- Hass’ opening statement of her article states that in order to become fully literate in terms of college level reading, a person must learn not only how to just retain information from the text but also understand the context of the text and author. In her article, Haas talks about a study she conducted on a student over the course of four years. Over the four years she kept track of the students reading and writing habits. Haas states, ” Although Eliza (a pseudonym) may have tacitly subscribed to the doctrine of autonomous texts early in her college career, by the time she left college she had come to a greater awareness of the rhetorical, contingent nature of both the activities and discourses she participated in within her chosen field, biology” ( Haas 46). After conducting her study, Haas comes to the conclusion that throughout her college career, Eliza gradually came to a better understanding of notions of text and how to fully retain everything from a text. Eliza learns how to make better connections within the text and also how to connect different pieces of text.
- Early in her article, Haas mentions a myth that pertains to one’s understanding of text after reading it. She states, ” In general, the belief in autonomous text views written academic texts as discrete, highly explicit, even “timeless” entities functioning without contextual support from author, reader, or culture” (Haas 45). An autonomous text is independent text that stands by itself. Haas calls this a myth because it is simply an idea and not a scientific fact yet until proven. This makes sense to me as I am guilty of simply reading text simply to retain information and not thinking about the deeper context that comes with the text.
- Haas’ study of Eliza helps the reader understand that as a college student gradually progresses through their four years, their reading strategies and comprehensions will improve throughout every year. The major a student chooses to pursue also affects how they interpret text as shown by Eliza. Haas states, “By her senior year she often viewed texts as multiply connected-to authors and scientists, to other readers, and to historical circumstances-and even demonstrated some understanding of her own connections both to scientific texts (and, by standing of her own connections both to scientific texts (and, by implication, to their authors) and to the objects of her own research” (Haas 69). Eliza was a Biology major, and during her junior and senior years, she came to a deeper understanding of the text she was reading by thinking about the context behind the text and also of the author. She was able to make connections in between different texts and also connect them to her own research.
- A rhetorical frame is a framework that consists of the three theories that are concerned with how individuals participate in different social acts. Haas describes this when she explains, “Elements of the rhetorical frame include participants, their relationships and motives, and several layers of context. For instance, when readers approach a discourse situation, they presumably have some knowledge or representation of the participants, including the identity, knowledge, and background of author and intended readers” (Haas 48). Using the logic of Haas, a reader usually has some background knowledge on the text he or she is reading and the purpose of it. The rhetorical frame helps readers understand the motive of the text they are reading.
- The idea of Discourses as explained by James Gee and rhetorical reading by Christina Haas share many similarities. When explaining the idea of a rhetorical frame, Haas delves deeper into this concept and its relevance to all readers. Haas states, “Elements of the rhetorical frame include participants, their relationships and motives, and several layers of context. For instance, when readers approach a discourse situation, they presumably have some knowledge or representation of the participants, including the identity, knowledge, and background of author and intended readers” (Haas 48). Using Haas’ logic, we can assume that most readers have a simple, general understanding of the text they read before reading it. This relates to Gee’s idea of the use of meta-knowledge. Gee explains, “Metaknowledge is liberation and power, because it leads to the ability to manipulate, to analyze, to resist while advancing” (Gee 13). A reader can use meta-knowledge that they already have on a text, and use it to fully understand the text they are reading to the best of their knowledge. The knowledge of the text they have prior can help them in their attempt to fully comprehend the text they are reading.
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