B. Wilson In-class 1

1. “Reading Like a Writer” requires one to examine the ways of presenting information rather than the information given. In most classes the information is more important to glean from the reading than the writing style. Frequently classes assign large amounts of reading due around the same time forcing the students to pick the most important section of the reading to focus on and skim the rest. To examine style and organization in writing requires paying more attention to formatting choices the author made in order to discover ways to improve one’s writing.

2. I use personal examples in my writing as a way to connect with my audience rather than becoming some distant commentator on boring facts. My favorite writing tool is humor. If you can make people laugh, they are more likely to appreciate reading your work, remember something from what they read, and want to read more of your work.

3. I like the suggestion for quotes use as a starting point for an essay. Using a quote lends credibility and ethos to your writing and establishes a possible direction for the essay. I may not begin with a quote immediately, but rather in the first or second paragraph so that the quote is more integrated with my thoughts and attempts to convey my point. The quote will give support to my thesis rather than acting of its own accord.

4. Reading an abstract/summary of a text, reading an author biography, and reading about the time period surrounding the publishing of the text are all different ways to learn about the context of a text before reading it.