SQR4

Rhetorical Reading Strategies and the Construction of Meaning

Summary:

This article is about an experiment that was made on ten readers. The experiment was meant to see the difference in the construction of meaning between experienced readers and student readers. The experiment consisted in giving both types of readers a text, and asking them what the text was about every few lines. The data of the experiment was then broken up into three categories. They were content, function, and rhetorical. Out of the three the most important is rhetorical, this is when the reader fully understands what the text was about, it’s when the reader looks at everything the author is trying to tell him. The other types of readers just find the main points of the text. Whit the experiment they found out that experienced readers use more rhetorical situations, meaning that they look for the author’s purpose in the text, this is when they look at the main points, and at what the author is trying to inform you about, the context and the audience, this is when they look at what type of people the text is talking to, and basically what the text is about. This constructive method is also very helpful when writing; it helps you stay in task, and also lets you focus more on what you want for the readers to get out of your text.

Question:

What does it mean to have “rhetorical “reading strategies?  Do you practice this method of reading?

Response:

When you read rhetorically you don’t just look at the text for the main points of it, or look deeply only on certain parts that seem to be important. Reading rhetorically is when you look deeply into the text, and break down what you are reading until you fully understand what the author is trying to tell you.

I think I use this method sometimes when I’m reading something that really interests me, but when I’m reading something that I don’t really care for, or something that I’m not getting anything from it, I don’t really use this method.