The art of discussing and writing

I found that the more I involve myself in discussion, the more I tend to understand my feelings and clarify my thinking on the book that I read. They say that effective discussions can help students develop higher-level thinking skills. I believe this is true. In discussion, we interact with one another, be it students or teacher, we normally put forth multiple points of view and stand ready to change our minds about the matter under discussion. We will gain valuable insight and information from the discussion done if everybody is to participate in a meaningful way.

I feel that I benefited most if the discussion is well organized and structured. The first step - setting the stage – is a crucial stage where getting the group members to get hooked right from the beginning of the discussion. So as none will lack focus and not be prepared to move on to more in-depth responding and thinking. Usually at this stage, a broad, general questions or statement pertaining to the discussion will be posed. For example, The part that I liked best about the book was….the questions and statements should be general and open-ended enough for members to express their reactions rather than try to guess what the ‘right’ answer is. From this point the discussion will go on by itself which will eventually touch on theme, tone, conflict, characters and so on.

Writing is no doubt too, an important aspect to bring about understanding and clarity on what we read. According to Vacca and Linek (1992), ‘to find meaning and purpose in learning, students must be encouraged to think about what they are learning – and therein lies the power of writing’. Formal and informal writing both alike, serve the same purpose of enhancing understanding. Formal writing is the finished product that the one/ student publishes or makes available to others.

As for me, I kind of prefer the informal writing in which we write journals, with no restrictions on spelling and mechanics or keeping a portfolio. We may jot down our initial impressions and expectations or engage in making predictions before we begin reading a selection. We make brief notes of things we want to explore or remember while we are reading. We also write reflections after writing to record our reactions. And during discussion, we take notes and then write a more lengthy reflection to clarify and extend our ideas and feeling.

As a conclusion, where literature is concerned, discussion and writing play a very significant role.