According to some embodiments, a reading comprehension apparatus comprises a processor, an optimized reading comprehension display, and a selection tool to select text within a digitized portion of a written work. A word ranking engine ranks each word from the selected text, via the processor. A filtering engine identifies a plurality of top-ranked words within the selected text and an animation engine animates and displays each of the top-ranked words identified by the processor in a sequential manner on the optimized reading comprehension display. Furthermore, the animation engine displays a presentation of the selected text including the top-ranked words in a highlighted manner.