Vladimir Nabokov, a novelist and professor of literature, in his lecture “Good Readers and Good Writers” explains that experienced writers appeal to the interests and sensibilities of skilled readers. Nabokov Go details to general when reading, no preconceived judgements Don’t trust fiction to accurately report fact / fiction is fiction Make a new world Rereading: start general and find meaning last / see it for new; then make connections Four qualities of a good reader—not just list but interpret their importance Good and weak readers Read with the “spine” Good and weak writers Three qualities of a good writer—not just list but interpret their importance King Allow oneself to write first uninhibitedly, to let the creativity flow Rewrite with the readers in mind Take out the extra information and be concise If a writer writes for the readers, then he or she will want to be read and not criticized

Length: one- to two-pages Format: MLA Due Date: ____________ Score: ______ / 30 points Objective: Develop a summary of novelist and professor of literature Vladimir Nabokov’s lecture “Good Readers and Good Writers”; then respond to the prompt synthesizing Nabokov’s points with fiction writer Stephen King’s book excerpt “From On Writing”. Directions: Paragraph 1: Summary Read and study Nabokov’s lecture; then develop a summary in one paragraph. Open the summary by introducing the lecture with a complete TAG (title, author, genre), the author’s credentials, and his main assertion (his thesis). Analyze what points he asserts on the symbiotic relationship between reading and writing. A summary should be about half to two-thirds of a page in length. A summary must be one unified, coherent, and organized paragraph. Analyze the piece being summarized and interpret the author’s main and supporting ideas following these guidelines: Read carefully and at least twice. In the first sentence of your summary, provide the TAG (essay’s title, author’s name and genre of the reading), provide the author’s relevant credentials, and explain the author’s main assertion. Interpret the meaning of the supporting points of the essay without repeating any content or retelling the essay. Throughout the summary, present the author’s other main ideas—put these into your own words. Attribute each idea, in each sentence, to the author throughout the summary. In the last sentence of your summary, infer the author’s underlying purpose for writing the essay. Omit references in your summary to the examples, rhetorical strategies, and supporting details that the author uses in his or her essay. Use no direct quotations in a summary; however, if you use any of the author’s key words, identify these as the author’s words with quotation marks. Do not give your opinion—Be objective Paragraph 2: Response Vladimir Nabokov advises the approach a reader needs to take to respect the craft of writing. He claims “that a good formula to test the quality of a novel is, in the long run, a merging of the precision of poetry and the intuition of science… a wise reader reads… with his spine” (519). What does he mean to read with the “spine”? How would Nabokov respond to and interpret the advice Stephen King received from his editor to “write with the door closed, rewrite with the door open” and “[the text] belongs to anyone who wants to read it” (295). Take into consideration the assertions that Nabokov makes throughout his lecture on the relationship between reader and writer.