Canon XS and the viewfinder's "light meter"

Hey guys I just got my very first dSLR (Rebel XS)! I've been playing with it all afternoon and have finally sat down with Bryan Peterson's "Understanding Exposure" to actually understand what I'm doing. I've already gone through the manual once and have it in front of me as well. For one of the exercises Bryan wants us to switch to 'M' mode, set the aperture to 5.6 and adjust the shutter speed until the

I've gone through the manual a few times after reading this and the only thing I can find is the focus light which blinks when the camera is in focus. Does the XS have a light meter or is this only in more advanced cameras? Thanks!

Never mind I think I figured it out, it seems to be the numbered 'timeline?' in the center. Correct me if I'm wrong and PLEASE forgive my newbishness. Thanks!

It's the bar grap at the bottom. You want the marker right in the center for proper exposure.

Page 19 in the manual.

There is a ruler in the bottom of your viewfinder marked -2, -1, inverted triangle (on the middle), 1 and 2 .
This is the light meter display, called "exposure leve indicator" (technically a more precise definition).
The exposure should be correct if that little pointer below the ruler are exactly on the middle. Trouble is, maybe the camera's light meter didn't got a correct metering. You should check how to change the metering modes on your camera also and how each one of them works.
I don't have the Xs manual, but I believe you will find better information on "Nomenclature > Viewfinder information" and "More advanced techniques > Changing the metering mode"

as people said, yes its the bar on the bottom of the screen. The line in the middle is the correct exposure that the camera thinks. But its not always that way. sometimes you have to change it depending on the situation.

Marcos Dantas wrote in post #9168185
There is a ruler in the bottom of your viewfinder marked -2, -1, inverted triangle (on the middle), 1 and 2 .
This is the light meter display, called "exposure leve indicator" (technically a more precise definition).
The exposure should be correct if that little pointer below the ruler are exactly on the middle. Trouble is, maybe the camera's light meter didn't got a correct metering. You should check how to change the metering modes on your camera also and how each one of them works.
I don't have the Xs manual, but I believe you will find better information on "Nomenclature > Viewfinder information" and "More advanced techniques > Changing the metering mode"

I've read about partial metering and such but I'm not sure exactly when to use which metering method just yet. I'm hoping Peterson's book will shed some light on it. Thanks for the responses guys.

Partial metering: You decide that some part of the subject is more important than the rest. Measure there, lock exposure and re-compose.
Spot metering: You decide that some small spot in the subject is most important. Measure there, lock exposure and re-compose.
Evaluative metering: You can't make uy your mind, so you let the camera analyze your subject and make its best guess of what's the correct exposure.
Center-weighted average: You can't make up your mind, but don't want the camera to do that for you either.
Neither of these metering modes releive you from the task of understanding the concept of reflective metering and "grey".