Vladimir Nabokov.
In the short story Good Readers and Good Writers, Nabokov states that a good reader should posses many different characteristics. Some examples that Nabokov gives are a good imagination, memory, a dictionary, and artistic sense. I would definitely have to agree with him because a good imagination is an open mind that has no limits and can relate in a well manner, memory to remember everything that has/is occurring, a dictionary to have a better understanding of a word or to look up an unknown word, and an artistic sense to appreciate any piece of literature. Before reading the story I had not thought of any of the characteristics mentioned, but now that I have read through it, I would have to concede with Nabokov in that possessing all those characteristics one can improve and enjoy reading in several different ways.
I personally think I am a poor reader because I sometimes have a really hard time grasping on to the material and or what the material means, and other times I grasp it right away. The occasions when I grasp the material right away are when I am really interested in the material or when I already am similar with material being discussed. I would say that to be a good reader one has to grasp the material whether he or she likes it or not, but that is just my opinion on what I consider a good reader. It is for those reasons that I don’t consider myself a “good reader.” Here is a link on tips to becoming a
good reader.
hello Jaime,
ReplyDeleteI really liked how you explained and defined your thoughts about Nabokov's point of view about how to be a good reader. I also agree with you on the fact that you grasp the concept of what your read much easier when your really interested in the story. I am the same way its hard for me to get the concept of what I am reading some times. I feel if i High light or take notes it helps me understand what I am reading about.Good Job!
Shelly
Jamie,
ReplyDeleteReading does have its own way of grabbing ones attention. I too agree that some material is harder to grasp then others, especially if it is not very interesting. I do disagree with the whole good reader if you have a dictionary part, because if there are that many words that are needed to be looked up then the content of that book is probably at the wrong level to read. That is just my outlook on it, true some easy materials have those off the wall words that make you scratch your head, but I could not imagine having to look up word after word in a story to try and understand what the main theme was. A good reader is not limited to one that can enjoy and comprehend a variety of material.
Augie
Hi Jaime!
ReplyDeleteLike most of our other classmates, we found the same information after reading this article. i too agree that it never crossed my mind, these ideas that Nabokov has about being a "good reader" but now it has opened my eyes to how it could really benefit readers. i also have the problem of actually getting into things that are out of my interest and it's important to always grasp value out of the things you read. I guess those are just things we will have to work on this summer ;)
thanks for sharing!
Sierra
Hey jaime like you said a good reader has to posses a good imagination, and an open mind. One of the things i really agree is when you point out that an open mind has no limits, and this is the way we all should writte. In my opinion a reader also has to develop the characteristics and skills that he is missing because we are talking about a good reader not a perfect one.
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing bro see you in the gym tonight