Reading to Write

When reading a genre of writing that you may later be asked to produce yourself, you’ll want to pay close attention to certain aspects of how the writer successfully pulled together the piece. Here are some questions to keep in mind as you read.

Questions applicable to all college texts

• So what? Who cares? What questions does the text address? Why are these questions important? What types of people or communities/organizations care about these questions?
• Who is this text written for? Who is the intended audience? Am I part of this audience or an outsider?
• How does the writer hook the intended reader’s interest and keep the reader reading? Does this hook work for me?
• Are this writer’s basic values, beliefs, and assumptions similar to or different from my own? Do the writer and I share the same worldview or do we have different perspectives?
• How do I respond to this text? What are my initial reactions? Do I agree, disagree, or both? Has the text changed my thinking or made me reconsider my position in any way?
• How will I be able to use what I have learned from the text in my own writing? Think about the type of writing assignment where this source might be useful and how you would use it.

Questions for reading an analysis, argumentative, or research essay

• What types of evidence are used to support the writer’s thesis? Personal experience? Facts and statistics? Original observations, interviews, or research? How does the writer introduce each quotation or how do they paraphrase their evidence?
• How are the body paragraphs structured? Where is the topic sentence, the evidence, and the analysis of evidence?
• Do I find this argument convincing? Whose views and counterarguments are omitted from the text? Are counterarguments or counterevidence addressed or ignored?
• How does the writer make themselves seem credible to the intended audience? Is the writer credible for me? Are the author’s sources reliable?
• How does the writer approach the conclusion? Do they summarize the main points of the essay? Do they introduce potential directions for future analysis or research? Do they articulate why this piece of writing matters?

Questions for reading a personal narrative essay

• How does the writer structure the work? Do they tell the story chronologically, from beginning, middle, to end? Do they start in the middle or at the end and then go back to the beginning to catch you up to speed? Does the essay skip forward (or backward) in time? How does it transition from one section to the next?
• Does the writer use the first person? Second person? Third person? Why?
• Where does the writer show and where do they tell? Where do they use sensory language and specific detail so that you feel as if the scene they are describing is unfolding in real time in front of you (showing), and when does the writer choose to write a summary of a particular scene, period, relationship, or theme (telling)?
• Where and when does the writer employ figurative language? What makes their use of figurative language engaging or illuminating for you?