1. Chapter 4: How to Read? Why, Recursively, Of Course
ENG 113: Composition I

2. Reading Recursively Different types of reading
Facebook post or greeting card
Simple
Able to be skimmed or understood in one reading
Find “the gist”
Academic and literary texts
Complex
Must be read more than once
Must be understood completely
Academic and literary texts must be read recursively!
Recursive is from Latin recurrer, which means “to return” or “to come back”
Reading recursively means revisiting a text and reconsidering its implecations

3. Reading Recursively
Nobody gains full understanding of most serious literature or college-level texts after only one reading
These texts are dense, complex, sophisticated, and long
The need to be read more than once
Minimum = read the text three times

4. Reading Recursively The First Reading: Relax
Read the text all the way through
Don’t stress about what you should be getting out of it
Consider reading aloud (especially poems or other literature)
1st Reading = subjective
Initial response
Visceral, emotional
This is your first encounter with the challenging text, so it is important to allow yourself to experience it while paying attention to your reaction

5. Reading Recursively Second Reading: Engage
Interact with the text as you read = read actively
Look up unfamiliar words in a dictionary
Write on the page! (Annotation)
Add questions, comments, observations, reactions = anything that will help you understand the text better
Active reading
As you read, write down the main idea or purpose of each paragraph in the margin
Underline words or references you don’t know, look them up, and write their definitions/meaning in the margins
Underline or highlight passages that are interesting to you or seem important (don’t overdo this – if everything is underlined it will be useless!)
Never highlight something instead of thinking about it; instead highlight something because you are thinking about it

6. Reading Recursively Third Reading: Achieve Harmony
Think about what the text accomplishes as a whole and how it does that
Analyze = relationship between form and content
Content = what a text says
Form = how a text says what it says
Certain forms are better suited to certain types of content, depending on who your audience is
Example: Jonathan Swift - “A Modest Proposal”
There is no such thing as form that does not affect its content
The way we see something shapes what we end up seeing. Likewise, the way we say something shapes what we end up saying.

7. Reading Recursively Putting it all together
1st reading = Personal = subjective = focused on your reaction/opinions
2nd Reading = Active = objective = focused on what the text says
3rd Reading = Holistic = subjective and objective = focused on how the text works (form and content)
After your third reading you are ready to support your notion of what the text means (the essential truth it lays bare) by describing both what it says and the way it tells this truth (the author’s rhetorical strategy)
Both subjective and objective
Articulate your opinion of what the text means (subjective)
Support your interpretation by using the text itself as evidence (objective)

8. Recursive Reading First reading Second reading Third reading
Read through the text once without a specific agenda
Listen to it by reading aloud or having someone read aloud to you
Respond to it subjectively: What do you think? How do you feel?
Second reading
Read actively by taking notes and interacting with the text
Think about what you’re reading and what it means
Look for unfamiliar words or phrases
Respond to the text objectively: What does it say? How do you know?
Third reading
Read the text holistically by looking at the big picture
Observe the relationship between content (what the text says) and form (how the text says it)
Merge your subjective and objective responses to the text

9. Recording Your Results
Summary/Review Process
What does the text mean?= write a summary of the text
How do you know what it means? = write a brief review of your analysis of the text’s content and form
Summary/Review Process = useful way to gain a deeper, more reliable understanding of the text