What makes a good reader

Question

"A good reader is like a person who knows how to take a hint" I'm suppose to write a essay talking about what this means but i don't know.

Answer 1

A good reader is able to read in between the lines. That is what it means for someone to be able to take a hint. It's not really determined by speed, or by how many pages or chapters you can tolerate reading. If for example, a character is hit with a ball, and they respond by rubbing their head, picking up the ball and returning it to the frightened child. This 'hints' the reader that this character is patient, kind, and may like children. If, at another scene, the character gets a job as a psychiatrist, this 'hints' that this character is just a very helpful person, and finds satisfaction in helping them. But this is just one character. Importance of characters is often found in their dialogue. The mood of a scene is determined by the characters who are present, by the weather and by previous situations. It takes a keen eye and the ability to link information to really enjoy the creativity of a book.

Sorry for the long answer, but I think compared to an essay, this isn't much. Oh, here's a tip for your essay - read a story you have read before. Preferably a book. Use the tips that I gave you, figuring out characters through their speech and their actions. See if you find a difference in the way you looked at the story then and now; then you can use quotes from the book, and compare the change from the old reader to the way you looked at it this time.

Answer 2

You'd have to wonder whether your teacher is on crack. I don't think it means anything.

If I was faced with a question like this I'd talk about what "a person who knows how to take a hint" is like, then I'd talk about the characteristics of a good reader, then I'd hope like h**l that I could tie the two together somehow.

Answer 3

what do you mean by knows how to take a hint. A good reader in a technical sense is someone who reads a book fast, and with ease and doesn't stumble over meaning of words or the composition of sentences. In a less literal sense, and probably what your assignment is referring to, is the ability to ask questions; make inferences and connections; recognize irony, symbolism, themes; understand characters motives; follow the plot line; and analyze the text without really trying very hard to do all this. A good reader naturally does these things in their head while they read, and can form a pretty good analysis quite easily after having read the book. Hope that helped a bit