Week 1: Course Overview & Annotating Texts
For Thursday:
Writing:
- Write a paragraph discussing your academic interests, why you chose your major, what you enjoy reading, listening to, watching, and doing in your spare time, or anything else you want to share (include your pronouns if you wish).
- Write a short paragraph about yourself as a reader and writer. What kinds of readings and writings are you drawn to? What type do you avoid and dislike? Why do you think you lean towards certain types of texts and away from others?
- Post both paragraphs as a comment on our Discussion: Introductions post.
For Wednesday:
Texts:
- Read “How to Read like a Writer” by Mike Bunn.
- Review “RWL” (Reading like a Writer) Power Point by Laura Westengard.
Writing:
- Write a short paragraph responding to the Bunn essay: 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. Please bring this to class on Thursday. Please also try to print Bunn’s text to bring to class.
One thing that caught my eye while reading “How to Read Like a Writer” was on page 10 of the pdf. It said “It is helpful to continue to ask yourself questions as you read like a writer. 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.” This is helpful for getting ideas for making drafts for an essay or report. It is processing information before you make a final paper. That is why it appealed to me.
In the essay “How to read like a writer” by Mike Bunn one specific quote I found useful in the text was, “Charles Moran, a professor of English at the University of Massa- chusetts, urges us to read like writers because:When we read like writers we understand and participate in the writing. We see the choices the writer has made, and we see how the writer has coped with the consequences of those choices . . . We “see” what the writer is doing because we read as writers; we see because we have written ourselves and know the territory, know the feel of it, know some of the moves our- selves. (61)”. I found this quote from the article useful because a writer is writing from their perspective of something so, as a reader you should not read from your point of view you should read from the writers point of view and understand and actually feel what you are reading.