Analysis Of Thomas Cooley's The Norton Sampler: Short Review

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In Chapter One of Thomas Cooley’s The Norton Sampler: Short Essays for Composition, the audience was exposed to several strategies recommended for reading pieces of literature. These strategies were divided into three segments: Previewing the Text, Reading Closely and Critically, and Responding to What You Read. Each segment contained a list of either advice or questions the reader could heed to while analyzing their given text. Later, the chapter exposed the audience to the four traditional types of writing utilized. In order to emphasize the importance of both the strategies mentioned and the four traditional types of writing, Cooley decided to incorporate the classic American essay, authored by E.B. White, “Once More to the Lake”. This essay described the adventures of a father-son duo, who go fishing at a lake in Maine. This essay was incorporated for the audience to utilize their newly obtained skills of analyzing text, and determining its purpose. Following this essay were a series of questions, which further enabled the student to think critically. …show more content…

Under the category of “Previewing the Text”, the author mentioned actions like skimming the text for a quick overview, noting boldfaced words, headings, and paying attention to incorporated lists. Whenever I am taking notes out of a textbook, especially out of a science textbook, I always perform these actions. For one, it allows for me to be comfortable with the material. However, these actions do not pertain to me just reading the text; rather, I can be an efficient author by incorporating these methods into my writing as well. If I were to ever author a piece of informational text, I would make sure to utilize the use of headings and boldfaced words, for they really stress the importance of both the overall text and some of the ideas found within