Part 1:
Frederick McFadden
Eng. 111-03W
15 Dec. 2024
When I was younger my parents would read story books to both me and my younger brother around bedtime to help us get to sleep. At one point my mother thought it best to try and teach me French with the help of a simple picture book. If I were to have children in the future, I would most certainly read to them to help fuel a healthy imagination and develop a creative mind most likely around bedtime like how my parents did for me. My personal experience as a reader has been very difficult in the sense that early in my elementary school years, I had trouble learning to read and developing effective reading strategies and was subsequently placed on an IEP plan to help correct those issues. When it finally came time to take myself off my IEP plan at the end of middle school, I did struggle with reading anymore but, moving into high school did not help to further develop my reading skills as most of my English teachers did consistently instruct us when it came to employing them throughout the year. Most of the books that I have read were assigned books in high school as I am not particularly an avid reader but, the books I have read include, Night by Elie Wiesel, The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls, Odyssey by Homer, and The Jungle by Upton Sinclair. Other things that I read aside from books are things like sports nutrition articles, formula 1 magazines, and other science fitness related papers. I have previously listened to audio books such as listening to the maze runner 1 and 2 by James Dashner.
I cannot recall any specific reading strategies that I have learned or been taught in the past. When it came to course related texts in high school such as English classes for example, I would read everything word for word however when it came to classes such as science or history, I would skim the text looking for specific answers. I feel that reading was an essential part of my success in middle and high school especially in English classes because if you don’t read the material or text word-for-word then there was no way to score well on the subsequent tests or quizzes. I don’t recall any specific reading strategies that I have been, taught nor do have I been taught SQ4R.
I feel reading will play a vital role in succeeding in college as for the most of the classes’ student are require reading large volumes of text and material to pass and succeed. I believe the only reading difficulties that I have encountered are simply losing interest in the material or text that I am reading especially with large volumes of text as that leads me to get bored and bored is not a sufficient state of mind to effectively learn in. I am not a first-generation college student; my mother has a masters degree in business administration from North Carolina state University and, my father has many degrees from several different colleges including a masters degree in engineering from the University of California Berkeley.
Part 2:
Frederick McFadden
Eng. 111-03W
15 Dec. 2024
Throughout the course of this Fall 2024 semester at Virginia Community College in English Composition, I have learned several reading and text comprehension strategies as well as strategies for writing. At the beginning of the semester, we explored the summary sandwich method when reading and summarizing text for the purposes of writing of writing out eventual AI controversies essay. We started writing a summary sandwich for an article by Steve Rose on the controversies and dangers of Generative Artificial Intelligence systems, which led us to do the same for more articles written by Danielle Abril and Robin McKie. The summary sandwich is exactly what it sounds like, an introduction being the top piece of bread, body the filling of the sandwich, and a conclusion the bottom piece of bread. The introduction of the summary (top bread), there is a parenthetical citation, which simply introduces that is being discussed and what the main idea is. Secondly, the body, or filling, is a concise presentation of the ideas or arguments presented in an article. Finally, the bottom bread, or conclusion is a final sentence reflecting what was presented during the filling or body of the paragraph, it could also simply end on a concluding though from the writer.
During the later part of the semester, we explored the SQ4R method which is a study technique that anyone can use to better develop their reading comprehension and memory retention. The SQ4R stands for survey, question, and the 4 R’s being, read, recite, review, and reflect. during the first step, one is meant to survey in which they skim through material to get a general understanding of it while noting important sections. Secondly, in the question step of this method one is to turn everything noted in the first step into a question that is to be answered. With the first of R’s, one is to simply read through the content mindfully, while prioritizing answering the questions from the previous step. The second of the R’s is recite, which is preformed after reading content in which one is to summarize major concepts out loud or in writing. The third of the R’s stands for review in which one is meant to go over the content again to reiterate everything again. Finally, reflect is when one takes the time to think about the material, connecting the dots between what you’ve read and your previous knowledge on the subject.