Why Students Should Be Experienced Readers Without Teaching Exactly What Reading Means? Essay

“In Democracy in America, de Tocqueville observed that Americans esteemed the arts and sciences more for their practical applications than for their abstract value —hence the popularity of newspapers, religious treatises, and self-help books” (2-3). Since that is the case, the interpretation of a classic must evolve for it can relate to today’s society. Current society includes cultural diversity, therefore, literature that is taught must provide this diversity. Students should be reading literature that will give insight to others and contains a strong meaning; rather than providing literature that does nm for the student. reading a book just for a grade will not help the student in anyway.

“The more you read, the more things you know. The more that you learn, the more places you’ll go.” This is how Dr. Seuss thought of reading, and I think of it in much the same way. Literacy is everywhere and influences us every day, therefore, it plays a major part in each of our lives. I believe that reading is an interactive activity in which learning happens, or as Clay (2001) defines it, “…a message-getting, problem-solving activity” (p. 1). Reading is the process through which one reads information and from doing so, constructs meaning about the material. The more exposure and practice one has with reading, the more knowledge one gains. In this paper, I will begin by discussing my own personal educational philosophy, then continue by stating and explaining four of my beliefs about the reading process and the research that is found to support each of them before sharing the remaining questions I have about literacy. I am an existentialist, and a strong supporter of a balanced literacy approach. My beliefs about literacy come from these foundations and perspectives that I embrace. For students to be successful in their literacy development, I believe that identity acceptance in the classroom is crucial, instruction for all students must be differentiated, direct and explicit instruction is at times necessary, and vocabulary is a significant component in the ‘Big Five’ of children’s literacy development.

In Francine Prose’ paper, “I know Why the Caged Bird Cannot Read”, Prose describes why many high school student dislike reading literature that the American education system has preached. The premise of her essay is that today’s high school English classes are largely flawed in both material and teaching method. Prose contends that these practices are damaging to the students’ understanding and appreciation of literature. She harshly critiques the quality of required reading in American high schools and suggests a reconsideration of the English curriculum. She challenges the audience to acknowledge the curriculum’s impact on high school students and urges the audience to consider how it may addressed. Prose crafts her argument by using an appeal to logos, asking rhetorical questions and employing negative connotation.

Schools often require reading materials containing unfamiliar subjects to students. Recognizing that there is significance for critical understanding of the text itself as well as the act of reading, this explains why many students today struggle with reading material that is not relevant to their lifestyle. Freire portrays that by the statement, "reading the world precedes reading the word, and reading the word implies continually reading the world" (Freire 286). A person should read their world, and then interpret it. They can then use their existential experience of the world to connect to what they are reading in print, and better understand it.

Prose assumes that most high school students do not read on their own and that students do not enjoy the literature they read in school; she also assumes that many students stop reading in their adult life and that what books students read in high school affect them for the rest of their lives.

Many children who are in their teens have difficulty with reading books; whether that being with the wording of the book or the content of it. The novel How to Read Literature Like a Professor, written by Thomas C. Foster, is a book aimed toward teens to help them better understand books that may usually be challenging for them. This book is written in second person since Foster uses the word “you” a lot in the novel. The main thing Foster thinks you will be after reading his book is a better reader overall. All of the chapters in the book have a reason for being where they are, and he also gives the reader examples from other books. He gives the reader insights into what authors did in their books that you may have never noticed before. This

Robert Pondiscio states “To be educated in the liberal arts is to have a broad grasp of literature, art, music, history and the sciences. That's also a fair description of what it takes to be a good reader…If you're a good reader, it's not because you've learned, practiced and mastered the "skill" of reading. Once a child learns to “decode” fluently, a child's ability to read with understanding rests heavily on whether the child knows something about the topic he or she is reading about.” While we focus on English and math being core parts of what we use in everyday life we must also focus on how to get the younger generation to grasp and have a full understanding on what they are reading. It is one thing to literally read something and absorb nothing out of the text that was read, but a completely different story for a child to read something, understand its meaning, and also reflect on what they have

Indeed, reading starts with an initial idea spawned by the author, but it is the reader’s responsibility to interpret, ponder, and absorb this idea in a beautiful and meaningful way. For example, a quote from one book could be lackluster to one reader and have little to no effect on them; however that same quote can move another reader to tears.

With reading being the cornerstone of society it is expected that children begin learning about literature in their most formative years. With children reading younger and younger it should come as no surprise that something as loved and personal as reading should be turned into a competition among children (more personal). This unfortunate truth has followed me through the majority of my academic career turning literature into a job and annoyance. Much like many schools, my primary education required the logging of reading to ensure the students were spending some of their time enriching themselves rather than wasting it, according to the faculty. Being the competitive natured children we were, seeing who could read the most soon became the

In the article “I Know Why the Caged Bird Cannot Read” (1999), Francine Prose asserts that high school English teachers are teaching classic novels so insultingly that their students actually end up loathing reading altogether. Prose supports her assertion by asking what it even means to be educated, informing the reader that the same boring novels are still being taught in classrooms twenty years later, and explaining how teaching methods have plummeted to the point where every teacher has their students relate experiences back to themselves. The author’s purpose is to question whether English classes are even needed anymore in order to not only understand but to enjoy classic literature. The author writes in a contemptuous tone towards parents

Millions of literary works have been created and published throughout time. Some of these have been considered arguably the best literature ever created, and some believe it is important to teach them. As the United States does not have a defined national school curriculum as other nations have implemented, major controversy remains on whether all high school students should be required to read specific texts in their schools. The common knowledge of specific texts can unite students from around the nation, but this implementation may not necessarily hold truth within a large, diverse nation.

Students will use prior knowledge of story structure and identifying climactic events within the text to identify why something happens and what it is a result of.

Reading can be such a broad topic in America today. How important is it, why do we read, the questions are endless but to what extent is reading really important? There are so many issues going on around the globe such as illegal immigration, abortion and the new health care reform. Reading is no where near as important as those topics, those issues can change one's life forever and reading is just something we do without even noticing. It comes natural to a human being in the 21st century. In Rick Moody's piece “The Joy and Enthusiasm of Reading” he is arguing that there is no right or wrong way to read. I agree with Moody's opinion that there is no right or wrong

I wouldn’t say that I am a good writer, and I really don’t like to read books either. Through my years in school I became literate in these two categories. I was and still am not interested in writing, or reading books in my spare time. The only writing I have ever done is for school. Writing just does not interest me, and the only reading I do out of class is reading about sports in magazines, or reading the news, or looking at web pages. I have only read a couple of books on my own, 95% of all the books I have read have been for school. The reason for not writing out of class is probably attributed to the fact that I am a very impatient person, and I have a short attention span. I have no interest in writing and reading so when

Reading has at all times and in all ages been a source of knowledge, of happiness, of pleasure and even moral courage. In today's world with so much more to know and to learn and also the need for a conscious effort to conquer the divisive forces, the importance of reading has increased. In the olden days if reading was not cultivated or encouraged, there was a substitute for it in the religious sermon and in the oral tradition. The practice of telling stories at bed time compensated to some extent for the lack of reading. In the nineteenth century Victorian households used to get together for an hour or so in the evenings and listen to books being read aloud. But today we not only read, we also want to read more and more and catch up