Chapter 8 Extending Meaning

Surprisingly, I did not like many of the after reading strategies.  One in particular that I did not agree with was the scales.  Likert scales in particular were my least favorite.  To me, they appear to require very little thought.  Anyone could make up statements about the book and then either agree or disagree with them.  Semantic scales were also lacking, using polar opposite traits to describe characters.  I think this strategy would be more effective and efficient if it required explanations to their decisions.  If they expanded on their reasoning, I think they would get a lot more out of the activity.  On a brighter note, I really liked the somebody wanted but so strategy.  What I found most interesting about this was that it could sum up an entire novel into one sentence.  It was able to identify the characters, plot, conflict, and resolution.  Also, it encourages you to use "then", to continue breaking down the novel.  I think the more we simplify certain parts of the story, the simpler the ideas become.  This really exercises our decoding skills, not just by reading words, but by undersatnding what they mean when they are all together.