Prompt #1: Observing Your Habits Response

Observe your Habits

    

       During the duration of one day, I took notes on everything I read ranging from class assignments, notes I take in class, and signs I see while walking around campus to mangas, text messages, subtitles in foreign dramas and much more. While reading for  academic subjects, I have noticed I tend to read and process the material when I review over the texts the second time. Some of the material does not stay in my mind unless I have a copy or notes to look back on. On the other hand, when I read things that were not academically related I tend to skim over the words and forget the information more frequently.  As I pass by shops, advertisements, and billboards I read mindlessly. However, when I read things like mangas or subtitles from foreign dramas, my mind retains the information much more efficiently because I read things I have an interest in and is curious to know more about. 

        Writing is much more of a challenge. I have only wrote down notes for classes . While I was writing notes in class, the background was quiet with some rustling noises coming from other people because it is a big class, and for the smaller classes it was silent. I usually write what is on the board or projector in addition to taking more notes after class in the library. The way I take my notes is random. I do not have a structured format for note-taking. Random bullet points, highlighting terms and graphs on the board is what I do. When I am taking notes I am usually stationary  sometimes with music or without.

         The way I read is more of a set of habits that are not necessarily the best. It is like having two modes, when I read for class I am not attentive, when I read something I am interested in I am engrossed in its contents. When I am interested in something I am curious about or like I tend to read about it and talk to myself about what I am reading and form my views and opinions I have about its contents. Usually I am alone when I read the things I am interested about. When reading for academic subjects I am sometimes isolated or surrounded with people. I noticed when I read a chapter for psychology I could not focus my mind and was trying to get through the chapter. The chapter is from an ebook which makes it harder to concentrate because I was on the internet where many distractions can keep me from finishing my work. I started reading then got bores of reading and went to eat, came back watched an episode(s) of a series came back to reading then began to focus my attention on eating again.

         My writing can also be described as a set of habits. My habit when writing is to write from a basic essay template such as a standard five-paragraph essay. As for taking notes, as I have stated in the previous paragraph, I write notes without structure. If I were to teach a person to read I would recommend they read something they are interested in so that they are more likely to take away ideas and information from their readings. When you are reading things you have no interest in you get bored easily and more prone to getting distracted by your surroundings. The material is forgotten easily because you are not curious enough to learn about the contents. The same recommendation applies when it comes to writing. Write about a topic your are passionate about and learn more. Writing about something you re not passionate about will limit your knowledge and you will find it very difficult to write about the topic. In Habits of the Creative Mind "...writing quality is a function of context"(Pg17, Para.1). To write a good paper you need to write about something you have a lot of knowledge of to inform and connect with the reader.