Reading the right way

            This text makes a great deal of sense to me. When I first read this prompt, I immediately thought of reading attitudes. That is to say, a person who goes into a text thinking it’s a task and that it will be boring or difficult to read, will most likely struggle with it. But, those who enter into it with excitement and anticipation will likely get more out of it. How can we solve this problem though? If something seems boring or taxing, how can we change our thinking? Well, psychological science says—and I emphatically vouch for this from first hand experience—that our perception and chosen attitude of a situation influence how we respond to it more than our actual initial feelings. Meaning, if we force on a positive attitude, realize we can get something out of a text, then we can. It’s a difficult concept to put into practice, but I believe it can be life changing, especially in our reading.

            Still, as applicable as I feel attitude is to getting more out of reading, this section spoke more on methodological reading. Rereading, note taking, thinking, researching, and similar things improve the quality of your reading. I believe this is true. For one example, I can think of numerous times that I’ve read something once through, then a friend asked me how I felt about a quote or an idea from it, and I had no idea what they were talking about. Either I had missed it, or I had missed its significance. In order to properly understand a text, I find it’s best for me to reread sentences or sections I don’t understand, often taking note of them and dialoguing with others about those sentences. I can’t stress how beneficial dialogue is to understanding texts. Reading something to someone, then offering your thoughts on it and asking for theirs will often go much farther than expected towards your comprehension of the material.

            Personally, another method that I find extremely beneficial is writing about the material. Many times I’ve written out of a desperate search for catharsis, and ended up with revelations of all sorts. Most recently, battling confusion and infatuation over a female, I began to write about it (got some good songs out of it too.) until I received clarity. I then talked with my peers about the situation, what I had written, and my revelations, and received even more revelatory feedback. All that to say the most important thing I can say: Reading actively will change your life radically.

            I hope I can live that throughout my life, because it would really be a shame to forget it.