1. Haas means that if one is to fully understand a text they must know the correct way to read it. This rings especially true for those entering and in college because of the complex academic texts. Haas states, “…students need a metaunderstanding of the motives of science and scientists and the history of scientific concepts.” Haas says having this “metaunderstanding” is what she and other educators believe is the only way to understand, use, and judge scientific content.
2. The myth of autonomous text is that all academic texts are, “…discrete, highly explicit, even “timeless” entities functioning without contextual support from author, reader, or culture.” All autonomous texts are not context-free, and academic texts certainly aren’t either.
3. Haas’s study details that one could or could possibly not get better at understanding texts. Haas says, “Although…by the time she left college she had come to a greater awareness…” This quote backs up the point that one can learn how to read and understand academic texts better.
4. A rhetorical frame is a model/representation of discourse situations. A rhetorical frame can prove to be useful as Haas states that it, “…helps readers account for the motives underlying textual acts and their outcomes.” Meaning that a rhetorical frame is just another tool to understand texts better.
5. Haas and Gee have similar ideas. Haas talks about “rhetorical frames” which are tools to help one better understand texts. Gee explains that to understand a discourse one needs an “apprenticeship” which is quite similar to Haas’s frame.
ENG110J
