Roy Popkin: A Personal Essay

It allowed me to connect with the author’s thoughts and thoroughly understand the story or novel. Because of this, it caused me to enjoy reading, which I was not particularly fond of before.

To read like a writer means knowing in advanced type of writing will be assigned. This is beneficial, Bunn argues, because when reading like a writer, knowing the style assigned, allows one to look for specific techniques in writing that they could adopt in their own work. To understand how piece was written, or to look back on his architect analogy, it is important to ask questions, assessing what “construction” techniques were effective in building a text. Before reading, one should ask himself who the audience is and the author's purpose in writing. While reading the texts itself, Bunn recommends looking at the style of language used and the effectiveness of evidence as well as the parts that don’t work or are confusing. While reading like a writer and asking these questions, Bunn encourages students to look for whether aspects are appropriate and effective as well as the positive or negative effect they have on readers. Bunn, in recognizing that every word choice made in a text has a certain effect, encourages readers to look critically at that effect in order to decide what strategies work should be adopted in their own

Reading can open one’s mind to the imagination of anything to be dreamt of. Poems, short stories, novels, plays, and dramas are all different types of literature that exist today. All of the different types of literature have their own ways and formats that they are written in. Literature has many ways of speaking to us as we read them, it can strike up emotions or memories that we have or it can make us rethink a situation that we are going through. I believe that literature can help a person open up through his or her stories.

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.

While reading a variety of stories, I am able to point out literary elements to my students. I know reading to my students can teach my students about good writing (Bruning, 2011, p. 295). I also

As I was reading How to Read Literature Like a Professor, I was thinking about how much I have missed in the books I have read due to not knowing how to look for certain literary devices. Something as simple as not knowing how to read between the lines caused me to miss out on points the author was trying to make. Over the course of reading How to Read Literature Like a Professor, I have learned many ways to analyze literature that I did not know before.

I also look forward to improving my academic reading skills. I currently dislike reading academic readings as I find them incredibly boring and time consuming. I know they are for my own good, but if it is assigned for a class that isn’t directly related to my career aspirations, I often don’t read them, but rather use that time to read something that is essential for my career. As I move forward, I wish to be more like the character Seth in Haas and Flowers’ Rhetorical Reading Strategies and the Construction of Meaning. Seth is a rhetorical reader who searches for the deeper meanings within academic readings all while connecting prior reading experience to the text he is currently reading. In assignment 3 we were required to create a metaphor

“Reading gives us someplace to go when we have to stay where we are,” (Cooley). Throughout our lives, reading has impacted us in many ways. Often times books give people different perspectives on their lives. People with high stress levels often find comfort in reading books to take their mind off of their concerns. Sometimes, people just need to take a step back from their lives and relax for a while; therefore, reading is a great tool. In fact, all kinds of books have also helped me become a better writer. There are many different books that have impacted me over the years.

Over the past month, we have been studying the concept of reading and writing in different communities. To assess this, we have read two different texts. Richard Rodriguez’s the achievement of desire”, from his autobiography “Hunger of Memory”; and Lucille McCarthy’s “A Stranger in Strange Lands: A College Student Writing across the Curriculum” from “Research in the Teaching of English”. Both answer key questions regarding what it takes to become a great reader and writer, however, from the reading that I have done, each one only answers one part of the question. Rodriguez’s main focus is in the aspect of reading, whereas McCarthy mainly focuses on the writing portion. Both do a decent job of analyzing and putting forth a view of how they believe a person can best perform in these environments. This then allows us to use their concepts and create our own version, based on their points of view. But why should we care? Most people at this level of academia will have developed a system of writing that works for them, and will have a difficult time breaking from it if they’re process doesn’t meet the criteria that Rodriguez, and McCarthy put forth. The reason it’s so important is because of implications these ideas have. Both authors put forth concepts that are indirectly related to one another and that are highly beneficial to all who will apply them. They will force you to conform to new environments in order to succeed, this in turn will make you more

reading the works of other authors is vital to the growth of a writer. This allows the writer to

English 111 has made a positive impact on me as a student. I have learned a lot in English considering the short amount of time I have spent in the class. English has always been one of my strong points, but I have always looked to find ways to improve my English skills. During the class I learned several new techniques and skills to improve myself as a student. I am glad I had a smart professor to help guide me along the way.

The most interesting aspect I discovered about my writing this semester is my ability to read, appreciate, and interpret a piece of literature and write analytically about it. In this course I’ve grown to change my reading process completely. I had a tendency to read

1. When I started this course, to be completely forthright, I wasn’t exceptionally fond of reading. There were a wide range of things I would have rather done. I generally felt I had to know precisely what was happening to the characters and how they would end up. Recently, we read Hamlet, Life of Pi and The Great Gatsby. Hamlet and Life of Pi were fascinating, however I completely cherished The Great Gatsby. The reasons I felt so unequivocally towards one and not the others is because of the subtle yet powerful ways F. Scott Fitzgerald, author of The Great Gatsby, conveys his points through symbolism. I never realized this before and now this is one of the things I look for in new books I read. Had I not understood the symbolism and deeper meanings, I do not think I would have enjoyed The Great Gatsby. These are the little things I now notice and they make reading significantly all the more fascinating. Reading is an extremely important skill. Reading is additionally an excellent way to enhance your general English. While reading Hamlet, Life of Pi and The Great Gatsby, I had a difficult time understanding some of the terminology, mostly due to the fact that I don't read regularly. Reading regularly helps build your vocabulary. Sooner rather than later, I will spend more of my leisure time reading as it won't just help me grow as a reader, it will help me improve my writing skills as well.

Raymond Mar, a psychologist at Your University in Canada and Keith Oatley a professor An The University of Toronto, they both say that “individuals who often read fiction appear to be better able to understand other people, empathies with them and view the world from their perspectives.” I agree that reading certain types of books can help people further understand and see things from a different point of view. Reading helps to open people's eyes and to teach life lessons or to show there are other things to believe in and know other than what they have always been told to know. Getting different types of books, types that are not always the same as the books that you normally read can help you to view things differently. For example from personal experience a new book can help your imagination grow, readings helps me a lot when I need to come up with new ideas for an art class. The new places a book takes you the new images you see while you are reading the new stores you hear and the happy ending your book might have can change the way you are feeling it can brighten up your day.

The night before my first day as a teacher I was scared. It was something totally different for me; it was something I had never done before. Yes, I have made some microteachings at the university, but that was not the same as been in an actual classroom with kids observing you and waiting for you to teach them something. In my head, there were questions such as What am I going to do? What should I tell to the kids? Is this how it is supposed to be done?