how can we convey to such students the deep engagement we feel with challenging literary texts? I argue that we cannot do this effectively if our teaching does not take place in the zone of proximal development, that is, if we are focused exclusively on print close reading.

For me, the topic is much more than the latest research fad, because it hits me where I live: the college classroom.

(hayles, “hyper and Deep Attention”)

The scientific research is valuable and should not be ignored, but our experiences are also valuable and can tell us a great deal about the advantages and disadvantages of hyperreading compared with close reading, as well as the long-term effects of engaging in either or both of these reading strategies

, the example illustrates the unsurprising fact that read-ing someone else’s synthesis does not give as detailed or precise a picture as reading the primary sources themselves.

and I of course agree