Two articles related to reading:
1. NYTimes writes about The Future of Reading. While many of the sources are from the middle school level, how do you think this issue manifest itself in high school? Pertaining to writing style, what do you think of the overall structure? Is it a straight news piece or does it lean toward a feature?
2. Wall Street Journal has a great piece on literature and how it's changing to more plot focused pieces. This is a great example of an opinion piece, but many people think this is a straight news piece. It's also raises questions about what people read and why we read what we read. How might this affect newspaper readers?
7 comments:
NY Times-Pick Your Own Book: This article reinforced a concept that I have heard since I was young. Although I went to a public elementary and middle school, I was fortunate enough to have a wonderful librarian. She has always said, "It doesn't matter what kids are reading, so long as they are reading." I think that structuring a personal reading time into the daily schedules of students is both relaxing and educational. While I think it is important to read classic novels throughout high school, reading has to become fun when kids are young. There needs to be a balance of letting students read what they want to read and exposing us to classics.
Wall St. Journal-plot: I was really interested in the evolution of novels that the journalist wrote about. I think it's true that a story that is so close to life and what actually happens, can be too boring. However, predictable plots at the expense of losing character development can be just as boring. Authors need to consider the enjoyment of the reader, the course of actions and characters reaction, and of course having a theme or plot. The plot has to have some twist or variation to keep the readers attention though or people wont want to read it.
NY Times: Pick Your Own Book- This article was very interesting however I somewhat disagree with what this teacher is doing. Like Olivia, my middle school provided us with amazing books and my teachers always assigned good books. I found almost all of the many books I read in class very appealing. I would never have considered reading any of these books on my own time simply because they aren't the popular, much advertised books like "Twilight" or "Harry Potter". I think that teachers picking the books students read in school is extremely important because it allows students to encounter great books they never would have known about. Students can read books of their choice for enjoyment on their own time.
Wall St. Journal: Good Novels...Hard- Novels are used as a way for people to escape their lives and become submerged in someone else's. It is unappealing for someone to sit down and open up a book and either be completely confused as to what is going on or be utterly bored. There needs to be a balance. I usually enjoy books that I can easily relate to and that give me insight on my own life and decisions I have to make. Books like "The Odyssey" teach lessons and propose themes with morals and personal values. Most modern books don't do this. A book doesn't have to have "cheap thrills" or anything like that. It simply needs an authentic motive to keep the reader reading.
I actually had skimmed the article: "A New Assignment: Pick the Books You Like" previously so reading it again I was able to pick up more about the writing style and structure of the piece.
Content wise, I think the article is extremely interesting. Before high school I prided myself on being a voracious reader. I still love to read but unfortunately, my time is eaten up by other commitments and I have had to put reading aside during the school year. However, I know that not all students would express disappointment at not having enough time to read. That is why I think the "choose your own" book style is incredibly relevant and even revolutionary to the traditional English curriculum.
In my interview for my summer reading article with Jim Baldwin, he talked about how he has been to teaching conferences that emphasized how enjoyment of a class enhances students' learning. So, if students enjoy reading books of their own choice, they are more likely to be engaged in a book that has been assigned to them.
I don't think that students should only read books they want to in school because I have definitely had valuable learning experiences with books that I would not have necessarily read or finished if they had not been assigned in English. But, especially for younger students learning to enjoy reading is as valuable as the learning experience from reading a prescribed book.
I also liked the writing style of this article. The way that it focused on the story on one teacher to highlight a national trend helped make the article more engaging.
I found the article "Good Books Don't Have to be Hard" interesting because I took 20th Century Novel last year. I agree with many of the points made in the article. I would also add that many people read novels as an escape so dense philosophical that don't really have a plot are not very appealing. However, I am glad that I took 20th century novel because modernism and postmodernism are like conceptual art: the idea is almost better than the thing itself. So, you learn something new but the way that the idea is presented is not always immediately accessible. Personally, I am looking forward to the reform in the structure of the novel.
On the article about the future or reading:
First, I would say this article does lean more towards a feature rather than straight news because it seems to not only be reporting about this one style of learning at the middle school but instead about a whole new concept that is starting to appear in different schools.
On the content of the article, I think that it is awesome! I personally think that the most important part of reading is stimulating your brain, learning vocabulary and good writing technique, and mostly enjoying it. I know that I feel the "American Classics" written by dead white males have been over read and over analyzed and take the pleasure out of reading. However, I agree with Olivia that it is a balance. I do not think that great vocabulary will come from reading Captain Underpants. If there was a way to have some sort of qualification that the book had to fall into or give a long list that student could choose from the system could be optimal. Personal choice could also help to enable students to read something that they are passionate about which can deepen their understanding and knowledge rather than have them waste their time with something they are completely uninterested in.
Claire Fox:
#1. The New York Times Pick Your Own Book article was very interesting for me to read. I partially agree with the theory the teacher believes in, that is it is good to read books you like, but I also think that it is important to read literature of a higher standard. I believe a mixture of books that students will find interesting and also books that are classics, is a good way to teach because it gets students interested in reading, while still helping them improve their vocabulary and english skills.
#2. I thought Wall Street Journal article was really fascinating to read and I agree with it. Plots are what make books interesting to read and if they are developed and more interesting, the book will just be better. When I am read books, I don't look to read the hardest most advanced book I can, I look to read interesting books of good quality. I do think there should be a balance though because harder books can really help teach students to read more thoroughly and also improve their english.
NY Times Pick Your Own Book: I felt that this piece presented interesting new ideas about how to approach children's school reading. I don't think that letting kids dictate all of the books they will read for class is a good idea though. I think a balance could be found between the amount of assigned reading, and the amount of free reading. This way, the free reading would encourage kids to keep reading, and enjoy it, and the structured reading could still be used to instill values, morals and principals into the country's youth.
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