Mike Bunn’s “How to Read Like A Writer” introduces readers to a reading technique of reading & analyzing literature with a author state of mind as he states to the person reading, “you are already an author”. What this means is the reader has to put their reading lens in the shoes of the author to achieve a deeper comprehension of the text.

Ways I already use words in literature is by using figurative language such as similes, metaphors and euphemism in TIED format. This literal technique will help me in college because it improves my reading comprehension and I am able to interpret the meaning behind the text.

What I noticed about Bunn’s writing is his background of how he discovered the importance of being able to read like the author of the book and how he chose exercise that skill into real writing. Bunn’s discovery came from trying to read a book in a loud and dark environment, the complete opposite recommended area to read anything, and he had to concentrate and re-read the same text over again just like the real author of the book did. While doing this, he understood the meaning of the texts along the importance of reading it through the lens of author. This technique of reading is what I call an empathetic lens. This lens puts you in the shoes of the author and you understand the intentions & reasoning behind the text. I would like to be able to use this technique because it allows me to understand the author’s state of mind which allows me to have a strengthened view & opinion for more thought in depth and intellectual discussions.

Another thing I noticed is Bunn questions a lot. The reason for these questioning a lot is to gain a deep understanding then interpret it logically. I would like to use this technique because it creates a philosophical train of thoughts while also building a structure of claims that can be constructed through the three persuasive techniques: pathos, ethos, logos. This leads to more critical analogy and deeper debates for a more interesting Socratic seminar.