Strong Reading & Reading With the Grain versus Against the Grain

I would define "strong reading" as using your own past experiences and critical thinking as you read a text to be able to analyze and better understand what the author is trying to convey. To be a strong reader, you have to continuously ask yourself questions about the text like its purpose, themes, audience, and motivation. You also have to take notes, look up vocabulary you do not fully understand the meanings of, and make sure you read at a pace where you can comprehend and remember what it is you are reading (not so fast that it goes in one ear and out the other). Strong readers always challenge themselves by reading a large range of texts by authors with different styles of writing which further pushes them to learn.

The novel Anthem by Ayn Rand has many different themes running through the story line but perhaps the most apparent theme that stood out to me was that of Freedom of the Search for Knowledge and Individuality. I personally agreed with the author on this reoccurring theme so this would be considered reading "with the grain". Rand truly portrays the importance of being an individual and searching for knowledge that each person needs to develop their talents and intelligence. In the novel, the society where the characters lived was oppressed and didn't let them use resources such as books to grow as an individual but once the main character decided he wanted more to life and freedom he left the city with the woman he loved and ventured into the forest where he found a place that resembled a library but was tucked away, showing how the city had pushed intellectual growth away so that all were equal and only knew as much as the next person. I consider this reading with the grain for me because I followed the author's opinion and kept with their perspective on the argument. 

On the other hand, a novel I truly love and might be one of my most recent favorites would be Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins. There were many fictional aspects to this novel that I found extremely interesting but i did not agree with the majority of the assumptions made and I did question the authors' motives. This would be considered reading "against the grain" because I did not agree with Collins and the assumptions she makes on what the world might become. This novel, although an easy read, did challenge and force me to make up my own thoughts on what might happen in the future and created doubts.