How does your second, more-informed reading of Haas and Flower compare to your first reading?

Without an unquestionable doubt, my second, more-informed reading of Haas and Flower was extremely beneficial to my understanding of the text. Ironically, as Haas and Flower highlighted in their study, I began reading their analysis with the intent of extracting pure, unsaturated knowledge and facts so that I could contribute to an in-class discussion of the material. Using the reading strategies I’ve been taught throughout my schooling, I searched for the main points of the study so that I could paraphrase and summarize its content. Unfortunately, traditional schooling usually centers around the importance of factual information and not making parallels and understanding intent.
However, while discussing Haas and Flower during class, an imaginary light bulb arose above my head when I realized that I was selling myself short by conforming to traditional reading skills and not using the critical reading skills that I am surely capable of. Although I did not realize it during my initial reading, I was fulfilling Haas and Flower’s stereotype as an “average good reader.” Through this realization, however, I quickly transformed into the critical reader that they continually push young adults to be. Rather than scavenging for facts, I related the reading to my own academic abilities and realized that the implementation of critical reading skills is truly useful in understanding the author’s purpose and recognizing the issue at hand. Recognizing the author’s purpose allows a reader to better follow their message as their eyes soak in the text. Haas and Flower were correct—critical reading skills put texts into a different, more mature perspective. Although the text was not intended for a young audience, I was still able to recognize the issue and try to apply the solution to my life. I am hoping that by the end of this course, my rhetorical strategies will prove dominant over the black-and-white methods that have previously been instilled in me. Toto, we’re not in high school anymore.