Post 5

In his book Harris seems to take a similar approach to Sullivan as far as their theories on reading and writing. Harris speaks about how reading is more than just understanding an authors ideas, it’s also about reacting to the text and formulating questions and ideas in your own mind. A rhetorical conversation in your head is really what Harris is trying to get at. Harris really wants the reader to fully engage and understand a text before breaking it down and using it in his or her own work. To me this is also what Sullivan wanted to accomplish with his work in the sense that he speaks so highly of “conversation” and its importance. Whether it is writing or reading this connection between the author and reader must be kept in mind. The text is essentially a medium through which one person shares his or her ideas with another person. Both people must communicate and “converse” through the text and therefor expand on the text itself.  The authors both want us to converse with them just in different ways. To Harris the setting should be a bit more formal and to Sullivan the informal nature of his blogging is key to his success but both authors seek the same outcome. A sort of meet and greet with you, the reader, and the text is the dinner table.