For years upon years I thought I had known how to read, I was taught how to read when I was in the first grade. To be quite frank I wasn’t the best reader, but I didn’t give up and I kept trying until I was able to read past two grade levels. Well after all that time I still had no idea I did not know how to read! Hearing that there was a second way and even multiple ways of reading blows me away, because how did I not know about these type of reading styles until thirteen years later. One of these new found reading styles was reading like a writer, which at first sounds like an oxymoron but with some explanation makes a lot of sense.
Reading like a writer is the premise where instead of reading to gather information like normal typical reading styles. Reading like a writer consist of reading in such a way that lends us the ability to learn how a sentence was formed and learn from it so we could then in turn regurgitate back (p. 74). Take for example instead of learning about how gothic cathedrals were build and there history behind them, Reading like a writer offers the reader the ability to build the cathedrals themselves. Oddly enough, even though this is a fairly new thing that I have just recently grasp I feel like I have always kind of read in this way but in a lower elementary type of way.
Despite our instructors never fully teaching us how to read like a writer, but wanting us to grasp it on our own I feel I have persionally did a decent job at it (P. 75). In the recent past months last semester actually during my Environmental class were “forced” to read a book titled Cradle to Cradle written by William McDonough and Michael Braungart where I had used this type of reading style. The novel in short explained how we live in a cradle to grave society throwing away everything we ever use, and how with proper implementation we can transform into a cradle to cradle society. Well in short we had to read this novel, because we had write a final paper for the class which is the ultimate reason as to why I learned how to read in such a way.
The novel was filled with so much insight and information that at first it was so over whelming but soon after I had took my time I was able to gather all the information that was being presented in front of me. Well as it turned out it was perfect timing because I had to participate in many group decisions and arguments about the environment. Now although I was reading this novel for the first time I was not only learning the information that was intended for me to learn but I was underdatnding how the authors had used the information to present their arguments. With me understanding how they presented their arguments I was able to utilze their own techniques for my own self interest.
This is not so much a story of how I actually used reading like a writer, because I believe me telling you would do absolutely nothing for you. Instead this is a story demonstrating that it actually works and I am living proof of it. I have to say and be completely honest that when using reading like a writer, I truly believed I had wrote one of my best essays. So I encourage others to try reading a writer out because one would find that it actually works!
Works Cited
Bunn, Mike.”How to Read Like a Writer.” Writing Spaces: Readings on Writing. Ed. Charles Lowe and Pavel Zemliansky. Vol. 1. West Lafayette, IN: Parlor P, 2010. 71-86. Writing Spaces. Web. 2 Feb. 2016.
