Questions for Discussion and Journaling
Read “Hyper-Readers and Their Reading Engines“ and answer the following questions.
1.
How would you define “computer assisted reading,” as Sosnoski describes it near the beginning of his article?
2.
How does Sosnoski describe the difference between information and meaning (after offering his list of the characteristics of hyper-reading in para. 6)? Why is the distinction important?
3.
What does Sosnoski say is the role of conceptual frameworks in “filtering”? How would you describe a conceptual framework?
4.
How much skimming of texts do you do when you read? What’s your sense of how Sosnoski would feel about this?
5.
Many of the characteristics of hyper-reading that Sosnoski points out seem to suggest that readers have a great deal of control over texts—what they say and what they mean. How does that compare with what you were taught about reading and how texts work: Were you taught about such control?
6.
Sosnoski argues in discussing “filming,” the fifth characteristic of hyper-reading, that it is a “prejudice” to believe that texts with fewer words than pictures are less “serious” texts than those without pictures (para. 24). Where do you suppose this prejudice comes from? Do you share it?
7.
The seventh characteristic of hyper-reading, Sosnoski argues, is de-authorizing. What is the relationship between the terms “author” and “authority,” and how does the notion of “de-authorizing” bring the two together?
8.
Does Sosnoski offer a prediction about the future of print reading and whether hyper-reading will replace it? Summarize his argument on this subject.
9.
In the last two sections of his article, Sosnoski takes up the question of how we should theorize (develop a systematic explanation of) hyper-reading. What does he seem to conclude about it, and what do you think of his conclusion?
10.
Sosnoski uses a kind of endnote we call “discursive” notes: He doesn’t just use them to cite sources, but to have additional conversation about his subject. These can be very valuable for more clearly understanding the article itself. For example, can you find the note in which Sosnoski specifically states what his purpose in writing the essay is? What was your sense of the purpose of the essay, and how closely does it match his?