Digital Reading Reactions

Reading-as-a-Writer Reaction Post #2  (August 17, 2019)

Brown, Brené. "What Toni Morrison Taught Me About Parenting," Brené Brown, 7 Aug. 2019. www.brenebrown.com/blog/2019/08/07/what-toni-morrison-taught-me-about-parenting/.

I love both Brene' Brown and Toni Morrison, so when I saw the article "What Toni Morrison Taught Me About Parenting" pop up on my feed today, I had to discover what Brene' Brown, an author, learned from Morrison, another author.  Brown describes how she  heard Morrison speak on an episode of Oprah about how people react to their children when they enter the room.  She quoted Morrison as saying, “Let your face speak what’s in your heart. When they walk in the room my face says I’m glad to see them. It’s just as small as that, you see?” 

Brown says, though that was simple advice, it was "paradigm-shifting" in the way she parented. As a teacher, that concept is one of the reasons I try to smile at every student as they walk into my room. I want them to know every single day that I am glad they are coming to my room to learn because they are valuable.  But I appreciated Brown including her own revelation and application in her writing.

And even though I try to be that kind of parent as well, I realize, after reading this article, that I may not do this as consciously with my own children every time they enter the room.  I like how Brene' Brown said she will think of this and "flash a smile" the next time her child comes to the door "dripping wet from swimming" before she says, "Back out please. Dry off before you come inside.”

Although this article is short - only 396 words - I like it as a mentor text because of a few writing elements:

• Its focus and cohesion is strong: title, intro, lesson, and conclusion all stick together in a clear, cohesive manner.

• Brown, as always, writes with such a passionate, honest voice. I want my writer's voice to be as authentic.

• Although I tend to write in bigger well-developed paragraphs, I like her use of smaller paragraphs that work well in clearly communicating her message and sharing her lesson learned with her readers; I believe they pull the reader through the lesson more quickly than a couple longer paragraphs would. (In fact, I had to go back and apply this writing technique to this post immediately after I wrote this last bullet point.)  :)

Reading-as-a-Writer Reaction Post #1 (August 12, 2019)

Hodges, Rick. "The Rise and Fall of 'Mentally Retarded': How a term that replaced bad words became one - and how to stop it from happening again" Human Parts. Medium, July 10, 2015.

and 

Szalavitz, Maia. "The Boy Whose Brain Could Unlock Autism" Medium, Dec. 11, 2013. 

Because I am a teacher and because my daughter is working toward her doctorate in clinical psychology, I have a sharp interest in understanding the new discoveries in the study of autism. In fact, having recently discussed with my daughter some of her research, we conversed about the evolution of language surrounding the measurement and diagnoses of autism. Because I grew up respectfully using the term "mentally retarded" but she grew up with that being used as a pejorative term, we had to get the language on the table right away. So when "The Rise and Fall of 'Mentally Retarded'" How a term that replaced bad words became one - and how to stop it from happening again" popped up on my Medium feed this past week, I was hooked right away. I knew I would grow in my ability to write and communicate about this topic.

I knew from my own life experience that the term "mentally retarded" had evolved from a proper medical term to a pejorative insult. I also vaguely remember learning that the terms "idiot" and "imbecile" had been actual medical terms as well, but I'm certain that when I learned this I didn't understand or appreciate that my amazement and even offense was because I didn't understand that the terms "idiot" and "imbecile" had absolutely no negative connotation when they were created for medical purposes. I was unable to disengage my personal knowledge and experience from the objective etymology of the word. So I really appreciate the fact that this author explicitly included the history of the terms. This is a good reminder that when I write, I need to keep my audience's background knowledge at the forefront of my mind so I can anticipate their needs in understanding my writing.

I liken my thought process to that of the medical and scientific community who are "put off" by "a radical new theory of autism" discussed in the second article, one that theorizes that those with autism do not have cognitive deficits but instead have cognitive "hidden talents." These critics are unable (at least initially) to separate their prior, engrained knowledge and experience from new, objective findings. Again, this speaks to my understanding of my audience and their points of view that I need to consider when writing.

When I first read these articles, I didn't happen to check the date of either article. It is just now that I am writing my reaction, in fact, that I notice the dates of these writings to be 2013 and 2015. So both of these articles make me want to read more about the current findings and understandings of the "intense world theory" that neuroscientist Henry Markram created and find out if autism is currently understood to be more deficit based or talent based.

In addition to making me want to read more about this topic, these two articles exhibit the use of helpful visuals to enhance reader understanding of the terminology included in the text. Visuals are something I rarely use, but I would like to increase my use of them when beneficial, especially since most of what I write is viewed digitally.