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Reading Lenses Doubting and Believing

Here’s a reading activity that’s been adapted from Bruce Ballenger and Michelle Payne’s book The Curious Reader.

This activity gives students two different ways to frame their reading of a text, and then asks them to formulate or argue their own understanding of it. It could be done in class, but could also easily be used as a reading assignment.

For the reading you assign (it works best with some sort of argumentative piece):

Step 1: Open your notebook so that there are blank pages on the left and right side. On the left side, copy lines or phrases from the reading that you find interesting, puzzling, provocative, or central to the text, as you understand it.

Step 2: Now, move to the right side of your notebook, across from the passages you copied down. Assume that what the author claims is true and freewrite in response to these questions:

• What evidence from your own experience or knowledge, or from the text itself, might lead you to believe some of the things said in the essay?
• If your writing stalls, reread what you copied down and let that drive your writing.

Step 3: Now assume that the argument presented in the essay is weak. Freewrite in response to these questions:

• What do you know from your own experience or knowledge that contradicts these claims?
• What does the essay fail to consider?

Step 4: Based on what you’ve learned from the two contradictory perspectives – believing and doubting – write a paragraph that states what you believe about the main idea of the essay.

Class Reflection: Reflect on these questions:

• What do you understand about your reading habits now that you didn’t fully understand before this exercise?
• Which came more easily – doubting or believing? What thoughts might not have occurred to you if you hadn’t been forced to switch perspectives?