.
The authors got together (convened) in the State House (now called Independence Hall, you can visit it!) in Philadelphia in 1787 to review and revise the Articles of Confederation (which governed the nation at this time). They decided to write a new written framework for the government, which they called the Constitution.
Step 6: For whom was it written? Understand the intended audience for the document.
This document was written for the people of the United States (and the world). The Constitution is the basis of our laws and America is a nation of laws. The theory is that everyone is equal before the law. No one is above the law. Even the lawmakers themselves are subject to the law (must obey the law).
The authors of the Constitution hoped that people would use and read their document for generations to come. They wrote for all posterity (for the future). They were trying to anticipate all the problems that governing the new nation would present. They discussed issues, balanced their different interests and compromised.
Step 7: Read the document, sentence by sentence.
And if you don’t understand a word, LOOK IT UP!
Step 8: Think about the meaning of each phrase and the complete idea that the sentence is expressing.
It is not sufficient merely to read: you must think along the way. A student expressed this to me in class one day, when she observed: “You really have to think!”
If you are not thinking, you are not working hard enough!
Step 9: Re-read sentences, paragraphs, pages as you need to.
Do not be afraid to do this. In fact, you must re-read sometimes, in order to be able to understand the meaning of what is written. This is especially true when you encounter words with which you are unfamiliar and must look up! After you look up a word, you should re-read the paragraph or sentence and see that you now understand what is being said.
Step 10: Take notes that address (relate to) why you are reading this
The purpose of your reading will determine whether to take notes and what notes to take. When reading for college, often there is a related assignment, a paper or a test, and sometimes you will be reading for a specific purpose, such as to gather assigned information. At the beginning stage, however, you are reading for comprehension.
Be sure to have your dictionary and thesaurus by your side when you read this!
Here is the paragraph:
The Preamble of the Constitution of the United States of America
“We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.”
-
What does the phrase We the People mean? In this case, the next phrase of the United States provides a clue. We the people means the people who live in the United States.
This technique (skill, way of doing something) that you have practiced is called defining in context. The technique works for individual words and phrases as well as entire
sentences and concepts.
Note well (in Latin, note bene or NB): This is the type of skill that you must learn here in this context and then be able to transfer to other areas of study.
In this case, the authors, as representatives of the people of the nation, are speaking for (actually, writing for) all of the people of the country.
The phrase We the people has become an American symbol. When used, it conjures up (gives rise to, elicits, brings forth) the image of the fundamental principles upon which the country is based (which are embodied in the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution and the Bill of Rights).
2. By using the phrase in Order to the authors are signaling to the reader why this document has been written. These delegates (representatives) were reviewing and re-writing the Articles of Confederation (which governed the country at the time) and needed to state clearly what they were doing.
3. What is meant by the term Union? [Look it up!] In this case, Union refers to the joining together of the states to form the United States. The Union that is referred to is the United States. This is also called the federal government or the national government.
Because they use the phrase a more perfect Union, they are saying that this document of theirs will be an improvement. In other words, they believe that the new document (The Constitution) is an improvement over the old one (The Articles of Confederation) and they want their readers to know this.
4. What does establish Justice mean.
The question here is not what you think justice is, but, rather, what does justice mean in the context of what you are reading? Here, justice refers to the rule of law, as the basis for the laws of the United States is what the Constitution is all about.
George Washington
First President of the United States
5. What is the meaning of insure domestic Tranquility?
What does the word insure mean? [Look it up!] In this case it means to make sure or to guarantee.
What does the term domestic mean? [Look it up!] It means having to do with the home. In this case, home is the entire country: so, domestic refers to things that happen or relate to what goes on inside the borders of the country [as opposed to foreign, which relates to things outside the borders of the country]. In politics, for example, domestic affairs are those things happening on American soil and foreign affairs are those things happening outside of the U.S.
And what does Tranquility mean? [Look it up!] It means quietude, peacefulness. When things are tranquil they are calm and at peace.
Consequently (so) the phrase, insure domestic Tranquility, means to guarantee that things in the U.S. are calm and at peace.
-
What does the phrase provide for the common defense mean?
Common has many meanings, including ordinary, widespread, frequent, general, universal, familiar, collective and regular. In this context, common means general or shared.
What does defense mean? It means protection or security.
So, the phrase means to supply general protection or to make sure that everyone in the United States is safe.
The framers of the Constitution (as the authors are usually known) were particularly concerned about attack/invasion from a foreign country, such as England.
-
What does the phrase promote the general Welfare mean?
To promote means [Look it up!] to encourage, support or endorse.
General means [Look it up!] universal, all-purpose, or common.
Welfare means [Look it up!] wellbeing, benefit, happiness, or what is good.
As a result, (so) the phrase promote the general Welfare means to encourage universal wellbeing. In other words, for the good of all people (living in the United States).
-
What about secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity?
To secure means [Look it up!] means to obtain or acquire and keep safe (maintain).
Blessings [Look it up!] are good things.
Liberty means [Look it up!] freedom.
Posterity means [Look it up!] the future.
Thus, secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity means to obtain and keep the good things that freedom gives us, now and forever.
-
The document ends with the clause: do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America. What does it mean?
To ordain [Look it up!] is defined in context: it means to establish (or institute or begin or to create).
The statement means that these authors are proclaiming that this document is the basis of the law by which
the country will govern itself. American Eagle
Symbol of the United States
After the Constitution was finished, and all the interests of the various states were considered, the framers looked back at their work and realized that they had left out some important things.
The document they created detailed what the national (called federal) government could and could not do. However, anything not specifically stated in the Constitution as something the federal government could do was left to the individual state governments to do.
The Constitution divided the federal government into three branches: executive (the President and Vice President and all the agencies of the government), legislative (the Congress, composed of the House of Representatives and the Senate) and judiciary (the Supreme Court), the better to protect citizens for tyranny (abuse of the law).
But they forgot to state what rights the people had. Thus, they wrote the first ten amendments (additions which were ratified or added on December 15, 1791) to the Constitution, which are known as “The Bill of Rights”.
“The Bill of Rights”
Amendment I
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.
The amendment begins “Congress shall make no law” indicating that what follows are things that the government cannot do. As the entire document establishes the rule of law throughout the land, this is a limitation on the laws the government can make (institute). Look these up!
respecting means with reference to or in regard to or relating to
establishment means to set up, start, launch, create
an establishment of religion means, for example, to require that people belong to a certain church
to prohibit means to prevent or to not allow
abridging means limiting or shortening or lessening
petition means to appeal or formally request
redress means to rectify, restore or to put right
grievances are complaints, objections, injustices
The first amendment established the separation of church (religion) and state (government) and gives Americans the following freedoms (rights):
Freedom of Religion Freedom of Speech
Freedom of the Press Freedom to Assemble (demonstrate, work in groups)
Freedom to Petition (to ask the government to change)
Amendment II
A well-regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.
regulated means controlled or restricted
militia means an armed force of citizen soldiers
State here means country or nation
infringe means to interfere or violate
This is the amendment that people rely on for the right to bear arms (own guns). It states that the federal government cannot interfere with the citizens’ right to own a gun.
Amendment III
No Soldier shall, in time of peace be quartered in any house, without the consent of the Owner, nor in time of war, but in a manner to be prescribed by law.
‘be quartered’ does not mean to be cut into four parts. It means that citizens cannot be forced to allow soldiers to live in their homes or be forced to provide room and board.
This was one of the abuses of the colonists by the British soldiers. This was listed in the Declaration of Independence and caused enormous difficulties for the people of the original 13 colonies (see next chapter).
Amendment IV
The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.
secure means safe
persons means one’s body, one’s physical self
seizures means someone coming into your home and taking things
a warrant is a call for or a demand and refers to a document demanding something from someone, such as a ‘warrant for one’s arrest’ which means the government wants someone.
probable means likely
This is the amendment that guarantees that the government cannot hurt us or harm our possessions or enter our homes without provable reasons (probable cause).
Amendment V
No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a Grand Jury, except in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the Militia, when in actual service in time of War or public danger; nor shall any person be subject for the same offence to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb; nor shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself, nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation.
a capital crime is a crime which carries the penalty of death
infamous means well known for something bad or harmful or notorious
a presentment is a presentation
an indictment is a condemnation or denunciation
a grand jury is a group of people, usually 20 to 30, who act to decide whether a crime has been committed
naval means having to do with the Navy or the sea
jeopardy means danger or risk
due process means according to the procedures of the law
This amendment assures the following freedoms:
-
that citizens cannot be arrested unless there is a warrant for the arrest
-
that citizens cannot be tried more than once for the same crime (no double jeopardy)
-
that citizens cannot be forced to testify against him or herself (known as pleading the fifth)
-
that the legal enforcers (police) must follow the rules and procedures of the law (this is called due process)
-
that citizens have the right to private property
Amendment VI
In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the State and district wherein the crime shall have been committed, which district shall have been previously ascertained by law, and to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation; to be confronted with the witnesses against him; to have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor, and to have the Assistance of Counsel for his defense.
prosecutions means a trial or a hearing in a court
impartial means not prejudiced, neutral, fair, unbiased
ascertained means determined
confront means to meet or face (as in a court of law)
compulsory means required, necessary or mandatory
counsel means an attorney or lawyer (not the word ‘council’, which means committee)
This amendment guarantees the following rights:
-
the right to a speedy trial
-
the right to a public trial
-
the right to an impartial jury
-
the right to know the charges against one
-
the right to confront/question the witnesses against one
-
the right to be able to call witnesses in one’s defense
-
the right to an attorney
Amendment VII
In suits at common law, where the value in controversy shall exceed twenty dollars, the right of trial by jury shall be preserved, and no fact tried by a jury, shall be otherwise reexamined in any Court of the United States, than according to the rules of the common law.
common law means not criminal law (also known a as civil law)
controversy means dispute or disagreement
exceed means to go beyond or to surpass
preserved means protected or maintained
reexamined means to consider again or look at again
This amendment guarantees the right of a jury trial.
Amendment VIII
Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted.
bail or bond is money or property that is set aside to insure that a person accused of a crime will appear at his or her trial
excessive means too much, more than can be managed, extreme or disproportionate’
This amendment
-
protects citizens from being imprisoned without the chance to post a bond and allow them out of jail pending (awaiting) their trial.
-
protects citizens from extreme fines
-
protects citizens from ‘cruel and unusual punishment’.
In most states, where capital punishment (the death penalty) is outlawed, the basis in law is the 8thamendment protection against cruel and unusual punishment. At the time it was written, the reference was to protect citizens from torture and other painful interrogation (questioning) practices.
Amendment IX
The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people.
enumeration means details, lists, statements
to construe means to interpret
to disparage means to criticize or belittle or minimize the importance of’
to retain’ means to be kept by or to keep
This amendment states that, even though certain rights of the people are written out clearly in the constitution, there are other rights that are not spelled out and that, although they are not written, this doesn’t mean that people don’t have these additional rights.
Amendment X
The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.
power or powers means that the government has the right to act or, that it is legal for the government to do these things; it means the government can pass laws that regulate these concerns.
to delegate means to assign or designate to
prohibited means forbidden, banned, illegal or outlawed
reserved means set aside or kept back or kept
respectively means in that order or correspondingly
This amendment means that any powers not specifically stated in the constitution as of the federal government, or powers that are not specifically prohibited, are reserved for the individual states or for the people themselves.
The Bill of Rights (In plain English)
Amendment I:
The federal government cannot make any laws that limit anyone’s right to choose whatever religion they wish to practice. The United States Congress cannot pass laws that limit how any person shall practice their chosen religion. The federal government cannot pass any laws that restrict anyone’s ability to express their own views about the world in their own way. The U. S. Congress cannot pass any laws that limit the ability of the press to investigate or publish information. The government cannot stop people from getting together to discuss issues or plan what they want to do about an issue. The people of the United States have the right to ask the government to correct any conditions that they feel should be corrected.
Amendment II:
The people of the United States have the right to own weapons because they may be called upon to defend their freedom and their country.
Amendment III:
In times of peace, soldiers cannot live in ordinary people’s homes unless the owner agrees. Even in times of war, the government can only force a landlord to house a soldier in accordance with the law.
Amendment IV:
The U. S. government cannot seize anyone’s property, cannot search or arrest any person without a court’s permission. The government must prove to a court that there is a legal reason to search someone’s home, take their things or their papers, or search them in any way.
Amendment V:
Except for members of the armed forces, a grand jury is the only way that a person can be charged with a serious crime. People cannot be tried twice for the same crime (there cannot be any ‘double jeopardy’). People cannot be forced to testify against themselves by any means including torture. The federal government must follow the law (follow ‘due process’) when dealing with an individual’s life, liberty or property. All U.S. citizens have the right to a fair trial. The government cannot take property from any citizens without properly compensating them (e.g., paying them) for it.
Amendment VI:
Whenever the government accuses a citizen of a crime, there must be a speedy trial with an unbiased jury. People must be told all about (‘be completely informed about’) the charges against them. People have the right to question those who accuse them of a crime and can call witnesses in their defense. All citizens have a right to legal representation (a lawyer).
Amendment VII:
In any situation involving more than $20.00, every citizen has the right to a trial by jury.
Amendment VIII:
People cannot be held in jail without a reasonable opportunity to bail themselves out. Fines for crimes cannot be too high and must reflect the damage. The government cannot punish people in a cruel or unusual way. All punishments must be appropriate to the crimes.
Amendment IX:
Just because the Constitution lists these specific rights, it doesn’t mean that people don’t have additional rights not listed.
Amendment X:
Any powers (‘abilities’) not prohibited or listed in the U. S. Constitution belong to the individual States or to the people to determine.