A: Reading like a writer means to read a piece while focusing on how the author wrote and how they might've written this way (as opposed to reading just to glean information). By reading it this way, you can apply certain choices to your own writing, and come to conclusions about certain aspects of the piece that were done well and things that could've been written differently.
2. Q: What kinds of choices do you make as a writer that readers might identify in your written work?
A: As a writer, I have more trouble focusing on the big picture of the piece than the details. I'm decent at spelling and grammar, and my sentence structure usually works nicely, but I have difficulty, at times, to form a piece that works as a whole. I oftentimes have to reread my work multiple times over to find out how it fits, and even then will need a second opinion. I also seem to have a formal way of speaking when I write, and my main focus is often on using many different words throughout so the piece has a nice flow (as opposed to repeating myself too often), resorting to a thesaurus if I have to.
3. Q: 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?
A: When I was reading this specific essay, it was hard not to think about how the writer wrote and why he wrote it that way, since he was constantly referring to this idea. I couldn't help but think in this piece he would really have to think about the way it was written because that was when it would be fresh in people's minds, and they would be easily judging him. For this reason you can see his efforts and I believe he did a decent job on it. His message was filled with examples from his own life as well as his student's, and it was very easy to follow. I think almost anyone could relate to it and get the main idea, which is what he was aiming for - a large audience understanding him (though it seems he was mainly focusing on college-level students).
4. Q: What are some of the different things that you can learn about the context of a text before you begin reading it?
A: The context of a text and the reason it is written a certain way depends completely on the subject. For example, a story isn't written like a recipe, and a poem isn't written like a brochure. We just couldn't picture it that way; this is why everything has its own format to serve a different purpose. When writing something, you have to think of the best method to write it so your reader will get the most out of it and understand the message you are trying to promote. By reading other works, we can see what format is best-suited depending on what you are writing and learn through example. Sometimes it's fun to experiment with different methods and formats artistically, and by doing this and studying writing around us in everyday life, we can learn the proper means of creating our own pieces.
Hi Natalie. Full credit on your first post.
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