{"id":733,"date":"2017-10-21T23:23:00","date_gmt":"2017-10-21T23:23:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/suny-jeffersoncc-introliterature\/?post_type=chapter&p=733"},"modified":"2017-11-20T18:02:13","modified_gmt":"2017-11-20T18:02:13","slug":"connecting-reading-writing-the-voice-you-hear-response","status":"publish","type":"chapter","link":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/suny-jeffersoncc-introliterature\/chapter\/connecting-reading-writing-the-voice-you-hear-response\/","title":{"raw":"Connecting Reading & Writing: The Voice You Hear Response","rendered":"Connecting Reading & Writing: The Voice You Hear Response"},"content":{"raw":"Too often, reading is viewed as a passive act where the information is poured into static readers\u2019 minds.\u00a0 To succeed at the college level, a reworking of the way one reads\u00a0 may be necessary.\u00a0 Read the following passage from reading researcher Katherine McCormick and jot down your interpretation of its meaning:\r\n\r\nTony slowly got up from the mat, planning his escape.\u00a0 He hesitated a moment and thought.\u00a0 Things were not going well.\u00a0 What bothered him the most was being held, especially since the charge against him had been weak.\u00a0 He considered his present situation.\u00a0 The lock that held him was strong but he thought he could break it . . . . He was being ridden unmercifully . . . . He felt that he was ready to make his move.\r\n\r\nFrom the two possible interpretations here, it seems clear that 1) readers use their previous experiences to make meaning out of a text, and 2) context influences meaning.\u00a0 After all, if we knew we were reading a short story on wrestling, our understanding of the passage would differ.\u00a0 Reading needs to be recognized as an active process.\u00a0 Read the following poem by Thomas Lux and answer all of the questions below in complete sentences.\u00a0 The questions appear after the poem.<\/strong>\r\n\r\n \r\n\r\nThe Voice You Hear When You Read Silently\r\n\r\nis not silent, it is a speaking-out-loud voice in your head;\r\n\r\nit is spoken<\/em>,a voice is saying<\/em> it as you read.\r\n\r\nIt's the writer's words, of course, in a literary sense his or her \"voice\"\r\n\r\nbut the sound of that voice is the sound of your<\/em> voice.\r\n\r\nNot the sound your friends know or the sound of a tape played back\r\n\r\nbut your voice\r\n\r\ncaught in the dark cathedral of your skull, your voice heard by an internal\r\n\r\near informed by internal abstracts\r\n\r\nand what you know by feeling, having felt.\r\n\r\nIt is your voice saying, for example, the word \"barn\" that the writer wrote\r\n\r\nbut the \"barn\" you say is a barn you know or knew.\r\n\r\nThe voice in your head, speaking as you read, never says anything\r\n\r\nneutrally--some people hated the barn they knew,\r\n\r\nsome people love the barn they know\r\n\r\nso you hear the word loaded and a sensory constellation is lit:\r\n\r\nhorse-gnawed stalls, hayloft, black heat tape wrapping a water pipe,\r\n\r\na slippery spilled chirr <\/em>of oats from a split sack,\r\n\r\nthe bony, filthy haunches of cows . . .\r\n\r\nAnd \"barn\" is only a noun--no verb or subject has entered into the sentence yet!\r\n\r\nThe voice you hear when you read to yourself is the clearest voice: you speak its speaking to you.\r\n\r\n \r\n
    \r\n \t
  1. When you hear the word barn<\/em>, what barn or barns from your own life do you first see?\u00a0 What feelings and associations do you have with this word?\u00a0 How do you think the barn in your head is different from the barns in your classmates\u2019 heads?<\/li>\r\n \t
  2. When you hear the word cathedral<\/em>, what images and associations from your own life come into your head?\u00a0 Once again, how might your classmates\u2019 internal images and associations with the word cathedral<\/em> differ from yours?<\/li>\r\n \t
  3. Now reread the poem and consider the lines \u201cNot the sound your friends know or the sound of a tape played back \/ but your voice \/ caught in the dark cathedral of your skull.\u201d\u00a0 What do you think Lux means by the metaphor \u201cdark cathedral of your skull\u201d?\u00a0 What seems important about his choice of the word cathedral<\/em> (rather than, say, house<\/em> or cave<\/em> or gymnasium<\/em> or mansion<\/em>)?\u00a0 How does skull<\/em> work (rather than mind<\/em> or brain<\/em> or head<\/em>)?\u00a0 Freewriting for several minutes, create your interpretation of \u201cdark cathedral of the skull.\u201d<\/li>\r\n \t
  4. Finally, reflect for a moment about your thinking processes in trying to interpret \u201ccathedral of the skull.\u201d\u00a0 Did you go back and reread the poem, looking for how this line fits other lines of the poem?\u00a0 Did you explore further your own ideas about cathedrals and skull?\u00a0 See if you can catch yourself in the act of interacting with the text\u2014or actively constructing meaning.<\/li>\r\n<\/ol>","rendered":"

    Too often, reading is viewed as a passive act where the information is poured into static readers\u2019 minds.\u00a0 To succeed at the college level, a reworking of the way one reads\u00a0 may be necessary.\u00a0 Read the following passage from reading researcher Katherine McCormick and jot down your interpretation of its meaning:<\/p>\n

    Tony slowly got up from the mat, planning his escape.\u00a0 He hesitated a moment and thought.\u00a0 Things were not going well.\u00a0 What bothered him the most was being held, especially since the charge against him had been weak.\u00a0 He considered his present situation.\u00a0 The lock that held him was strong but he thought he could break it . . . . He was being ridden unmercifully . . . . He felt that he was ready to make his move.<\/p>\n

    From the two possible interpretations here, it seems clear that 1) readers use their previous experiences to make meaning out of a text, and 2) context influences meaning.\u00a0 After all, if we knew we were reading a short story on wrestling, our understanding of the passage would differ.\u00a0 Reading needs to be recognized as an active process.\u00a0 Read the following poem by Thomas Lux and answer all of the questions below in complete sentences.\u00a0 The questions appear after the poem.<\/strong><\/p>\n

     <\/p>\n

    The Voice You Hear When You Read Silently<\/p>\n

    is not silent, it is a speaking-out-loud voice in your head;<\/p>\n

    it is spoken<\/em>,a voice is saying<\/em> it as you read.<\/p>\n

    It’s the writer’s words, of course, in a literary sense his or her “voice”<\/p>\n

    but the sound of that voice is the sound of your<\/em> voice.<\/p>\n

    Not the sound your friends know or the sound of a tape played back<\/p>\n

    but your voice<\/p>\n

    caught in the dark cathedral of your skull, your voice heard by an internal<\/p>\n

    ear informed by internal abstracts<\/p>\n

    and what you know by feeling, having felt.<\/p>\n

    It is your voice saying, for example, the word “barn” that the writer wrote<\/p>\n

    but the “barn” you say is a barn you know or knew.<\/p>\n

    The voice in your head, speaking as you read, never says anything<\/p>\n

    neutrally–some people hated the barn they knew,<\/p>\n

    some people love the barn they know<\/p>\n

    so you hear the word loaded and a sensory constellation is lit:<\/p>\n

    horse-gnawed stalls, hayloft, black heat tape wrapping a water pipe,<\/p>\n

    a slippery spilled chirr <\/em>of oats from a split sack,<\/p>\n

    the bony, filthy haunches of cows . . .<\/p>\n

    And “barn” is only a noun–no verb or subject has entered into the sentence yet!<\/p>\n

    The voice you hear when you read to yourself is the clearest voice: you speak its speaking to you.<\/p>\n

     <\/p>\n

      \n
    1. When you hear the word barn<\/em>, what barn or barns from your own life do you first see?\u00a0 What feelings and associations do you have with this word?\u00a0 How do you think the barn in your head is different from the barns in your classmates\u2019 heads?<\/li>\n
    2. When you hear the word cathedral<\/em>, what images and associations from your own life come into your head?\u00a0 Once again, how might your classmates\u2019 internal images and associations with the word cathedral<\/em> differ from yours?<\/li>\n
    3. Now reread the poem and consider the lines \u201cNot the sound your friends know or the sound of a tape played back \/ but your voice \/ caught in the dark cathedral of your skull.\u201d\u00a0 What do you think Lux means by the metaphor \u201cdark cathedral of your skull\u201d?\u00a0 What seems important about his choice of the word cathedral<\/em> (rather than, say, house<\/em> or cave<\/em> or gymnasium<\/em> or mansion<\/em>)?\u00a0 How does skull<\/em> work (rather than mind<\/em> or brain<\/em> or head<\/em>)?\u00a0 Freewriting for several minutes, create your interpretation of \u201cdark cathedral of the skull.\u201d<\/li>\n
    4. Finally, reflect for a moment about your thinking processes in trying to interpret \u201ccathedral of the skull.\u201d\u00a0 Did you go back and reread the poem, looking for how this line fits other lines of the poem?\u00a0 Did you explore further your own ideas about cathedrals and skull?\u00a0 See if you can catch yourself in the act of interacting with the text\u2014or actively constructing meaning.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\t\t\t
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