The author Mike Bunn, who wrote the article “How to Read Like a Writer”  help’s college students in their new journey in reading and writing at a college level. The author starts us off with background on his life and with the quote “You are already an author”. By this he means that each and everyone of us are the author of ourselves, our story, our background. We each have our own way of writing and telling a personal story, meaning the way we write and the vocabulary we already use in our daily lives. I have many words and phrases that I use in particular from others, that I have used in things I have written. Some things I have already written are letters to my loved ones. In those very long letters I include very interesting phrases that only I use, and form paragraphs filled with my authorship. This existing expertise that I have already formed will help me in my college reading and writing career by already knowing how to articulate and express things in the most successful way for readers. There are many ways to read but one way which resonates with my personal life and my college major (architecture) are the two ways the author speaks about on page 74. He states “There are many ways to read, but generally speaking there are two ways. They correspond to the two ways in which we may be interested in a piece of architecture.”, as well as Allen Tate’s metaphor “reading as if you were an architect is a great way to think about RLW. 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.”. This example regarding architecture is really helpful to me since I have a passion for building as well as the history behind it. I will definitely use this example in my future writings. Lastly, I also noticed all the past students’ feedback and experience in college writing and reading. One that stood out to me in particular, is the way students mentioned to first consider the context of both the assignment you’re given and the text that you’re reading, before you even begin with reading. I would like to try to do this in my future writings, since i believe it will make a big difference.Â
Category: Unit 1
Homework 1.2
In the article, Mike Bunn writes ” You are already an author.” There is a meaning when he says this. When Mike Bunn says this in the article, he means that everybody in their own way is an author, whether is writing something or even saying something. An example of being an author can be just as simple as telling someone how your day went or telling them something that has happened to you. This is an example of authorship because telling someone how your day went or something that has happened to you can engage them in putting themselves in your point of view. There are more reasons to why everyone is an author in many ways. Some people are very funny to be around. That can be a way of authorship because think about like this, if people like what you say and it makes them happy and they would want more of it which brings attention to you, that makes you an author and them the listener that want to hear more. That existing expertise will help me in my college reading and writing. I know that it will help me with reading and writing because I am creative at writing and when I read, I always put myself in the authors point of view any time I’m reading. In Bunn’s article I noticed that he questioned ” What is the author’s purpose for this piece of writing? “. This will help me with my writings and find a purpose to the type of writing that I make. I realized that having a purpose to what you write is important in many ways. One way it can help is that other people who read your writing can relate to your piece. Bunn also questions ” who is the intended audience? “. This can help me write and not only focus on one person reading but also write as if im talking to a whole audience.
HW 1.2 “How to Read like a Writer”
In Mike Bunn’s article “How to Read Like a Writer,” he discusses his main idea of learning how to write” (p. 72). Readers using this method are forced to set specific intentions. The author gives readers numerous questions to ask or think about while reading. This will further develop your writing skills. In this article, Mike Bunn writes “You are already an author”. I interpret this quote as, since all readers have written before, analyzing the choices authors make in their writing is something we as writers must do as well. Reading with the intention of learning from their techniques and choices allows readers to fully develop a more analytical way of reading. We are constantly authors, whether it’s as small as a quick text, an Instagram post, homework assignments, or even your final paper. Writing is a major form of communication that everyone uses in their everyday lives. Bunn described on page 76 the importance of thinking about an author’s purpose and intended audience. Though this seems like a simple tip, this will help me both with my college reading and writing, as it gives me major context while reading and allows me to plan out the way I write. One important tip I took away from Bunn’s article was recognizing the various devices the author used to grab the reader’s attention. I chose this tip because it functions almost like research for writers in order to develop new techniques for telling stories in the most readable manner possible. Additionally, when I write, I constantly struggle to engage the reader in the opening paragraph. In Bunn’s article, I truly enjoyed his introduction. He sets a scene with very descriptive details and even background on his life at the time he discovered this reading technique. The reason I enjoyed this part so much was that, though this article is focused on the technique itself, the story he told really compelled me to read it, as it had kind of a narrative feel at the beginning.
