Booth explains that as readers we have certain responsibilities to the authors of the books we read, to the books themselves, and to ourselves. One of his main points is that we must be understanding when we read. This reminds me of our lovely Five Enemies. When we pick up a book to read on our own personal leisure, we normally are much more understanding than when we must read a book for a class. Most of the time we are naturally less interested in a book we are reading because it is mandatory vs. a personal book. Because of this we are less understanding and more apt to becoming frustrated with the difficult and possibly boring text.
We are told to buy, read, and teach books. We apparently should be buying the books instead of borrowing copies. I do not know if I necessarily agree with this considering books in today's economy can be pricey. There are plenty of people who are very appreciative of books and respect many famous authors who simply cannot afford these books. They admire the author and the text just as much as the person who could afford to buy the book.
I believe that my ethical responsibilities as a reader and writer differ depending on various situations. My responsibilities as a reader for school also varies depending on the course. In high school, if I was assigned to read a chapter in my History book, I would simply skim the chapter and take notes on major events and dates. My responsibilities to that reading assignment (to me at least) were simple. In comparison, my responsibilities as a reader in an English course are to analyze, theorize, dissect the texts, read between the lines, ask questions, look things up, highlight, take notes, etc. Since becoming an English major, I've realized the extreme differences of responsibilities a student takes on from course to course.
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