Responding to chapters 4 and 5

     Writing. We should all know how to do it by now and we should all know how important it is to your success in college, but do we really know how to write? In these chapters it builds on the idea of how to put your ideas into your writing. I learned what a personal response was and what it's purpose is. I never thought a personal response could be for the engagement and discovery of what you are reading or that you have to back up your idea's with facts even though it's a personal response.
     Some other things that help you in your success in college is how to write a summary. When you summarize you are taking the main points of whatever you are reading and re-writing them to your best ability. But I learned that when summarizing you are NOT supposed to change the writing at all; no adding other thoughts or ideas of what you think makes it better, and also facts. You are not supposed to add facts that you have found to add to the writers summary or make it better.
     I think my favorite thing that I liked in the reading was learning about description. Something I liked that they said on page 120 in the book, is that if you write description carefully and not add too much but not too little it can show the power of words. I liked that a lot because I have never considered description as power, and that it is one way we can create feeling. Also one other thing that really struck me was what description is used for. When we use description it creates feeling for your reader and I think the reader is more likely to connect to it then if he/she was reading a history or text book because they can connect to it emotionally. Just like a lecture. In my history class my teacher lectures us using a powerpoint but on them he has only pictures there may be a few words but mostly pictures and it really helps him illustrate what he's saying verbally and writing on the whiteboard. For the first time in my life I am actually learning something in a history class because he is using description through pictures. I can connect with it emotionally, and I have realized the things that I remember have made me think, want to learn more, and connect to it emotionally.