Chapter 6

After I finished reading Chapter 6, I found that I was most interested in the different ways you can read and analyze a text. I never really thought about whether I would go into a reading and decide whether I would agree with them or disagree with them. The book coined these terms reading "with the grain" and reading "against the grain." I think that it's interesting to read about these because it truly is a way to interact and understand the texts more so than before.

When you "read with the grain" you don't point out the flaws in the text, but you embrace them and include your own ideas with them. On the other hand, "reading against the grain" is challenging what the author has stated and pointing out what the have not said. It makes sense that strong writers would read both with and against the grain. 

I also thought the different types of Strong Responses were interesting as well. The first response mentioned is the Rhetorical Critique which is used to "make insightful observations about how a text works rhetorically," by asking questions about its appeal to logos, pathos, and ethos as well as how well the text is actually constructed. The second response is as an Ideas Critique which mainly focuses on the ideas rather than how they are presented rhetorically. The third response is as a Reflection, which is pretty self explanatory - joining your ideas to the ideas of the author. The final type of response is more of just a blending of all three so that one is not confined to certain guidelines.