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Rereading America (Introduction)
Read pages 1-16; write two brief responses of about 150-200 words each, in which you write an "active reading response" to two sections from the introduction. Bring a printout to class Wednesday (Jan 27).
Assignment Details
Assignment Details
Pages 10-15 describe "active reading" strategies; while those pages demonstrate an "active reading" of a poem, the assignment I'm asking you to do has nothing to do with poetry. Instead, I will ask you to respond to sections from the Rereading America introduction.
Choose two of following topics (taken from the section headings). Following the examples on page 14, write an "Internal Dialog" on one of these topics, and a "Personal Response" on the other.
Note also the passage on page 12 about reading "recursively." Unlike the chapters in a high school textbook, where all the key words are bolded, and key facts you know you'll be tested on appear in colorful boxes, most of the essays we'll be reading will be ordinary paragraphs of prose. They won't be marked up for you in advance, so that you can easily find the material your teachers think is valuable. The "active reading" strategies described on pages 10-16 will help you develop the skills to interpret complex texts on your own. This reading response assignment is the first step toward that goal.
"Can't you just tell us what you want?"
Well... no, not really There is no single "correct" answer to a reading response assignment. It's not a scavenger hunt, or a "guess the secret word" puzzle, or a game where you try to find out what I think, and then regurgitate my opinion for my approval.
Likewise, there is no "wrong" answer.
There are, of course, some responses that stay on topic and some responses that ramble. (What I want is for you to stay on topic.) There are responses that use evidence to persuade, and responses that use emotions to rant. (What I want is for you to use evidence.) There are responses that identify and carefully evaluate several reasonable alternatives, and responses that echo bumper-sticker slogans. ("It's not enough to question authority; you've got to speak with it, too." --Taylor Mali)
Choose two of following topics (taken from the section headings). Following the examples on page 14, write an "Internal Dialog" on one of these topics, and a "Personal Response" on the other.
- Critical Thinking
- Cultural Myths
- Myths vs. Critical Thinking
- Questioning
- Structure of Rereading America
- Selections
- Dialogue
Note also the passage on page 12 about reading "recursively." Unlike the chapters in a high school textbook, where all the key words are bolded, and key facts you know you'll be tested on appear in colorful boxes, most of the essays we'll be reading will be ordinary paragraphs of prose. They won't be marked up for you in advance, so that you can easily find the material your teachers think is valuable. The "active reading" strategies described on pages 10-16 will help you develop the skills to interpret complex texts on your own. This reading response assignment is the first step toward that goal.
"Can't you just tell us what you want?"
Well... no, not really There is no single "correct" answer to a reading response assignment. It's not a scavenger hunt, or a "guess the secret word" puzzle, or a game where you try to find out what I think, and then regurgitate my opinion for my approval.
Likewise, there is no "wrong" answer.
There are, of course, some responses that stay on topic and some responses that ramble. (What I want is for you to stay on topic.) There are responses that use evidence to persuade, and responses that use emotions to rant. (What I want is for you to use evidence.) There are responses that identify and carefully evaluate several reasonable alternatives, and responses that echo bumper-sticker slogans. ("It's not enough to question authority; you've got to speak with it, too." --Taylor Mali)
