Response #2 Interrogating texts: From Deferent to Efferent and Aesthetic Reading Practices"

DFaye Anderson

Professor Gleason

ENGL 0862

Dec. 2014

 

“Interrogating texts: From Deferent to Efferent and Aesthetic Reading Practices”

by Cheryl Hogue Smith

                        Cheryl Hogue Smith’s ideas and strategies resonated with me because many of my high school students are basic writers and readers. She spoke of the need to help those students to think about what they think about when reading.  Trapped in feelings of inferiority and frankly inexperience, they internalize their difficulty reading into a disorder or deficiency of their part. The lack of success at reading feeds into their negative feelings and then, running away from those negative, they  give up on tackling challenging texts.  Smith doesn’t suggest this, but I think one way to help students acknowledge these feelings is to have them examine, early in the semester, their feelings about writing and their history as writers, something freshmen here at CCNY do in the Literacy Narrative. I think in addition to assigning such an essay though, I’d also have students answer a survey of questions on their history as readers and  writers. The survey could serve as the prompt, the primer  for the essay.

                        Anyway, I think it’s important we acknowledge the gorilla in the room, to use an analogy Smith uses to another advantage. Sharing this experience will inevitably help students see that they are not alone, that everybody is the same and unique. Ms. Anderson’s eyes glaze over when she has to read the instructions for the new electronic toy or a theater review in the Village Voice.  As in life, what matters is how you respond to an event or challenge.

                        Working on the emotional response is not a one unit we’ll complete in a week, or even two. This effort will be ongoing. Attitude is everything.  So I like Smith’s emphasis on reflection and discussion of what you don’t understand. She makes it safe not to know. How empowering is that? Sort of like brainstorming – (almost) nothing you write down is wrong!  That would encourage the deferent reader to take a risk on his own feelings and reactions.  The repetition of the cycle of reading/writing/ discussing will become automatic. Multiple readings of a text is a simple strategy. There is a payoff. You just have to manage the monster in your head. Tell him, “This too (feelings of inadequacy), shall pass!