DISCUSSION QUESTIONS for “How to Read Like a Writer” Mike Bunn
What does it mean to read like a writer? (72) (also see the end of page 75). How is RLW different from “normal” reading? (74).
Why should we practice reading like a writer? (75).
What are some questions to ask before you start reading? (76).
What kind of writing is this (what’s the genre)?
What are some questions to ask as you are reading?
What should you be writing as you are reading? (81)
“You are already an author” (75). Why? How does Bunn support this claim?
What it means to read like a writer is to take apart a text and analyze the writing choices the author makes and see if those choices could bring benefit to our own writing and its purpose.
RLW differs from normal writing is because we aren’t only reading to absorb information and new ideas, but to learn how effective a writing strategy or diction was in its purpose.
Before we start reading a text we should ask ourselves what the context of the text is ( who is the author, what is the purpose of the text, who is the audience?)
The genre of this writing is an informative essay, meaning it aims to teach us a skill or topic (in this case RLW).
Some questions we should ask while reading is how the language choice impacts the content, what evidence does the author use and does it help their claim, what could be done differently and would that have the same effect?
We should be writing notes to around the text to point out what parts contribute to what ideas, or what emotions or reactions a certain phrase of strategy would get out of the reading.
By answering these discussion questions you’ve nicely summarized the main points of Bunn’s article. I’m glad to see you picked up on his emphasis on Bunn’s use of the word “choice” because it’s an important one.
1. To read like a writer means to read in a particular way in which you overall look at word choices or how texts are put together to get understand the author’s technique.
2. RLW Is different than normal reading because in doing this, you’re seeing the text from a different point of view. That view being that you’re looking at how something is constructed in order to construct something similar yourself.
3. Reading like a writer can help you realize important decision you might face and skills you might wish to consider when working on your own writing by showing you how the writing process is a series of choices.
4. Do you know the author’s purpose for this piece of writing?
Do you know who the intended audience is for this piece of
writing?
5. This is an informative text.
6. What is the author’s purpose? Who is the intended audience?
Ask yourself what technique is being used.
7. You should be writing notes, summaries in the margin, and even the main ideas you might’ve noticed.
8. We are already author’s because at some point in our lives we’ve written something, or thought about a text we’ve written which is what an author itself does. They make decisions on what they write next and just like them, we write with a series of choices.
Your answers to the discussion questions help summarize the main points of Bunn’s article really nicely. Glad to see you picked up on how we are all authors because we make decisions on the very same techniques that all writers do.
To read like a writer means to be able to read and comprehend why the author uses certain techniques and skills so that for future reference you can decide to use them in your own writing.
RLW is different from normal reading because you are reading to figure out how the text was written so that you can learn how to write in a similar manner rather than reading for the information given.
People should practice how to read like a writer because it helps people become better writers as it teaches them important techniques to use in there own work especially as college/high school students that constantly have to read and write papers.
Bunn says we are already an author because we already have writing experiences since at some point of our life we have written something. Bunn supports the claim “You are already an author” by using a professors idea to explain that to write those articles we used techniques and choices other authors chose from writings we have read.
These are great answers to the discussion questions and help summarize the main points of the essay. You picked up on Bunn’s emphasis on reading for “how” a text is written and well as for “what” it says.
What is means to read like a writer is that you identify some of the choices the author made so you can really make out why an author choose this option in their writing, better adapting you to when you need to make a choice when you write. As you have already had experience writing in the class and outside of it, you can better view the many choices that the author has made in their writing when you read it.
RLW is different from normal reading is that when you use RLW you try to figure out how the author constructed the text in the way that they did so you know how to do so on your own.
You want to ask yourself what is the reason that the author wrote the text in the first place? Who did this author write this text for? These questions can help you better understand why the author chose these strategies they put in their writing, in hindsight can give you a reason for why they have written this piece of literature
It’s good to see your emphasis on noticing what choices an author is making as well as for the “purpose” or reason for writing. These are critical points we’ll discuss all semester.
what does it mean to read like a writer, to read like a writer you have to carefully examine the reading like taking note of the writing technique.
RWL is different from normal reading since when you’re using RWL you really have to look in the text to see how it’s constructed so you the reader can pick up some techniques on hows it is written so you can use it on your own work.
We should practice reading like a writer because when you read like a writer you can notice some writing technics you might want to put into your own writing.
some questions we should ask ourselves when we’re reading are What is the author’s purpose for this piece of writing? Who is the intended audience?
This writing is an informational text.
some questions to ask as you are reading are what are the author’s intentions, who is the intended audience.
You should annotate the text write notes on what the text is talking about
Bunn says we are writers because we all have written something at some point if it was a school or at home.
Your answers to the discussion questions serve as a nice summary of the main points in Bunn’s article.
Reading like a writer means being able to understand the difference in tone as well as different techniques used. RLW is different from “normal” reading because you are reading to understand breaking down the strategies used to create the text. Some question you would ask before reading is what is the author’s purpose, techniques used.
Yes–“breaking down” something basically means “to analyze” it, to take something a part, break it into pieces, and look closely at the pieces. We’ll do this a lot this semester.
To read like a writer means to take apart the text sentence by sentence and word by word and to analyze the writing choices of the author to better understand the text while also taking notes for your own writing.
RLW is different from “normal” reading because ‘regular’ reading is for information and merely scratches the surface of understandment. While RLW focuses on what the author is conveying to the audience, how this information is being conveyed, and what one can do to write like the author.
We should practice reading like a writer because reading like a writer can help strengthen your skills in communication and storytelling. It also helps to make better decisions on techniques used in writing.
We should ask ourselves before we read. What was the author’s purpose? Who was the intended audience?
This writing is an informational essay.
We should ask ourselves as we read. How has the author’s word choice affected the content? What kind of evidence is provided that supports the author’s claim?
While writing you should be taking not of the techniques the author used, how effective they were and the advantages and disadvantages of using them?
We are already writtens because at least once in our lives we have written something no matter how small or big. And thats what helps to shape our interest in reading.
These are thoughtful responses!
To read like a writer means to carefully examine what the author does in order to help it improve your own writing.
RLW is different from normal reading because RLW requires that you understand how the article was written in order to make one yourself.
We should practice reading like a writer because it helps us make better choices and helps us identify important decisions we make while writing
Before we start reading a text we need to ask ourselves if we know the authors purpose and intended audience.
This is an informative text
Some questions to ask is, is it formal or inormfal, what kind of evidence does the author use, how effective is the evidence.
What techniques does the author use, is the technique effective, how would it benefit my writing
These are solid responses that answer the questions directly and appropriately. I’m glad that you noted Bunn’s emphasis on “choices” that all authors—including you—make.
What does it mean to read like a writer? (72) : To read like a writer means you are reading to learn about writing better. When you are reading like a writer you put yourself in the writer’s position by getting into the depth of information. You try to put yourself in the writer’s shoes and think about what techniques they might have used throughout the writing process that you can use in your writing one day.
(also see the end of page 75). How is RLW different from “normal” reading? (74). When you read like a regular person you are usually trying to get information from the text but when you read like a writing you are trying to find the structure of how the reading was created so you can one day construct a writing by yourself.
Why should we practice reading like a writer? (75).You should practice reading like a writer because college English teachers will expect you to already know how to RLW. College writing instructors will want you to focus on mostly writing so when they give a piece of writing they aren’t clear on how you should read it. But on how you should read like a writer to make understanding an assignment easier.
What are some questions to ask before you start reading? (76). Some questions you should ask are “Do you know the author’s purpose for this piece of writing? • Do you know who the intended audience is for this piece of writing?”
What kind of writing is this (what’s the genre)? This is an informative essay because its purpose is to teach us something.
What are some questions to ask as you are reading? Questions you should ask yourself well reading is “who is the intended audience, why is it them? What is the purpose of the reading? What theme keeps coming up? What is the author addressing?
What should you be writing as you are reading? (81) You should be taking notes on What is the technique the author is using here? Is this technique effective? What would be the advantages and disadvantages if I tried this same technique in my writing. Also, using a highlighter makes things easier.
“You are already an author” (75). Why? How does Bunn support this claim? He supports this claim because we are already an author no matter what our age is. Everyone in their life has once written a story or has told one. We have the power to spread information just like an author. We write and create something just like how an author does.