Reading Reflection

In Performative Literacy: The Habits of Mind of Highly Literate Readers by Sheridan Blau, readers are challenged to go beyond past ideas of being literate and understand the information in new ways using strong reading skills.

In my opinion, reading for school is different than reading for pleasure. When reading for an assignment, I always have to be on the lookout for important symbols, characters, and meanings within the text as I constantly focus on interpreting the content in which I'm reading. I need to put in more time and energy to comprehend the stories in the required way. However, when I read for fun, I become more immersed in the story.The strength of my comprehension relies on the focus I have, so while I may seem more focused when I read for fun, I am simply seeing things as I see life. On the other hand, I leave the book with new interpretations when I read for school even if I didn’t appear quite as focused.

When I began reading for school this year, I found myself wrapped up in the storylines rather than the intellectual insights and had to re-read the entire thing. When this happened, I was better prepared for class, and understood the book in a way that combined the thrill of the world I read and the new ideas of what the book was about. The only problem was, it took twice the amount of time. Reading the story the first time made it easier annotate as I reread it, but with all my other homework, it was difficult to fit that in.

If I am able to stay focused, meaning undisturbed silence, then I am easily able to monitor my understanding as I read and know when I need to re-read something. Sometimes it takes me five or six times to really comprehend and make use of it. When I read a book, I may see things differently than they are explained, but often times, I never speak up out of fear of being considered incompetent and wrong. However, I find myself changing within every time I read a book. For example, when we read In the Time of the Butterflies by Julia Alvarez, I felt more compelled to stay true to my beliefs.

There are certainly aspects that I need to work on, but then again, if I didn’t, what would be the point. I need to find the courage to speak up for what I believe the novel or story to be telling us. Focus needs to be found even in the midst of noise, and I most importantly need to better accept when I don’t fully understand. Reading is not just hearing a story, but relating it to everything we know.

~Debra Dunham