Peter Elbow Writing Before Lang Summary

When it comes to reading and writing the two subjects go hand in hand. Every person is different and everyone has their own way of learning. How someone chooses to advance their skills in reading and writing all comes down to how that individual finds themselves learning best. I believe that in order to become a successful reader or writer you have to ultimately be strong in both. “How to Read like a Writer” by Mike Bunn, offers fair examples of various techniques on how to become more of an effective writer. “When you Read Like a Writer (RLW) you work to identify some of the choices the author made so that you can better understand how such choices might arise in your own writing”, (72). This statement caught my attention almost instantly.

I Remember that time I had that one page essay assigned back in my 5th grade English class and I thought to myself, “How on earth will I possibly write one page on something I hardly know anything about or share little to no interest on”. Well that 1 page essay is not looking so terrible now that college is here and the minimum amount of pages for most essays is up to 3 pages. Writing has been something that has been a part of my life for as long as I can remember. I was first introduced to it in my preschool days, it wasn’t anything too insane, mostly just single words with a picture of whatever the word was above it. But for the amount of time writing has been in my life the one concept that truly defined literacy for

Reading will forever continue to play a role in my education, for many reasons. The most obvious one; how would we learn if we are not able to read? In the story “Literacy behind Bars” the author Malcom X tells his story of how he improved his education by reading and studying the dictionary while in prison. “No university would ask any student to devour literature as I did when this new world opened up to me, of being able to read and understand.” (Malcolm X 642). I find his story very important, because after all reading is key to succeeding in school and life.

The relationship between reading and writing is magnificent because they are one and the same. A great consistency of reading can permit someone to become a great writer. While reading a variety of books, he/she learns about text structures and language that he/she can transfer to their writing. I believe that reading gives me knowledge, which I can use to create narratives, argumentative essays and analyses. While in college, I plan to read extensively and develop a love for reading and writing, which I will have to use to be successful in my

Mark Twain saw the main value of literacy as it was a language that helped him do his job correctly. In his essay “Reading the River”, Twain explains that in literacy everything is based on instinct when you write, just as he does being a steamboat pilot. When writing Twain doesn’t need to think about what to do or say because it’s his second nature. Twain explains in his essay how he feels about the river he works on and how he can tell different conditions on the water by just looking at it or the weather the day prior. I however, view the value of literacy as primarily being a way to express yourself by writing. Writing out how you feel or who you are as a person can connect you with people, your readers, who might understand and

In my opinion, literacy is the foundation of education. To be a reader or writer can encompass a broad definition. It can range in meaning to describe a child who is just learning the sounds letters make when joined together to form a word, to a description of a poet, music producer, and so on. My experience with reading and writing began with the love of my mother, and grew from my continual interest and fascination for greater knowledge.

Times are changing. Literacy is not only a problem that the English teacher has to deal with. Literacy is defined as the ability to read and write (Oxford Dictionaries). However, you have to use different skills to read a novel than you do with reading a science question. So it only makes that literacy should be taught in different ways for each different subject. It does a student no good to be able to physically read a science question but have no idea what it’s asking for. The last five years have seen unprecedented attention given to the literacy achievement of adolescents in secondary schools in the United States. Spurred by the release of flat or declining reading scores on national tests. (Donahue, Daane & Grigg, 2003). This could be easily linked to a lack of literacy techniques being taught in schools.

From a young age, I have always been taught to understand the value of education and learning. Reading and writing have been emphasized to me as tools for success, that should always be constantly improved, for as long as I can remember.

Reading and writing have been in our lives and around our lives ever since the beginning of time. It is something we are naturally born into. Almost every human being has performed some type of reading or writing, whether they live in the big city, or whether they live in the woods. They have all performed some form of reading or writing in their life. It is human nature. We are born into it. I have many memories of reading and writing, though I may not be very fond of it when it concerns schoolwork, it is something I have naturally adjusted to and it somehow has made me, and probably everyone else around me as well, who we are today.

In the article “Why Liturature Matters” by Dana Gioia, the author persuades his audiance by giving us real facts or statistics about how reading and writting can really help people in all subjects.

As a class we should all be able to show and share our excitement for reading. Student’s can read in multiple ways like reading aloud, buddy reading, or having students read on their own. This helps to promote and show student’s multiple ways to engage in meaningful reading. Having literature circles is one way I think lets students read books and discuss it with small groups. This gives each student the opportunity to express his or her opinions, ideas, and predictions. I have to provide time for practice and allow students to write about their interest. Showing the students examples of different writing styles and my own writings are good ways to introduce students to writing and show strategies that work when writing. Having a daily journal for students to write in is positive and lets the students be creative. By doing this I can look at student’s journals and respond to their entries. This also lets me evaluate what style the student is using and which ones the student could work on. Incorporating writing in different subjects is a good way to show students that writing goes along with everything you do in everyday life. One way to do this is having students participate in current events that are relevant to current issues around the world and write small summaries on them. This is something I did in sixth grade and to this day I still read about current events. Writing should be a fun way for

For many people reading and writing are the most fundamental skills a person can learn, it can also greatly influence a persons cognitive thinking capacity and the sharing of information with others. However, in some parts of the world, people still do not have access to education or the ability to learn to read and write. Lacking the skill to read and write can make things tough for some one in todays society, however with the right resources and mentors to support, one can find a hidden passion for reading and writing. For me, reading and writing has never been one of my greatest skills, I had always struggled throughout my younger years of schooling to keep an interest. As of today, reading and writing has made a great impact on my life, especially in the last few years since I began college.

I believe that it has not suffered few alterations during the last six years when I took this subject, and it is extremely significant since in that time this subject was seen and treated as separately fields. According to Louise M. Rosenblatt the relationship between reading and writing is demonstrated in all linguistic activities we can think. To illustrate the previous thought, teaching grammar, phonology, composition, literature and other fields involves an enormous relationship which goes in both ways reading-writing and writing-reading

Reading and writing are two of the most important tools in my life, because without them I would not have an education. They form the basis of a class; for example, completing a lab in chemistry would not be possible without following a written lab procedure. These two skills are taught at such a young age, and as education advances students must continue to strive to reach a higher level. I can remember in elementary school, we were always pushed to reach the next reading level once we had successfully mastered the one we were on. It was always a competition for my sister and I to be at a higher level, I usually won. Even though I was excelling in reading it was the complete opposite for writing. It is something that has never come easy

Reading and writing are both important; you can’t have one without the other. They are skills that are increased constantly due to little things that most times are not noticed. Whether it is from a book to a poem, there will always be a way that it helps out your school performance. Reading and writing in general only helps absorb information, and enhance leisure or school related writing tasks. It has also made life itself so much easier because reading and writing are so beneficial for school and for life. How much you read and write today, will somehow affect your future job, family, position, or even your salary.