My name is Laura Zvinys and I’m currently a Junior majoring in Neuroscience and Behavioral Biology. I have recently rediscovered the joy of reading and can’t wait to discuss the books we will be reading for this class. Although I am a STEM major, I have always loved reading and writing. I used to read primarily fantasy and science fiction novels but have recently started to find myself enthralled by autobiographies. I look forward to honing my reading and writing skills in this class.
As far as reading and writing strategies, I find it helpful to read in a quiet place with no distractions and to try to sit down for longer periods of time so that I don’t interrupt the flow of the story. When it comes to writing, I typically start by planning out what I want each of my paragraphs to focus on. I write the topic sentences for each of my body paragraphs, after which I write the introduction and conclusion. Finally, I go back and fill in the body paragraphs. I often find it helpful to read my essays aloud to myself for any final edits because it helps me catch mistakes that I might overlook when reading silently.
Hey Laura, and thank you for your post! I honestly think I’ll have to try that strategy sometime of writing topic sentences out for the outline. I struggle a lot with finding a center for my ideas, and instead love focusing on constellations of context and history and affect (which means my writing is usually all over the place, and definitely something I need to work on!). I’m glad to hear of your passion for reading and writing, and I’m excited to see what insights and interests you will bring to the class!