A quick observation after work…
The latest struggle: trying to get students to read through a text as writers, instead of as just readers. Focusing on details in a text shouldn’t be such a struggle, particularly when dealing with most nonfiction that we’re reading, so reading as a reader shouldn’t be my emphasis. The meaning isn’t obscured by allusion or metaphor or symbolism. And since the details of the text are (hopefully) easily understood, we dive another layer deeper into the writing by looking at how it is put together, getting a better idea of how to put together our own writing.
This is a huge shift in thinking for most people who have been trained to read as readers, trying to understand all the words and how the sentences add up to paragraphs and how the paragraphs add up to prove a point or show a story. But it’s time to change focus from what to how.
I’ve been asking the simple question “What do you notice?” after each read through a text. The silence I hear comes from an uncertainty of how to respond, I’m sure. I mean, what do you say to a question like that? And so I rephrase, explain, give examples of what I mean, let them talk in groups. I’m just not sure it’s clear to my students that examining how something is written can improve your writing and give more direction on what to write. How to show that…
So, as usual, while writing this it hits me that we should focus one read on reading as readers, a chance to make sure we understand what’s happening in the text, that words are defined, that we understand the author’s point. Another read should be dedicated to how the author accomplishes that point. That read can be targeted on specific passages that demonstrate a certain method of organization or narration.
Maybe the questions should be “What does the author do here? How does s/he do that? What does s/he use to do that?” Maybe the question needs to change.
English 4 will experiment with using fragments in their writing and we’ve been pointing out fragments as we read along. English 3 will experiment with using “you” in their writing and we’ve seen an example or two of that style of writing. Through both of those conversations, the writer’s craft has come up as we justify why the author chose to use techniques that traditional English classes see as heresy. I’m putting together a handout of example passages with fragments for English 4 and “you” for English 3; we’ll talk about whether the examples are effective or just simply mistakes. More writer’s craft conversation.
Another thing that comes to mind is yet another huge list in the classroom of possible responses to “What do you notice?” This could give people a framework to phrase their responses to that question if I’m able to put together sentence starters that call attention to a wide variety of observations we can make about the writing. Not that I want to encourage regurgitation, but just so we catalog those observations made and give guidance toward what to look for.
Reading as a writer is a very different skill that reading as a reader. It’s reading that has moved up to another level. Reading evolved so that you are not as concerned with what is being said as how it is being said.