ENGL101 Jewell – Read as a Writer
Name:___________________________________________________
We read in a number of different ways. Sometimes we read purely for entertainment or escape. At other
times, we read simply to gather data from the text. The kind of reading I am going to ask you to do is
active, critical reading, meaning that you engage with the text and read it closely and carefully. On way to
do that is to read as a writer: consider what purposes the author may have had and how he/she tries to
achieve those goals, the choices they make, and judge whether and why the choices were effective or not.
Consider the author’s purpose
Substantive – What is the author trying to say? What is the author talking about?
Affective – What effect(s) does the author want to have on the audience? Who is the audience?
Ethical – How does the author want to be perceived?
Make a judgment on the author’s choices
Identify one aspect of the author’s purpose and consider how the author attempts to achieve that goal.
This might consider narrative arc, word choice, tone, imagery, organization, flow. At this point, focus on
the how and why of author’s choices.