Reading and Writing Rhetorically

Reading rhetorically is something that I have noticed students greatly struggle with. After being through almost four years of college, it was easy for me to forget how much I struggled as a student with these things as well. I came into my placement thinking the students could handle so much more, yet I forgot that the high school years are crucial to teach them how to properly read and comprehend a text. Pre-reading, close reading, and post-reading are all things they have a hard time completing. Not all students, but a good majority. Making predictions and asking questions are two methods that I found fairly useless in high school. The truth is both of these pre-reading methods are very helpful with getting students to pay attention to the text they are about to read and make a connection with it. Getting students to understand this importance will help them throughout the reading of the text. When it comes time to read, there are a lot of methods that can be implemented to help students comprehend the text. Revisiting predictions, finding the main idea, descriptive outlining, summarizing, and drawing conclusions are just a handful of examples that students can use to further connect to the text. As far as post-reading goes, I find that responding and reflecting are the best ways for me to come full circle with a piece of text. Taking some time to reflect on what I read really helps to understand and articulate what the text was about. When it comes to writing, I think one of the most important parts of the writing process is the revision and the editing. I have found that many students think they are done once they do a first draft. They don’t read through what they have written and don’t catch any of the simple errors they make, and they don’t fully consider the concepts of their paper such as the arrangement and if their ideas are fully developed. It is crucial to help students through both the reading and writing process so they aren’t trying to work on an assignment blindly.