Both “Reading Games: Strategies for Reading Scholarly Sources,” by Karen Rosenberg and “How to Read Like a Writer,” by Mike Bunn enlightened me to some tips that I could benefit from. Karen Rosenberg mentions “…the introduction will not only summarize the whole piece, present the main idea, and tell us why we should care, but it will also often offer a road map for the rest of the article.” (Rosenberg 216) Like Rosenberg, I tend to “breeze through” the introduction which usually leads to me being confused with what the main idea of the article is. Reading the introduction builds a foundation for the rest of the article. Mike Bunn says “Reading like a writer can help you understand how the process of writing is a series of making choices, and in doing so, can help you recognize important decisions you might face and techniques you might want to use when working on your own writing.” (Bunn 75) The benefit of reading like a writer can help you improve your skills as a writer. One other tip that I picked up from Bunn’s article is that asking yourself the questions “What is the author’s purpose for this piece of writing?” (Bunn 76) and “Who is the intended audience?” (Bunn 76) can help you obtain the bigger picture of an article.

When Rosenberg writes about reading academic texts as entering a conversation, to me this means that academic texts allow you to converse with your professor and peers about the article. Academic texts are not based off inspiration of the writer but by issues and problems that people relate to similarly. You can have a conversation with a text by replying to the article with your own thoughts and opinions.

Bunn talks about different ways that you can learn about the context of a text before you begin to read. Finding out who is the intended audience and author’s purpose, asking questions, and knowing the genre of the text can help gain information about an article before you begin to read.

I felt like both of the writer’s voices were laid back and informal. I liked this because it felt more personal.

After reading “How to Read Like a Writer” by Mike Bunn and “Reading Games: Strategies for Reading Scholarly Sources,” by Karen Rosenberg, I learned a lot of good information/ tips. One unique tip I learned from “How to Read Like a Writer” is to look at how the author constructed the sentence or what the author wrote to make sure I was able to picture it in my head. Taking a deeper look into the author’s decision and consequences can help me become a better writer so that I can apply that same way. Another unique tip I learned was about always asking questions, instead of focusing on the meaning behind each word, taking the chance to ask questions about the genre, intended audience, the purpose of why the author wrote it that way, language, etc, can help me look in a different perspective. Taking my time and asking myself these questions can help me include the same attributes to my writing style. A takeaway from “Strategies for Reading Scholarly Sources” is to think about the audience or whoever will read your writings. Considering the audience can help strengthen your purpose and make you question what your audience should know or what’s the important information you need to explain that will help make them better understand your writing.

Rosenberg writes in several places about reading academic texts as entering a conversation, what the author means by this is that you’re understanding the information from an academic text, where it has all the answers you are probably looking for. You can have a conversation with a text by being engaged and wanting to know more. According to Bunn, some of the different ways that you can learn about the context of a text before you begin reading is by looking at who the intended audiences are and the author’s purpose.

I had fun reading both assignments. They are promising and can help us to understand how to deal with difficult scholarly sources. Karen Rosenberg describes her student years and she is straightforward about her complications in the college.  According to Karen Rosenberg have difficulty reading in the college is obvious. We are expected to be able to read, comprehend, analyze and write about different subjects. I like her technique how student should be able talk about scholarly sources with professor and with their peers. I always start listening to my professor and paying attention to the topics he/she would concentrate on, which usually is best indicator where should I begin to read, underline important definitions and if I am tenacious, which is best indicator that   I will finish my class with good grades. I would suggest this to every student, who just started college and has trouble with scholarly papers.

Mike Bunn’s experience with his college years are also utterly impressive. I have to admit that I was impressed with his intro, he was describing his student years and was trying to be witty, which made me more interested in his writing. We can see vividly college is for almost everyone challenging. The author is introducing various ways to read like a writer.  As stated by author when we start reading, we should always try to get underneath of the writer If we will begin to dig out what the writer was trying to tell us, we will be better reader and writer. We should ask question why he/she prefers this tone or genre? We should try get in authors shoes and head.

In conclusion, my point of view is that we all need some experience to start reading like a writer and I am convinced that after trying and not giving up, we will achieve success.

I learned that when I read academic journals or other articles about other academics I can first consider the audience, it will approach my reading that better equips me and one way can tell if a reading comes from an academic journal looking at the title. The title conveys a lot of information and helps me figure out how to read it; the title will let me know the way the author approaches the topic, and make me pay more attention when the author mentions something similar to the title as I read. Another tip that I feel helps improve my practice is to read the abstract if it is included in the article, as it summarizes the main content of the article and this can also tell me where I should put my main attention and focus when reading. While from “How to Read Like a Writer,” by Mike Bunn, I learned that two questions I can consider/think about before I read which about the author’s purpose and intended audience, and after I start reading, I can ask myself questions about whether the tone of the writing is appropriate and whether the evidence the author uses are supported his/her claims, which can help me remember the text better, empathize with it, and help me read better, as well as will also help my writing because I will refer and have ideas when I think about the meaning of the evidence.

I take this to mean that reading an academic text is not just like reading a story because it is not created by the author’s inspiration. When I read academic texts I should be able to infer what I am reading, not only that but I can ask myself questions to make things clearer and more specific. By doing this, it also allows me to have a conversation with the text because you better understand the purpose or main points of the text, and that’s when you can have an opinion or insight and be able to discuss and speak back to others about this text very well.

According to Bunn, there are a few different ways you can get the background before you start reading. Two questions you can ask yourself before reading are, “Do you know the author’s purpose for writing this article?” and “Do you know who the intended audience for this article is?” Another way is to think about what the genre of the writing is because it indicates the type of writing: a poem, a newspaper article, an essay, a short story, etc.