Ann Raimes Intorduction

After reading Raimes's Introduction, I feel that I have a better sense on how to approach a text and on how to form a text. I never really considered the idea that once I write something and give it to someone else, that it becomes a representation of me. It becomes more than just a paper I had to write for a class. I have always dreaded peer reviews and turning papers into professors; it stresses me out thinking about what they may or may not say/think. I now recognize that it is a piece of literature (scholar worthy or not!) and that  I am responsible for providing work that is clear, concise, and enticing no matter the audience or topic.
I also now have some good questions to consider when reading other’s work. I try to be open and unbiased when reading pieces, but let me be honest, that is almost impossible. Raimes’s statement “our culture might shape and influence us, but it does not exist apart from us,” could not be more true. Without each and every one of us having an opinion, having meaningful experiences, certain values and beliefs about the world, etc. culture would cease to exist. Therefore, each of us continually brings our own thoughts to the table when we become the reader. So having a clear set of questions to consider when actively reading, I think can prove really beneficial.
Reading and writing is a great way to continue to shape and reshape our culture. It is also a great way to understand a culture that one may be unfamiliar with. I, like Raimes, think that reading and writing critically and actively are very important aspects of either process. Many of us attempt everyday to either recreate who we think we want to be or we try to keep up with the image we have already created for ourselves. This is an ever-changing process; one that I personally think will never have a definite answer . . . which may prove to be a good thing. Our individual culture and the culture at large has plenty of room to grow and change and the reading and writing that each of us can do is dependent on that.