RLW Answers Brendan Hickey

Applying, How to read like a writer," in my writing.

1. How is “Reading Like a Writer” similar to and/or different from the way(s) you read for other classes?

-In most classes I read to learn the material, as in I use the text only as a way to get facts and methods. While reading like a writer still makes learn from the reading, you observe how the text gets a point across and learn those methods.

2.What kinds of choices do you make as a writer that readers might identify in your written work?

I tend to use examples and relate my arguments top seemingly unrelated, yet easier to understand, examples. In addition, I usually keep the main points of an argument short in order to keep the writing from becoming to dry.

3. Is there anything you notice in this essay that you might like to try in your own writing? What is that technique or strategy? When do you plan to try using it?

I would like to try and make notes while reading which could help me with my own writing. Such notes could include ideas, methods of creating an argument, and segments which I found confusing or to be examples of poor writing which I would want to avoid in my own writing. I would use this any time I read a blog post or a news article and apply it to any of my own pieces, If I were to read a New York Times article in which an argument was made to provide funding for more comfortable chairs in schools and I like the method of providing evidence of lower back problems and relating that to the rising cost of health care, I would make a sticky note on that which I would refer back to that method while writing my own argument. In addition I would also like to take note of the language the author uses and how that changed the meaning of the piece and how it would create or diminish rhetorical distance.

4. What are some of the different ways that you can learn about the context of a text before you begin reading it?

You can consider the authors situated ethos in order to determine what that author tends to determine. Also the intended audience is something to consider since what the intended audience likes will be what is included. You could also look up information on the author.