- Haas opens her article with the following statement: “At the college level, to become literate is in many ways to learn the patterns of knowing about, and behaving toward, texts within a disciplinary field” (43). Explain what she means. In your response, be sure to quote at least one time from the first section of her article (before “Learning About Literate Activity in the Sciences”). Practice quotation sandwiches in this response.
There are many different aspects of academic, or scientific literacy. For some, this can be a concept extremely difficult to achieve without a years of practice. In Haas’ article, she defines scientific literacy as “not only the mastery of scientific facts and concepts, but an understanding of ‘the evolving contributions of individual scientists . . . the social communities and historical settings in which scientists work’” (Haas 45). Scientific literacy at the college level is more than just memorizing facts from the text. It is about understanding concepts as well as how and where they relate to real life. Scientific literacy is also about understanding the author’s background, and what their point is for writing the text.
- What is the “‘myth’ of autonomous texts” that Haas discusses (45)? What is an autonomous text? Why does Haas call it a “myth”? Does this make sense to you? Do you have a question/concern about it? Again, quote from Haas in your response and use a quotation sandwich.
The myth of autonomous texts is that they are valid, and an acceptable source of information. An autonomous text is a text that is acting independently. For example, Wikipedia is an autonomous text because anyone can go onto their page and write whatever they want about a subject, even if they are not qualified. Haas states, “. . . the belief in autonomous texts views written academic texts as discrete, highly explicit, even ‘timeless’ entities functioning without contextual support from author, reader, or culture” (Hass 45). Haas is trying to explain that autonomous texts make it more difficult for readers to read, and comprehend more complex academic writing because they are used to the more simple version given to them in an autonomous text. This section of Haas’ text did not make a lot of sense to me, and left me a bit confused.
- How does Haas’ study of Eliza help us understand what might happen to college students’ understanding of texts as they progress in a major? Use at least one passage from the text to support your response – and put it in a quotation sandwich.
Haas predicted that a first-year student in college would read and comprehend a text much differently than a third, or fourth year. To test this, she followed a few students through their college years. She focused mostly on one student, Eliza, “I focused primarily on her reading processes and practices, and on the various texts she read, rather than her writing processes and products” (Haas 47). Haas chose to do this because Eliza was going to read a larger variety of texts throughout her class than she would write. This allowed for more accuracy within the results of the study.
- In “Rhetorical Reading,” Haas uses the term “rhetorical frame” (47-8). This concept is important enough to merit italics in the text. What is a rhetorical frame, at least in terms of rhetorical reading? Illustrate (support) your answer with both a quote and explanation.
A rhetorical frame is simply the background of the text, or the author of the text. Haas explains, “elements of the rhetorical frame include participants, their relationships and motives, and several layers of context” (Haas 48). This means that the rhetorical frame is the background of the people within the text, as well as their motives for writing the text.
- There are a number of potential associations between Gee’s idea of Discourse and Haas’ idea of rhetorical reading. As an active reader, you are likely thinking of (or recognizing) some of these. Identify and develop at least one association. Be sure to quote both Gee and Haas. In addition, explain the association. Think of your response as a rough, provisional Barclay’s Formula format.
In Gee’s “Literacy, Discourse, and Linguistics: Introduction”, he explains how Discourses are how people act in certain settings. Haas bounces off this idea with her idea of a rhetorical frame. Gee defines a Discourse as, “. . . [an] identity kit which comes complete with the appropriate costume and instructions on how to act, talk, and often write, so as to take on a particular role . . .” (Gee 7). Gee is stating that a Discourse is the way you act, dress, and talk within a certain setting. Most people have many different Discourses for the many different people and places they encounter. Haas’ idea of a rhetorical frame used in rhetorical reading jumps off the idea of Gee’s Discourse. Haas states that “[the] elements of a rhetorical frame include participants, their relationships and motives, and several layers of context” (Haas 48). She is explaining that in order to dive deeper into an academic text, you must know the Discourse of the author: if they are a biologist, chemist, or simply someone who is interested in the topic. In order to follow Haas’ advice on rhetorical reading, you must first evaluate the Discourse of the author who wrote the text.
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