My Analyzation Of My Metacognative Content Area Reading Process (Part III)

General reflection

As my partner has shared that his preferred reading strategy is visualizing/picturing, I thought it would only be fair to share mine. My preferred reading strategy is looking up unfamiliar words. As someone who was an English major and has always been an English lover, I am curious to know the meaning to every unfamiliar word I come across. I enjoy expanding my vocabulary, which helps my reading in the process. I find that it is sometimes crucial to look up unfamiliar words when reading. If a reader does not recognize a word, it could sometimes cause them to lose the meaning of an entire passage. I do use all of the other reading strategies when necessary, however, I would say that I tend to look up unfamiliar words most often.

Image: Falling apricots (Refer to Reflection #2)












Image: Running horses-pulling a carriage (Refer to Reflection #7)









Focused Reflections

Due to the fact that the content area reading I have chosen is a fairly simple read, I have decided to continue reading past the minimum twenty pages.

For blog #2, which was the first blog entry in which we focused on the analyzation of our metacognitive reading processes, I chose to focus on pages 1-29 of my content area text, which included all of chapter one, entitled “January/Christmas Rolls” and the first half of chapter two, entitled “February/Chabela Wedding Cake.”

For this blog, I will continue analyzing my metacognitive reading process by focusing on pages 30-41 of my content area text, which includes the remaining half of chapter two, “February/Chabela Wedding Cake.”

Here I will use the same format I have used in blog #2 to organize each of my reflections. The reflections will be broken up into three parts, the first, a direct quote from the text; the second, my reflection; and the third, the specific strategy/strategies which I have used. The following is a continuation of the reading guide I have already begun to create in blog #2.

1.
Text:
“Heat the apricot paste together with a little bit of water; after the mixture comes to a boil, strain it, preferably through a hair flour sieve, but a coarser strainer can be used if you don’t have either of those” (Page 31, Paragraph 1).

Reflection:
While reading this portion of the text, I came across the word ‘sieve,’ I had never heard of this word before. By using the context clues in the sentence, it is very simple to figure out a general meaning of this word. The word seems to mean some type of strainer, one which is less coarse than typical strainers. However, since these recipes are essential to the book and especially if the reader would like to prepare this particular dish, then it may be useful to look up the specific definition of the word. (Sieve means an instrument with a meshed or perforated bottom, used for separating coarse from fine parts of loose matter, for straining liquids, etc., esp. one with a circular frame and fine meshes or perforations.)

Strategies:
Here I used both context clues in the text and looked up the meaning of a word in order to better understand the text.

2.
Text:
“To prevent Pedro from looking at her leg, Tita let go of her skirt. When she did, all the rest of the apricots rolled onto Pedro’s head” (Page 32, Paragraph 2).

Reflection:
Here I am picturing Pedro on the kitchen floor, on his hands and knees, picking up the fallen apricots. While Tita, standing directly over him, lets go of her skirt, to drop all of the remaining apricots, which were held by the skirt, on top of Pedro’s head, like an avalanche of apricots.

Strategies:
Here I am using the visualization technique to picture the events which are described in the book. I am illustrating the story by creating my own images in my mind, using the words on the page in combination with my prior experiences.

3.
Text:
“Tita stood as if in a trance, staring at the whiteness of the sheet; only for a few seconds, but long enough to cause a sort of blindness” (Page 33, Paragraph 3).

Reflection:
I can personally relate to the feeling which Tita is experiencing at this moment in the text. When I have a lot going through my mind, I tend to spontaneously stand, staring as if in a trance too, usually at the worse times, such as at work or in a meeting. In Tita’s case, while preparing for her sister’s wedding to the man she loves.

Strategies:
Here I am making a personal connection to the text. I believe that making these types of personal connections while reading is essential to fully understanding a text. If I did not understand Tita’s actions, then I might not understand her character as much as I do.

4.
Text:
“She felt powerless against it, feeling that at any moment the white color might seize her mind, dragging along those snow-white images of her childhood, May-time images of being taken all in white, to offer white flowers to the Virgin” (Page 34, Paragraph 2 or First full paragraph).

Reflection:
In this section of the text, I sense that the author is using symbolism. This is an important technique in English Language Arts. It seems as though the ‘white color’ which is haunting Tita is, in fact, her own virginity. The word ‘childhood’ in the sentence seems to represent the idea of innocence. She seems disappointed at the fact that she will be forced to remain a virgin for the rest of her life, due to the fact that she cannot marry if she is to stay home and care for her mother until she dies.

Strategies:
Here I am using my prior knowledge of the writing techniques used in my discipline in order to identify symbolism.

5.
Text:
“Only the pan knows how the boiling soup feels, but I know how you feel, so stop crying, you’re getting the meringue watery, and it won’t set up properly-go now- go” (Page 35, Paragraph 7).

Reflection:
In this section of the text the author uses metaphorical language. As a reader of literature, it is important to be able to identify metaphorical language in order to better understand the text. As a reader of this particular text it is important to be able to identify this quote as metaphorical language in order to both better understand the text and to pick up on the fact that this is one example of how food is a significant theme throughout the text.

Strategies:
Here I am clarifying the text by again activating my prior knowledge of the writing techniques used in my discipline in order to identify metaphorical language in the story.

6.
Text:
When she finished beating the meringue, it occurred to Nacha to lick some of the icing off her finger to see if Tita’s tears had affected the flavor. No, the flavor did not seem to have been affected; yet without knowing why, Nacha was suddenly overcome with an intense longing” (Page 35-36, Paragraph 9).

Reflection:
I predict that maybe Tita’s tears have, in fact, affected the meringue and that anyone at the wedding who will eat the cake, which will be spread with this icing, will experience the same longing that she feels, the same way Nacha has experienced a longing of her own after eating the icing containing Tita’s tears. In a way her tears must produce a magical spell.

Strategies:
Here I am making a prediction about what will happen in the subsequent part of the book.

7.
Text:
“She and her sisters were taking a quiet carriage ride when some boys set off a firecracker. The frightened horses bolted. When they came to the edge of the village, they ran wild and the driver could not control them” (Page 37, Paragraph 7).

Reflection:
Here I am picturing a firecracker bursting into the sky, in very close proximity to the carriage which held Tita and her sisters, lighting up the sky in designs of different shapes. I can also imagine the thunderous sound of the firecracker and the noise the horses must have made when they began to quickly and abruptly gallop away. I am picturing the horses galloping at a dangerous pace toward the edge of the village, while Tita and her sisters are uncontrollably bounced up and down in the carriage. I can also imagine all of the confusion and fear in each of the sisters’ expressions.

Strategies:
Here I am using the visualization technique once again, to picture the events which are described in the book. I am illustrating the story by creating my own images (and sounds in this case) in my mind, using the words on the page in combination with my prior experiences.

8.
Text:
“Pedro, holding her much closer than convention allowed, took advantage of this unique opportunity to whisper in Tita’s ear: ‘I am sure I will be, since through this marriage I have gained what I really wanted: the chance to be near you, the woman I really love…’”(Page 38, Paragraph 5-6).

Reflection:
I wonder how Pedro plans to be happy living with Tita, when he is married to her sister. Technically, he will be closer to her, yet she is forbidden because she is his wife’s sister. Therefore, even though she is close in proximity, she will probably feel even further away than before. Will they sneak around? Will this actually make either one of them happy?

Strategies:
Here I am questioning the text in order to better understand the text and the characters within the text. I will have to read on in order to gain possible answers to these questions.

9.
Text:
“The moment they took their first bite of cake, everyone was flooded with a great wave of longing” (Page 39, Paragraph 2).

Reflection:
Here, my prediction was proved accurate. I predicted that Tita’s tears had affected the cake and that whoever ate a piece would experience longing. And this is, indeed, exactly what happened at the wedding.

Strategies:
This is a perfect example of how a fix-up works. I developed a simple theory and by reading-on, I was able to see my prediction confirmed in the text.

10.
Text:
“What motivated such a monstrous punishment was Mama Elena’s conviction that Tita, in league with Nacha, had deliberately ruined Rosaura’s wedding by mixing an emetic into the cake” (Page 41, Paragraph 2, or First full paragraph).

Reflection:
While reading this portion of the text, I came across the word ‘emetic,’ I had never heard of this word before. By using the context clues found in the prior pages of the story it is very simple to figure out a general meaning of this word. I suspect that this word means an agent that causes vomiting. However, it may be useful to look up the specific definition of the word, incase, I am missing a significant part of the definition or a possible alternative definition. (Emetic means causing vomiting, as a medicinal substance.)

Strategies:
Here I used both context clues and looked up the meaning of a word in order to better understand the text.

Notes*

I have also chosen to enhance this portion of the reading guide by including both the paragraph number and the page number, when citing the text. In the first portion of this reading guide (blog #2) I had only included the page number. However, after reading my partner’s blog entries, I noted the fact that he tends to include both the page and paragraph numbers, which I feel could be potentially very useful and convenient to both my partner and other readers.

For this blog, I have also incorporated my use of discipline-specific strategies, such as identifying symbolism and metaphorical language.

In this blog, I have also included images for each of the two instances where I used the visualization technique during my reading of this section of the text, which were reflection number two (image: falling apricots) and refection number seven (image: running horses-pulling a carriage). I have continued the pattern of incorporating images in my blogs because my partner prefers to utilize the visualization technique over any other strategy when reading. These images can be found at the top of the blog.