Reading Rhetorically

As I am in the process of creating a unit in which students will be asked to read both literature and informative texts, the reading in the "Assignment Template" aligned very closely with my own needs. To wholly grasp the context and content of the novel that I will be covering, it is important that students are offered texts that detail the various societal perspectives during the historical era of the novel. Students will be offered argumentative pieces in which the readers are intended to be persuaded by one way or another. I will certainly be asking the students to analyze the organization and language of the articles, as well as annotate and respond to the readings. By using these reading strategies, the students will be able to better grasp the points that each side tries to assert. When looking at informational texts about and from WWII era, I want students to be able to understand why populations of people were so quickly and easily persuaded. By breaking down the articles in ways suggested by this article, then students can see the effect of each word and phrase to better understand this often perplexing time in our history. 

In connection to other readings we've done this quarter, students can best prepare for discussion about a text by completing these steps prior to the discussion. If the text is actively read and annotated, students will be reminded of questions and comments that arose during the reading, offering more content to contribute during the discussion. As I hope to make discussion a common tool in my classroom, these pre-reading activities will be particularly helpful for me as a teacher to prepare my students. 

Finally, another benefit of reading actively that I found is the attention that will be drawn to what is and is not effective in the writing of others. If the students are able to pinpoint exactly what persuaded them, then they can implement these persuasive tools into their own argumentative writing.