How Do We Read?

"Mechanically, we read letter by letter. Recognizing the words and giving them meaning is a natural (yet often unappreciated) method to reading. Once each individual definition construes itself into a comprehensible sentence, we ask again what it means. Reading is a process of sorting and understanding, observing and analyzing. Everything we read is a code to be cracked and we are breaking and entering into the treasure locked up behind symbols we call the alphabet."

So I know that most people on the card wrote about "How Do I Read" and not "How Do We Read" but I felt that it was harder to actually generalize for everyone, so I tried it. Personally, I read to be inspired (ah, my favorite word!) because as a writer, I am looking for ideas to write about all the time. Because nothing is really an original thought or idea, I have to read and observe all sources around me for inspiration. I noticed that most of the students in class wrote about reading as a woman, which did interest me. Honestly, I don't know how much my gender plays in my reading, unless it's just my own experiences I can bring to the table when confronted with women or female figures in the texts I read. If I had to say one thing about "How Do I Read" I would probably say that I read with the same passion that both of my parents read with.