Help with this "Make" tutorial
Although technically you could use the text to build the circuit, the purpose of the text is really to explain why the circuit was designed that way, and how it works.  You can build it just fine using only the schematic.

Look at the schematic and just focus on one component, say R1, and follow the wires attached to both ends.  One end is attached to 3.3V, so connect one end of your resistor to 3.3V.  The other end of R1 attaches to R2, C1, and pin 2 of the sensor jack, so find a good place on your protoboard to connect those four components together.  The other ends of R2 and C1 get attached to ground.  Some capacitors have polarity markings on them.  Make sure the negative end is the one attached to ground.