Sometimes spending some time to understand the problem can go a long way and even save you time. This helps the student understand the function and gives them intuition for being able to solve the rest of the problem. This intuition for a function based on its graph is often exploited in higher mathematics, like analysis classes, where sometimes when asked questions about a strange function on a homework exercise, it asks the student to graph the function. Getting some understanding for the relationship between the graphs of functions and the equation for the function can be a very useful skill. For instance, if your textbook has the graph of the function $y = x^2$ and you see that it curves upward, increasing more and more, you might want to ask yourself, "Why does the function increase as $x$ gets larger? Why is $x^2 < 1$ when $0 < x < 1$? How would the function change if I made it instead $y = -x^2$ or $y = x^2 + 1$ or $y = x^2 + x$ or $y = x^$?" Being able to graph multiple functions at the same time can be helpful in seeing the change in the function when you change it slightly. I would recommend graphing the functions that are given in the book, even if there already are graphs given, and "mess around" with the graphing software by changing the function slightly to see what that did to the graph of the function. That is one reason that I would recommend that when you are reading about functions in your text book that you graph them yourself on some graph paper and/or use a graphing calculator or a website like that can graph functions. It can also give you an understanding what values a function takes, whether it is increasing faster than another function, whether it is close to zero or not, etc. It tells you how it changes when you change the input/argument of the function and tells you about the points where the function behaves in special ways, like having a maximum/minima. Often when trying to understand a function we can look at its graph as a "picture" of a function. Understanding the graph of a function is a really useful skill in higher mathematics (esp. There are many branches where functions (or generalization of functions) are crucial objects. Functions are, in many ways, one of the basic and fundamental objects in higher mathematics.
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