the code below is part of what I use to read data from an xml file and draw graphics on the screen for hurricane points.
MapPoint mp = new MapPoint(xLoc, yLoc, new SpatialReference(4326));
Graphic gPt = new Graphic();
gPt.Geometry = mp;
gPt.Attributes.Add("Storm", ptVals[6]);
gPt.Attributes.Add("Model", ptVals[0]);
gPt.Attributes.Add("Time", ptVals[1]);
gPt.Attributes.Add("Lat", ptVals[2]);
gPt.Attributes.Add("Lon", ptVals[3]);
gPt.Attributes.Add("Wind", ptVals[4]);
gPt.Attributes.Add("Pressure", ptVals[5]);
gPt.Symbol = gSym;
gl.Graphics.Add(gPt);
to read from a text file you would need to get the file from the user with the OpenFileDialog. I use the xml format and WebClient to get at the data.