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Reading skills development
Reading skills development
Reading skills development
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Reading is seen as a simple task that a person learns at a young age. This is not true. In the Introduction to the book called “Ways of Reading” by David Bartholomae, Anthony Petrosky, and Stacey Waite explain that reading and writing is a complex process that may be difficult to understand. Two terms mentioned heavily in this book are reading against or with the grain. These being two complex terms when it comes down to reading. In most novels the author gives the reader the opportunity to agree or disagree with them. Reading with the grain is taking the author’s insight, while reading against the grain is not supporting the author’s view but your own. Both of these terms have different meanings but when it comes down to reading both of these …show more content…
Some class for school might do a main idea reading form. Reading for the main idea will help the reader understand the book more clearly. The main idea of a novel mostly helps the reader be able to write about it with a certain theme. Though it has its upsides, reading for only the main idea will not help one to be able to write an essay using one’s own personal ideas and thoughts. While reading the reader usually looks for the author’s intended audience. In “Ways of Reading” most stories are not going to use everyday language and are going to challenge the reader. Reading against the grain is seen as the more difficult task Reading against the grain is stepping out of your boundaries and going against the majority. When reading against the grain the reader is taking his or her own personal view of the story. The reader in these situations has to analyze and critique the author’s work. Reading against the grain can be challenging due to that the reader does agree with the author on some points and not others. Reading against the grain in quote “asking questions that may be a surprise, looking for limits of the author’s vision, providing alternate readings of the examples, and finding examples that challenge the argument” (BPW p 10) means that the reader is looking for ways to argue the topic of the author. The reader is analyzing and inspect the work and revising it to give his or her point of view. As the reader we are also in a …show more content…
In the quote “Our selections require more attention than a written summary, a reduction to gist, or a recitation of main ideas” (p9 BPW) This means that the stories at a college level will challenge the reader, therefore making them read against the grain. BPW is expressing here that reading against the grain is more commonly used and much more difficult than reading with the grain. In Alexandria Palmer’s paper “You are coming up with your own ideas and becoming engaged in that sense.” This quote compares well to what an engaged reader is. If the reader is engaged within the text he or she will be more likely to analyze it and critique the author’s
Thomas C. Foster’s novel How to Read Literature Like a Professor, helps the reader understand the beginnings of a quest by breaking down the task into five steps. A quest will always consist of 1) a quester, 2) a place to go, 3) a stated reason to go there, 4) challenges and trials en route, and 5) a real reason to go there. A quester, the protagonist, typically is not aware that they are partaking in a quest. Step two and three are thought of together usually because the protagonist is told to go somewhere to do something. However, the stated reason to go to their destination is not the real reason they go there. As Foster explains, “In fact, more often than not, the quester fails at
In conclusion, the brilliant novel “How To Read Literature Like A Professor” by Thomas C. Foster is a fantastic novel that helps grasp the basic ideas and structure that makes up a work of literature. Foster’s laid-back attitude made a major contribution to the great tone of the novel, and made it easier to understand. Many connections were included in the novel, along with some great quotes. After reading this novel, I have a better idea of what to look for when reading a novel.
What goes through your mind when you read? Do you read deliberately, looking for certain aspects, or do you read as a blank slate? When reading, professors expect a deliberateness that will help you to uncover meanings that are not readily apparent. Thomas C. Foster in his book “How to Read Literature Like a Professor” expands on this concept. He endeavors to instruct his readers in the way he believes they should read, in order to get the most out of each book. He concedes that, “When lay readers encounter a fictive text, they focus, as they should, on the story and the characters” but to truly read like a professor you must also divert a portion of your attention on “other elements of the novel” such as “memory… symbol… [And] pattern” (Foster, 15). Foster clarifies
To quote Ben Jonson,” Weigh the meaning and look not at the words” to put this simply he means do not merely look at what is written literally because often what one is reading is only half of what the author has written. Some authors compose their works, giving the world a thrilling or informative story on the surface, but in actuality their real purpose in writing them is the hidden meanings within or underneath the stories which only those who are truly paying attention will notice and understand. Zone off for just a second and whole world could be missed. Cousteau’s work “How to Swim with Sharks: A Primer” may seem to the inexperienced or uninterested reader an ordinary guide to swimming with sharks, but any who delve deeper will notice
When reading someone else's work you need to be certain that you read between the lines. Author's, at times, will attempt to distort information in order to make their beliefs more prominent. In order to avoid this disinformation, you have to learn the difference between denotations and connotations and facts from opinions. Furthermore, you'll have to recognize figurative language, such as similes and metaphors, which can incite specific feelings onto readers.
In the article “How to Read Like a Writer” by Mike Bunn explains how reading more can actually improve your skills as a writer. Bunn states that “When you Read LIke a Writer you work to identify some of the choices the author made so that you can better understand how such choices might arise in your own work” (72). What this quote means is that when you carefully read the writing of other authors, you can pick up their writing style in your own writing, To adopt the techniques of a writer, you must have an idea of how the author created the writing as a whole. Bunn states that “When you read like a writer, you are trying to figure out how the text you are reading was constructed so that you learn how to ‘build’ one for yourself” (74). The quote means that you must get in the mentality of the author to get an understanding of what the text is saying. In addition, reading like a write is an opportunity to learn more about increasing your skills in writing by assisting you in understanding the process of what an author goes through during a writing process. To read like a writer, you must read the text in a certain context. Not only is the context of the text important to, but knowing the genre is necessary when reading like a writer. Bunn states “Genre… most often used to indicate the type of writing: a poem, a newspaper article, an essay, a short story, a novel, a legal brief, an instruction manual, etc” (77).
To fully comprehend a work you cannot just read it. You must read it, analyze it, question it, and even then question what you are questioning. In Richard Rodriguez’s The Achievement of Desire we are presented with a young Richard Rodriguez and follow him from the start of his education until he is an adult finally having reached his goals. In reference to the way he reads for the majority of his education, it can be said he reads going with the grain, while he reads a large volume of books, the quality of his reading is lacking.
Over the summer, after taking a break from reading a novel just for entertainment, I sat down to read How to Read Literature like a Professor and it was the exact novel to refresh and supplement my dusty analysis skills. After reading and applying Foster’s novel, How to Read Literature like a Professor, towards The Bonesetter’s Daughter I found a previously elusive and individualized insight towards literature. Although, The Bonesetter’s Daughter is full of cryptic messages and a theme that is universal, I was able to implement an individual perspective on comprehending the novel’s universal literary devices, and coming upon the unique inference that Precious Auntie is the main protagonist of the novel.
By using words such as “mediocre,” and other words, Prose shows that in her own reasoning, the literature is not so much literature, but a waste of time that is taking attention away from actual good books that have content will instill a love for reading. Prose destroys the idea that the books provided to the students in the educational system should be deemed best sellers because she explains that the only reason this books are so well know, is because of the fact that they are forced down the throats of innocent teenagers. She also explains that teenagers are incapable of reading such stories because of the “overuse” of metaphors, and that we cannot read line for line books. If we cannot read a book line for line, than what should we
Everyone comes from their own background, and has their own opinions about the world around them. They bring those thoughts and prejudices with them into every text they read, meaning they see what they expect to see. The author claims that close reading leads to ethical reading, ethical reading meaning the reader is listening to the author’s voice within the text, truly understanding and listening to that which the author is saying. Close reading forces the reader to temporarily abandon their preconceptions and “by concentrating on the details, we disrupt our projection; we are forced to see what is really there” (Gallop p.11). The author provides some historical context, in relation to the “new criticism” method of teaching. Between the 1950’s and 1970’s new criticism, “allowed students to appreciate the complexity of literary writing, to see the artful work, rather than merely themes and ideas.” (Gallop p.13). The issue with new criticism being that only “great” works or authors were considered “worthy” of analysis in that manner. Unfortunately, most work that was considered “great” within that period were written by men of European descent. Within the past few decades the multicultural movement has made reading lists in schools more diverse, making understanding the voice of authors more important than ever, as to not reinforce stereotypes and
Learning how to read literary works like a college professor can be tough, so when feeling lost like Dante while reading a confusing book, it helps to have a Virgil guide us. Thomas C. Foster, author of How to Read Literature like a Professor thoroughly guides his readers to look for similar literary elements or ideas from different works and make connections. His idea for this book comes from his love for books which thrived as a child and leads him to inspire others with his works. Actually, it even inspired me. This is an informative book that revolves around the idea of creative thinking, which has opened my eyes and made me like the book even more than I did before.
Sorting through all the possible beliefs of an author may be problematic, and may also be a reason why many are exclusive readers to a certain author or specific genre. In both cases, the reader is able to extract some external information from knowledge of an author’s previous work or from other works that incorporate similar ideas. This is an effective way of deciding which beliefs the author wants to be adopted, by making relations between a present story and ones previously written. It may also be helpful to know the time and place the story was written. Sometimes present-day knowledge can contradict the content of stories written in the past. It is thus pertinent that one keeps the story’s context at the fore front of thought when trying to extract the underlying content.
Typically a story begins with an exposition, which introduces the characters, setting and plot. In the short story ?Popular Mechanics? by Raymond Carver, the exposition is excluded. The story begins with a short rise in action, moves quickly to the climax and totally omits the resolution. Carver uses third person objective narration to reveal the actions and the dialogue between a man and a woman. The narrator gives very little descriptive details, never revealing the characters? thoughts or their motivation. This allows the reader the freedom to interpret and develop their own opinions of the setting, plot, and characters of the story. This also stimulates the reader to be an active reader?to think about what is read, to ask questions, and to respond to the authors? style of writing.
The seven pillars of effective reading instruction are an important base to an effective and engaging classroom. Teachers, who are able to apply each of these pillars to everyday learning in the classroom, reach their students and provide instruction in meaningful and approachable ways. Each of these pillars provides important ideas and information that work together to create an effective learning environment in the literacy classroom. By accessing and including each of these pillars in my classroom environment, curriculum and instructions, students benefit from the more effective reading instruction possible.
From reading Alice in Wonderland to now, I have grown to appreciate literature much more. At the beginning of the year, I read purely because it was assigned for me to read, and I only read for important events and story plots. When reading Alice in Wonderland for the first time, I missed everything that Lewis Carroll was trying to convey to the reader. I had no idea that he had written Alice in Wonderland with the intention of preparing children for the real world. I thought it was just a story full of random events and nonsense, but after my realization of a deeper meaning, I grew to appreciate his efforts. From then on from Beowulf to the Fairie Queene, I have learned to see literary works as more than just stories but a...