This semester I’m taking three Writing Arts classes.  All of my teachers have said in one way or another the term read like a writer. I have to think what it means to read like a writer. When I read articles I don’t automatically think to read like a writer, so how can I begin to do so?

The article by Pagnucci had an interesting beginning. It caught my eye because he related back to a childhood memory. I enjoy reading about childhood memories because It brings me back to all of my childhood memories. On the first page I noticed the large white space. I was a little confused as to why he left such a big space. One thing I did like about this story was how he split it into chapters. Pagnucci has a way of making his stories enjoyable to read. You don’t feel as if you’re reading a scholarly journal.

  Ondaatje’s story The Collected Works of Billy the Kid also leaves a large white space. This story left me feeling confused as a reader; I didn’t know who was telling the story. I understood that Sallie’s place was her house. I related to his story because he has a house full of animals. I have always grown up with cats and a dog in my house. I also believe Sallie felt safe and her house was a place to relax. I can relate to her because I’m one who sees my house as a comfortable place. This story offered great vivid details which I enjoyed reading.

Multi-modal writing has really let me express myself other than using the typical five paragraph essay.  Multi-modal allows you to get to the point of what your trying to say in a differnt way. Twitter is an example of multi-modal. Twitter allows me to create short stories, but it still gets my message across. My message is sent to others in a unique way using 140 characters or less. Like Twitter, Facebook has the same concept except you can write longer posts.  These social networking sites have taken over most of my spare time. Every day I wake up and check my facebook then my twitter. I like to see what my friends and the celebrities are doing for the day. If I need to ask my friend a question I can simply leave a comment on their wall. Checking their updates leaves me feeling like I'm in the loop of everything going on.

I believe technology is a distraction.  Over the past few years it has been a major distraction for me getting done my school work.  I’m so tempted to go onto facebook or twitter when I’m writing a paper.  It’s gotten so bad that I now have to make myself complete an assignment before I go onto facebook.  When I’m in class and my teacher is boring me I simply pull out my Ipod and click the facebook app.  I find myself not paying attention to the class, and all of my attention being placed on facebook. My boyfriend has threatened to take my Ipod away when we hang out, because I’m constantly checking it.  I suppose I’m on facebook more than I should be.  Technology seems to distract me from getting things done.  If I didn’t spend so much time on the computer or watching TV I would complete more tasks.  I just think in this century it’s impossible to not get distracted from technology, because technology is what we’ve grown up with.

I believe I am a digital native.  I’ve been learning from a computer since I was seven years old. I’ve grown up around TV’s, video games, and the internet. I have a laptop, nook, and an iPod touch. When I need to find news I can click an app for 6ABC and have all of my information right in the palm of my hand.  I created a myspace account when I was fourteen, a facebook at seventeen, a twitter at twenty-one and an instagram account at twenty-two.  Everything I do is related to technology.  When I go to read a book I no longer carry around a hard copy; I pull out my nook.  I find it odd to have to hand type a paper and not type it and send it through an email.  When my professors don’t use blackboard or smart boards in the classroom I feel like they are digital immigrants.  They don’t want to learn the new approaches to teaching, and feel we should step back and learn their old ways. “Often from the Natives‟ point of view their Digital Immigrant instructors make their education not worth paying attention to compared to everything else they experience.”  I like professors who have adapted to the “new language” and understand we don’t care for boring lectures.  We prefer games, and having immediate feedback.