MEETING OF THE MASTERMINDS

THINK
Find a passage from your reading that is meaningful to you, that you can make a connection with – for
whatever reason.

Passage
 None of my professors at BYU had examined my writing the way Pofessor Steinberg did. No comma,
no period, no adjective or adverb was beneath his interest. He mad no distinction between grammar
and content, between form and substance. A poorly written sentence was a poorly conceived idea,
and in his view the grammatical logic was as much in need of correction.


Then, write a 100-word minimum reaction to the text, explaining your connection to it and why it is
meaningful to you personally.

Response
 There are times when I sit at my computer wondering to myself what words I should use to convey what I truly
want to get across. It had never occurred to me that a poorly written sentence was a poorly conceived idea. I
don’t think this means a poorly conceived idea will always be poorly written just that poorly written sentences
are a symptom of poorly conceived ideas. The way this is laid out in the book leads me to wonder if I’ve been
focusing too much on how I want to convey an idea and not enough time pondering what ideas I want to convey.

RESPONDER: Reader response is a literary lens that seeks meaning from a text in terms of the reader’s
experience. As the responder, you will explore the text’s meaning through your own reactions and
connections to the text. Because this leave room for many different interpretations, as the responder you will
also guide a reader response discussion to gain an understanding of your group members’ responses and
connections to the text.
DISCUSS: Give your group directions for a short reader-response paragraph to your passage. Read your
passage to the group and give them a few minutes to complete a free write in their Writer’s Notebooks. Ask
each group member to share. Record the group member’s response that resonated with you the most.

Insight
 Gage, Discussion Director – Why did Tara’s professor decide to send her to Cambridge? How would we
feel if we were in her situation.
 Jack, Psychologist – Tara when she got her vaccinations.
 Nae, Psychologist – If you were in Tara’s position regarding the payment of school, how would you
feel?
 Maya, Discussion Director – Asking Josh if he was a woman would he still study law?

PARTICIPATE: Use this space to complete the task and record notes related to your group member’s
presentations.