September 18, 2019
Response, Bartholomae & Petrosky (2002) & Bunn (2011)
As this might be the second or third time you are reading this, I thought I would let you know that I reread this again and again, until I lost count. Not only have I reread it, I have rewritten and reconsidered the words endlessly. Coming back to what you have written, revising and editing what you wrote down is one of the important skills in writing. I could have revealed this to you in the end of my essay, in order to encourage you to take the time to reread my words and think about them one more time, but since I already expected you to come back to this part at some point, I thought I could give you a tip of the veil.
Writing is a process; you think about every sentence and you make a choice every time you put down a word. When you want to describe someone walking slow paced over the green, you could use “strolling” or “wandering”. Why? Apart from the fact that those words have a slightly different meaning, they also have a different effect on the reader. How would the other option change the way a reader would perceive the text? You can take into consideration what kind of emotions you want your readers to feel. Techniques to influence this could be subtle by using anecdotes, or very straight forward by using harsh jokes or shocking facts.
Similarly, as in writing, reading is also a process. you will often find yourself rereading a certain essay or book discovering new structures and … While reading, you think about every word and sentence as you read them word for word. It may depend on your mood how you interpret what you are reading. Sometimes you will think that authors made a weird or unpredictable choice of words of structure. What would you have done differently and what would it have changed? Identifying the choices authors make and what techniques they use to propose their ideas, thoughts, and stories to their audience is a valuable skill. It will allow you to read like a writer. Reading like a writer requires that you have written for yourself. You have encountered similar problems as the writer has struggled with while writing the text you are reading. You have seen both sides, reading and writing. These are often seen as opposites, but are actually more like cause and effect.
There are two ways of reading. Wanting to focus on the result and understanding the text. As a ‘passive’ reader. Or, wanting to be able to copy, remake, or learn, and get to the essence, or a blueprint, of the original maker as an ‘active’ reader. An active reader can relate to the writer.
There are many different types of written works. Specific tools and skills can be useful in writing and reading every single one of them. What will help you in better understanding a text while reading, is to determine the context the text was written in. To determine the context of a written text look at the breadth and depth of the information the writer provides. Try to figure out what the author’s purpose of writing the text is. Does he want to convince, amuse, simply inform, or activate the audience? And, who is the author trying to address in his writing? Does he specifically mention who his article is meant for or are there merely subtle clues in the vocabulary he is using? Sometimes you will be able to answer these questions before you start reading. If not, you can always come back.