Introductory Reading Assignment

Until high school, I was trained to write five-paragraph essays and only five-paragraph essays. My high school English teachers all told me to forget everything I have learned about the five-paragraph structure; however, they still taught formulas on how to write. I need to take this course in order to learn to write without limiting myself to formulaic essays, and I also hope to find and broaden my own writing style. The best reason why I shouldn’t take this course is that I am a pharmacy major, not an English major. However, no matter the career path, communication skills are absolutely necessary to express and convey any point.

The New Humanities Reader mentions the phrase “using writing as a way of thinking new thoughts” in the preface. The authors criticize high school English curriculum for making the students only write when they are sure about what exactly to write about. This does not allow the students to explore every aspect of the topic, which could often prevent from forming new ideas and new thoughts. “Shared horizon” is also one of the important concepts discussed in the reading – I believe it means the ability to connect different writings and topics of various “specializations”. Its importance is that it leads to creative reading, which is another unfamiliar term that the book used. Creative reading is an active form of reading that most are not used to; instead of just simply processing the words presented, one would actively form connections while reading. Because creativity and connectivity are emphasized throughout, I believe the rationale of the New Humanities is best exemplified by the following quote: “The New Humanities can teach us a different way of using knowledge, a way of thinking that connects many different fields of study.”