Day 2 Agenda (Monday, Aug 30)
Write a short paragraph (approx.100 words) responding to the Bunn essay, “How to Read like a Writer”: identify one specific moment you found useful and you want to try out as a reader. Quote or paraphrase this moment, and explain why this idea appeals to you.
Write your response in the “Leave a Reply” comment section, below this post.
As I read Bunn’s Essay, many ideas stood out to me. One of them being to look at the choices the author made and the technique they used, as well as deciding if you want to make those same decisions as well. In this essay I learned that all writing consists of a series of choices. As we read, the goal is to look back those very same words and sentences and to ask yourself how the author was able to display their text. To ask, how did the author get me to feel this way? To quote the text, “In order to RLW (Read Like a Writer) you must look at the book the way a carpenter looks at a house someone else built. You must examine the details to see how it was made.” This idea appeals to me because it is the perfect metaphor to explain what it means to look at some words to see how a story is conveyed! It made me see words in a whole new light. Not just words carelessly put together, but as words that were picked for a reason.. for a purpose. To convey a message.
-Vivian Uwakwe
Reading as a writer stimulates the brain in a different way than normal reading. You must maintain a high level of concentration in order to comprehend the author’s message. This will also assist the reader in determining whether or not they enjoy the writing style. Otherwise, the reader would be aware of the sorts of writing that they dislike. For most college students, RLW is a new way of life, according to Bunn. He suggests having a list of questions written down and ready to go before reading a work. To figure out which questions apply to a certain piece, you must first assess the genre.
Reading Bunn’s Essay made me think a lot about my habits as a reader. One thing I noticed is that I need to ask myself a lot more questions about what I’m reading not just think about actions or thoughts the author had when writing but also think about how the author decided what elements to use when writing as it can help me improve my writing and also lets me enjoy little in as an activity and not just thinking about the outcome.
-Haim
Mike Bunn does an extraordinary job of explaining what FLW is and why it’s important to one as a reader and student. One of the strategies that Bunn pointed out that stood out the most to me was how “One of the things that several students mentioned to do first, before you even start reading, is to consider the context surrounding both the assignment and the text you’re reading”. While this might seem like common sense, to know why and for who the text is written, we see constantly that many people, including myself, do not look for those answers. Knowing the context of a text is extremely helpful when looking for reasons to justify the author’s writing choices, and in turn help me develop writing skills and strategies for similar situations.
One specific moment I found useful was when Mike Bunn said “The most common suggestion made by former students—mentioned by every single one of them—was to mark up the text, make comments in the margins, and write yourself notes and summaries both during and after reading”. This idea is very important because it allows people to analyze the body of text. By figuring out the techniques and skills used in the text it allows me in the future to utilize it in my own writing. Writing in the margins allows me to have easy access to the information I find valuable. It is a way to analyze the text for future references. This strategy is a great way to understand the text and the way the author is writing. It allows me to connect with the author’s writing style.
When I was reading Bunn’s Essay the ideas that he brings to light has enlightened me to other writers have figured out to get better at writing. One of these ideas that really stand out to me are the questions to ask yourself before reading a text. To me this stands out to me because the I never really think about what the text I am reading is writing for or why the author use this type of wording in their text; Questions like: “Do you know the author’s purpose for this piece of writing and, do you know who the intended audience is for this piece of writing. Do you know who the intended audience is for this piece of writing?” I think that going forward ask these questions can be beneficial in helping me understand what the author is trying to tell the reading through their writing, making me have a greater understanding of not only the text but the author themselves. As now I have more appreciation for the text that I am reading.
A specific part that i’ve found useful in mike bunn’s essay is when he said , “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 writing”. This part of the essay spoke out to me because what he means is that when you are reading a text you aren’t just reading just for the content or to be just satisfied. You are reading to see how things are put together and if you can see how things are put together you can either bring those things into your own work. Which is what i do when i read an article i take the information from what i’m reading and use it in my writing.
Reading like a writer helps to interpret a book or text in a completely different way , like a very deep analysis. The goal of reading like a writer is to understand the why for every word or sentence being read. To question all the rises and peaks, to get an in depth understanding. While reading Bunn’s essay the part that stood out the most to me was when he said ”“reading won’t help you much unless you learn to read like a writer. You must look at a book the way a carpenter looks at a house someone else built, examining the details in order to see how it was made””. This quote appeals to me because it brings another meaning to the phrase ‘Reading like a writer’ by bringing it to reality through a real life comparison. Allowing the phrase to be simplified and the true meaning to be seen. To read like a writer means to enter their thought process while writing when you’re reading. Grasping the real meaning of every word.
What I found useful in bunns article was the idea of looking at the techniques an author uses and critiquing them in order to use them in my own writing. It is never a bad idea to see what someone better than you at something chooses to do and testing it out to see if you can utilize it to make yourself better. This appeals to me because I do this all the time whether I’m making a video or trying to learn something new for a game I always find myself looking at what others do who are better than me and utilizing it in my own way.
Reading as a writer will give you a better understanding of what’s going on around you and will give you more knowledge about the world around you. For me I have realized i need to ask myself more questions as i read and analyze.
Strategies that stood out to me that Bunn made was how when you’re reading you should have a set of questions for yourself that will help you understand the text better as the audience. He states “As you’re first learning to read in this new way, you may want to have a set of questions written or typed out in front of you that you can refer to while reading” when you refer to these questions back you attain more knowledge than before. It also helps when you are doing a test because if you keep the questions on you before you read you will search for the answer in the text instead of going back and forth.