"Reading is Fundamental"

So went the old NBA literacy promotion slogan. While the NBA marketing gurus most likely did not mean it this way, reading is fundamental to writing. See, for example, the recent post on the "Ordeal by Cheque" activity.

Great writers are great readers. You learn to write by reading. When we read, we internalize and familiarize ourselves with new words, ways of structuring sentences and crafting metaphors, techniques for developing and supporting arguments, etc. We learn to appreciate how combinations of words sound when strung together. We gain an appreciation for the writer's ability to fashion a unique voice through word choice and sentence patterns.

In short, we learn to write by imitating what we read. The modernist poet Ezra Pound believed imitation to be an essential stage in the development of a poet. He himself went through a phase of writing Robert Browning-like dramatic monologues.

Having students read popular magazines is a great way to supplement other writing assignments and activities. Despite its political biases, The New Yorker can be useful tool in this regard. You might, for example, have your student read a particular article for the types of transitions an author uses to make his or her ideas flow and cohere. Then, ask them to try it on their own in their writing. You might also have them read for things like sentence variety, types of evidence used, techniques for opening and ending articles. You might even have them read for overall structure.

When I would teach comparison/contrast essays to may students I would always present as models an article on the two varieties of coffee beans from a very early issue of Martha Stewart Living and a column from the back page of Golf World comparing Tiger Woods to the long-forgotten underdog, Bob May. Text books can be indispensible, but often times the best tools for learning to write on the magazine rack.