Becoming a Better Reader and Writer (Discussion Post 3)

Pre-read:

He used to love reading, but now he dreads it. Reading used to be fun when his imagination would take over, dreaming about novels at times. His favorites were Percy Jackson and Arc of a Scythe. As reading became more informal, he lost interest. He glares over at the textbook sitting on the beanbag next to his bed. He rolls over and grabs it, lying there, staring at the cover. The bed seems to engulf him as he lies there, beckoning him to sleep. But he can't sleep yet. He has to read. He has to prepare for his upcoming exams. Not wanting to procrastinate anymore, he cozzies up into bed, and flips open the cover. He finds the first page and begins to read. His eyes dart from left to right across each line, trying to read as quick as possible while still getting all of the information. As he flips through the pages, he realizes that he doesn't remember anything from previous pages. Frustrated, he goes back to page one and reads at a much slower pace. Information floods his mind as he reads slower, and certain words and phrases start to stick. Although it takes him much longer, the slower he reads, the better the information is absorbed in his mind.  As he finishes up the last chapter he needs to read, relief floods his body. He's finally done and can go to sleep. His eyes grow droopy, and his breath slows. He falls asleep, mind filled with new information.

I think the main way that I can improve my reading assignments is by taking my time. I try to finish things as quickly as possible so that I have more time for things I like to do. However, I think that if I slow down and really try to understand what is being said, I might enjoy the assignments more. I also think that reading it multiple times will help me understand everything better, especially if I didn't get it on the first try. 

The Slowest Reader:

Benjamin Percy realizes that he can't quickly skim a book and move on to the next. If he does this, then ideas will begin to mush together and be forgotten. Rather, to fully understand the novel, he had to think like the author and question why they wrote certain details in the way they did. If he could connect certain writing styles with certain ideas, he could better understand and remember novels. He strictly mentions in the article that people should be influenced by authors when they read. They should be inspired by an author's writing style and apply parts of that writing style to their own work. If people can write similarly to an author, they will be able to connect the author's writing style to the main ideas in the novel, along with making them better writers. The main idea that Benjamin Percy is getting at is people become better writers by reading and processing how other authors tell stories. 

Being the slowest reader means that truly understanding an author's motives behind their novel will make a person a better writer. Reading slower will lead to greater retention, along with connecting ideas from the novel to an author's writing style. Being a slow reader doesn't mean that someone is bad at reading, it just means that they are taking more time to understand the novel and truly soak all the information in. I think that in this class being the slowest reader will help me understand the "why" behind an essay. Rather than just reading the information because I need to, if I take my time, I will truly ponder on why the essay was written and what benefits I can draw from it. If I am assigned to read an essay, I know it's for a reason, so I should take my time on the essay and dissect what I should be gaining from that essay. 

Writing an Essay: Here are Ten Effective Tips:

He stares at the blank document on his screen. He doesn't know what to write. Writer's block always has been his greatest enemy. No ideas come to his mind on what to write. This is the calm before the storm. Suddenly, a lightbulb appears in his head. He has an idea. Fingertips begin to clash keys, and words begin to appear. Once he starts, he can't stop. In no time, the first paragraph is written. Then the first page. This idea, which didn't exist moments before, is now multiple pages long. Once he gets an idea in his head, the story begins to write itself. His imagination takes over as he expands on the original idea. By the time it's over, he doesn't even know what happened. He starts reading what he wrote, fixing all the spelling and grammatical errors he made. There were a lot. Once fixed, he goes back and reads it again, this time deleting anything that doesn't make sense. There is a lot of this too. Finally, he reads it a third time and adds any finishing touches. Just like that, the writing process is over. 

I think that I need to focus on smaller details to improve my writing. The biggest one is better word choice. I need to expand my vocabulary because I still feel like I use elementary-level words in my writing. Sure I don't need to use words that the dictionary barely even knows, but more advanced words that fit my age better.  I also need to work on keeping one central idea when I write, as I can definitely start to wonder pretty easily. I can start writing one thing, and end up with a completely different thing by the end of the essay. 

The two most important ideas that I got out of the article are As you research, ask yourself, "What Supprises me about this subject?" and Be source-heavy. I've always been the person to write about whatever would get me the best grade. However, these ended up being some of my hardest essays to write, simply because I wasn't interested. Going forward, I am going to focus on writing what interests me, rather than what I think would interest whoever is grading it the most. Not only will this be more fun to write, but I'll probably write better if I am more intrigued. Being source-heavy has always been non-existent in my writing history. Even if I'm allowed to, it doesn't feel right to take someone else's work and quote them, or turn what they are saying into my own words. I want to practice this and get better, as bouncing off other people's ideas will help show my opinion on certain topics while also strengthening my writing. I think that combining both of these topics will make me a much better writer, so I should begin to implement them into my writing.