Summary Of How To Read Like A Writer By Mike Bunn

The assigned reading of “Good Readers and Good Writers” by Vladimir Nabokov probes the subject that is the necessary attributes an individual must have in order for them to be successful readers and writers of literature. A list of ten rules is then stated in the essay and sets them as the baseline commandments that an individual must follow in order to be some kind of a devoted “good reader”. While the criteria sets the standard for a “good reader” it aligns with that of a good analyzer and can be applied to that sense. For example one of the first pieces of advice states “If one begins with a readymade generalization, one begins at the wrong end and travels away from the book before one has started to understand it” (Nabokov 1). If a

Some of the top advice given to writers is to read prolifically. The more well-read a person is, the more they will intuitively understand what good, effective writing is. Moreover, good writing begins with critical thinking and careful consideration. Curiosity and open-mindedness aid in the endeavor and allow an author to think broadly about a subject. Careful reasoning allows a writer to logically organize information and thoughts and relay them in a compellingly clear way. In “College Writing and Beyond,” Anne Beaufort talks about how strong writers draw on five knowledge domains to produce good work. These five domains are: discourse community knowledge, writing process knowledge, subject matter knowledge, genre knowledge, and rhetorical knowledge. It is important to understand and consider what discipline and discourse community you will be speaking within in order to fashion your ideas into a well-received written contribution. Understanding effective writing processes and critical revising methods grants a writer greater ability to create succinct, effective, and enticing text. Understanding genres enables a writer to know what conventions of writing are expected of them and which best suit their purposes. Rhetorical knowledge facilitates the clarification of a text’s purpose and supports reader

This chapter of the textbook by E. Shelley Reid’s Ten Ways To Think About Writing: Metaphoric Musings for College Writing addresses writing students. Reid uses expository and descriptive types of writing in her text. She describes and explains about the ten different important things when it comes to writing. One example in her chapter is where she explains how to write by the rules, describes the steps on how to be a successful writer and why some people struggle with writing essays or paragraphs sometimes. The writer quoted, “Write about what you know about so that you can show not just tell in order to adapt to your audience’s needs and accomplish your goals. Unless you do a good job showing what you mean, your audience will not understand your message.” (4) She also stated in one of her steps that sometimes the audience or readers of an essay or writing cannot exactly understand what the writer is trying to tell them. She tells her audience to

In chapter fourteen of Thomas Foster’s novel, How to Read Literature Like a Professor, when telling of Christ in our literature, he makes the all-composing assertion that we live in an overwhelming Christian culture. The common man or woman may not know all there is to understand in Christianity, but our media and minds are affected by it considerably and basic knowledge of its core is known by the majority. The figures of Jesus in literature are abstract and in no way have to be exact to Jesus in gender, morality, or actions. No literary character or real character can be as divine or perfect as Jesus was in the Bible, making it impossible to completely replicate him. Imagination is the largest

The most essential parts of active reading are always focusing on an article and thinking more than just passively read, striving to enter into a dialogue with the editors. First, briefly look over the article and read the main points of it, at the same time the readers can also write down their ideas about the topic. These two steps are significant because the readers will be more spirited than usual, so that they can catch the editors’ central idea better and have a deeper understanding of it. Next, make marginal notes or comments. The example of a student’s notes on a poem well shows that take notes can help the readers recall where important points are discussed. Not only can they summarize the article and give assent, but also they can ask questions about it. Finally, the readers are encouraged to keep a reading journal of an essay or chapter in a reader’s own words because this can stimulate one’s own thinking. The given examples are two students’ journals, which show their critical thinking on a poem and their ideas combined with their specific

In How to Read Literature Like a Professor, author Thomas C. Foster extensively teaches literary conventions that teach a reader how to read between the lines. The main goal of this guide is to help a reader read to a level such as a professor, which entails being able to read analytically. Throughout Foster's literary guide, he sets out essential elements of literature that aid in the ability to read analytically. How to Read Literature Like a Professor focuses on not only external influences, but also in text elements such as structure, themes, and setting. Throughout Foster's guide there are many valuable keys to reading, some of the most prominent in literature being biblical reference, character quests, and character baptism. Chapters

Analyzing Stylistic Choices helps you see the linguistic and rhetorical choices writers make to inform or convince readers.

In his book “How to Read Literature Like a Professor,” Thomas C. Foster provides a list of attributes that a fictional character may have if they are a symbolic Christ Figure in their story. The list consists of characteristics such as “very forgiving” and “came to redeem an unworthy world.” In Gabriel Garcia Marquez’s “A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings,” although the Old Man is thought to be an angel by the awe struck people around him, it is possible to claim that he is a Christ Figure. While the Old Man doesn’t turn water into wine, he seems to have something with the odd “miracles” occurring in the town. The Old Man’s ragged appearance is also an attribute that should be accounted for. Foster explains that “he’s dirty and unkempt and bug-ridden,

In literary education, from childhood to maturity, individuals are taught how to write not to improve themselves as critical thinkers, but to fulfill the requirements given to them in a prompt. Whether to analyze or argue, this form of writing has led to a cease of literary improvement in students today, making many question the effectiveness of writing classes. Mike Bunns, in his article “To Read like a Writer”, explores this topic and stresses the necessity for young readers to critically examine the author’s choices in order to improve their own pieces of work. Bunns effectively argues to his audience of college students that improved comprehension comes from focusing on the rhetorical choices authors decide to make in their compositions by tying personal narratives with repetitive questioning throughout his article.

I think it very rare, if not impossible, for a writer to have a naturally sophisticated style. We all begin at an elementary level writing sentences such as ‘I like cats’ to explain our thoughts. This is because sophisticated writing is hard; even as I try to begin this paper, I have difficulty putting my thoughts into writing I deem worthy enough to read. In author Mike Rose’s novel, Lives on The Boundary: A Moving Account of the Struggles and Achievements of America’s Educationally Underprepared, he describes his struggle to overcome wordiness, grammatical errors, and inaccurate usage of literary devices. Through his teacher’s individualized help, he gained the skills needed to better develop his style.

Kantz says that “writing and reading are not just about transmitting and receiving information. Texts don’t mean the same thing to every reader” because readers will construct the meaning by interacting with texts. Writing synthesis can be very difficult because writer need to think about the required materials such as citation format, number and length of the sources, abstractness of the topic, and the extent to which the sources will supply the purpose of the paper. It is easier to write a paper that uses all of only one short source on familiar topic than writing long sources on topic that writer must learn and unfamiliar. In addition to understand reading text as stories is to teach the concept of rhetorical situation, it offers insight into the nature of students representations of writing task in rich and set up complex goal structures and allows students to work

While deciphering text can be mundane, studies have shown that “reading has cognitive consequences that extend beyond its immediate task of lifting meaning from a particular passage” (Cunningham 137). Reading not only makes you smarter, but makes you rhetorically analyze things better. The skills that you gain through reading last a lifetime, not just for reading the latest Twilight book. In The Lonely, Good Company of Books, Richard Rodriguez describes himself as a small child looking at reading posters on the wall of his school.

Throughout the many years I’ve attended classes, I’ve always been taught to find the purpose of the writing or the theme of the literature. Much like Francine Prose,whose aptly named, I disagree with this method of thought and teaching. Breaking down complicated works of art to an easy-to-understand sentence takes away from the author’s intent.

Academic reading is one of the most essential tools in college. It shows us (as students) that we can read for pleasure, but at the same time read to gain knowledge in subjects we did not know before. On page 41 in the book Curious Writer it shows a diagram of purpose and examples of questions that readers’ may have when reading I have used it before and it works because it lets the reader think in a more broader perspective, generate more questions, and find the answers to those questions (aside from the examples’ the book provides). Even when you read (pg. 43, topic Beliefs About Reading) sometimes the text it can make you question or rethink your original beliefs that the reader may have before.

This chapter is written to be informative and persuasive for new college students. In the opening section of the chapter the author shares a story of a time he worked in a English theatre. He explains that workers would pass the time with a book while there was a play and how the background noise made it so that he had to intently focus on each word that he was reading. His thesis states “I never really thought about the important connections between reading and writing, and how reading in a particular way could also make me a better writer” (p.72). The next section he explains that RLW means that you’re reading see the specific words used by the author to see what effect they have, their context, genre, and purpose. He encourages the reader