Reading is a task people always dread from some time to another. In order to make reading a little more bearable, there are certain types of ways to read, and different skills to help out. I would be considered a person who reads to understand. There are also certain tips use to help me read, and some that I could definitely start using to improve my skills. Reading to understand means that I use my common knowledge and experiences to help me understand the text. Although I am not the smartest person in the world, I know at least a little something that can be applied to my reading pattern. For about every paragraph I read in a book, I have some random quote, or quite often a hilarious memory in the back of my mind. For instance, everytime the topic of slavery is mentioned in the book Beloved by Toni Morrison, I always think of history classes and what I have learned that relates to the text. When it comes to reading in general however, I annotate quite often. According to the passage, "Annotating as you read is a powerful method for making sure you have something relevant to say about a given text" Making little comments about what I read helps me to remember what has happened. I …show more content…
I have always had a type of sweet spot for color in my notes, but I do not highlight that often. I believe that if I started, it might help out a little. When I associate colors with what I write down, it also helps me to remember. Maybe that would suffice as another technique to assist my skills. When it comes to vocabulary, I am not that great. If I see a word I do not know, I use context clues to try to figure it out. However, if I can not figure it out, I honestly just skip over it. I suppose that could really be a problem at some point. I guess a dictionary should now be glued to my hand so it can sit there and haunt me. Then maybe I will do what I know I need to
The type of reading that is on the decline, is that which requires thought, the assimilation and accommodation of ideas, and effort—close reading. This form of reading involves the careful, sustained interpretation of literary text that comes from observing a pieces minute detail. In accordance with the definition of reading provided by the Princeton dictionary, “the cognitive process of understanding a written linguistic message”, the methods used other than closed reading are not truly reading. Many have argued that the creation of new technology has actually enabled more people to read, but when compared with reading’s definition, this is not true. Reading in not mindlessly skimming articles and not knowing what they mean afterwards, but being able to comprehend the material that one has read, including its many facets.
In Toni Morrison’s Beloved, a symptomatic reading of the structural relationship between family and institutionalized slavery reveals the overwhelming factors leading to protagonist Sethe’s murder of her own daughter: it is necessary for her to kill Beloved in order to create a family in the wake of slavery. While being enslaved reduces a human being to an object, Sethe’s murder of her daughter allows Beloved to retain a deep, complex personhood—through this multiplicity of personhood, Beloved is able to obtain a place in the family structure created by Sethe, a place otherwise unavailable under the active presence of slavery. By killing her daughter, Sethe
Toni Morrison is one of the most prominent writers within the Post-Aesthetic movement (Napierkowski). Mirroring their increased presence in politics, African Americans also became highly visible as writers during the 1960s. Harlem Renaissance writers such as Langston Hughes and Zora Neale Hurston had been prominent in the 1920s, while Richard Wright and Ralph Ellison achieved both literary and popular acclaim in the 1940s and 1950s. Many of these works were popular because of the way they were able to interpret the black experience for a white audience.
Breaking Metaphoric Shackles in Beloved In Toni Morrison's novels, she uses her main characters to represent herself as an African American artist, and her stories as African American art, and Beloved is no exception. She does this through her underlying symbolic references to the destructiveness of slavery and the connections between the characters themselves. Syntax is also what makes this novel work, using both the powers and limits of language to represent her African American culture with simple words and name choices. One of her main characters, Baby Suggs, uses her English with some abandon, but only after getting her message across, however simple it may seem. She might choose simplicity over complexity in speech, but her words carry the needed intensity to express herself in the little time she has left on earth (Dahill-Baue, 472-73).
Using reading strategies successfully is important in constructing meaning from text. Good readers employ many strategic reading skills automatically throughout the reading process, before, during and after. Some of these skills are cognitive which involves cognition or thinking, while others are metacognitive involving reflection or thinking about thinking. Strategic readers employ both cognitive and metacognitive skills, including but not limited to, previewing text, understanding text structures, activating prior knowledge, making connections, making predictions, drawing inferences, summarizing, and monitoring comprehension (Tompkins, 2011).
Grotesque images of rape, murder, and sexual abuse are recurring throughout Toni Morrison's novel Beloved. The ideals of the white oppressor, be it murder, rape, or sexual abuse were powerful forces that shaped the lives of many of the characters, especially the character Sethe.
“The more that you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you’ll go.” by Dr. Seuss. Everyone at some point in their lives will read or be read to. For me it’s a great way to escape, to clear my head, and be at two places at once. For me, reading has had its ups and downs, but, through the years I’ve had obstacles which have molded me into the person I am today.
Reading and writing are such an important part of our day to day activities having to do learning. In order to function well in a society, one has to understand the patterns of communication through reading, writing, etc. Children have to comprehend what they read and write. In order for a student to acquire this capability of comprehending, the needed skills must be learned. This brings about my essential question: “How understand what we read?”
The character of Beloved, from Toni Morrison?s novel, Beloved, is an embodiment of the evils of slavery. Beloved, the daughter of a former slave, is a child who died before her time, therefore her existential search for identity parallels the search of self that slavery created in an innumerable amount of human beings. When reading the novel, Beloved, it is vital for the inexperienced reader to pay attention to the trials of Beloved, as they are the trials of slavery.
I went to school, my teachers taught me how to sound out the letters and everybody learned the alphabet by the time they were in kindergarten. Ever since then, I was constantly trying to decode the mystery of several individual's story. There is a lot more to reading than just reading words off pages. You have to comprehend the story, understand what's happening in the book. I would sit on my grandma’s recliner chair and she would choose a book off her little shelf full of stories. She would read them to me just like the traditional, parent to child reading that most parents do. We would read for hours, Winnie the Pooh, Bernstein bears, Dr.Seuss, The Lion King, all the basic children’s stories you could think of. The Lion King was my favorite. I wouldn’t say Lion King necessarily taught me how to read words from books, but I did learn about plots, plot twists, conflicts, themes and most importantly the story. I know for a fact I didn’t know that I was learning, but it was teaching me. Now if none of this applies to you, well then you probably have an exciting story of how you became a reader, otherwise you’re just as basic as the average American student.
Reading is a complicated process. According to Stanislas Dehaene (2009), an entire series of mental and cerebral operations must occur before a word can be decoded. As you read, you are constructing meaning by making sense of the text. Like spoken
My approach to reading is that it is a chore. It is something that has to be done to satisfy others. Personally, I am a semi-procrastinator, in which I do not wait until the last day to complete a task, but I wait until a couple days before it is due to start working on it. An example of this would be a 1,000 word paper for my American History class that I took in the spring. The
In this information–driven age, preparing students to read a variety of texts with complete understanding should likely be one of our educational system’s highest priorities. Understanding is more than just the ability to produce information on demand (knowledge) or the ability to perform learned routines (skills). “Understanding is the ability to think and act flexibly with what one knows.” (Active Learning Practice for Schools, n. d.) A review of the literature in the area of reading comprehension of elementary-age students shows two principle areas of focus. There is a body of literature that examines the development of proficient vs. struggling comprehenders and another body of literature that compares methodologies for teaching reading comprehension.
As far back as I can remember, being read to and reading has been a part of my life. Before I was able to read, I loved to listen to people read to me. Reading books helps develop a person’s knowledge and vocabulary. It also can help a person become a great writer. In my case, it hasn’t really helped. I have never been a great writer.
Every aspect in my life requires reading, whether it's in college, at home, or at work. Being able to read is a way of consuming new information and expanding your knowledge.