<p>It seems literacy has gone down in America over the years, at least that’s what I’m always hearing about regarding my generation. Being illerate sucks, I mean being able to read is pretty important in life. What about being aliterate, being able to read but choosing not to read? I know that I can read, but in the last 5 years I’ve probably finished 1 book completely and made it 95% of the way through two other books. It’s just such a challenge to find the time to read. It’s why I read comic books in fact. It’s something I can visualize better. I also enjoy movies for this very reason. It’s much faster to watch it then it is to read it. I have taken classes on speed reading and comprehension but none of the tricks I’ve learn I actually use. I do read on a daily basis articles on current events and what’s going on in the IT field. However when it comes to books, I can’t even recall the last one I read (or attempted to finish). I personally began hating reading when I was told what I had to read when I got to high school. They started prohibiting me from reading certain books I liked in middle school but in high school I couldn’t read anything I was really interested in so I just stopped it all together. Any other people like this? I mean I hear about this a lot in my generation. What do you think contributes to illiteracy and aliteracy? Should students be forced to read books that are classical yet not interesting to them or should they be reading contemporary material, things that interest them in today’s world?</p>
<p>Why do you see books as not contemporary? My 18 year old reads a new book every few weeks outside of what her LAC requires (which is plenty) - they are not the ones I would choose, but they are full length works of fiction or non-fiction.
I see it more as a function of effort. A real book takes more of a commitment than a movie, and more solo effort than a video game or whatever without the feedback from your WOW fellow gamers.<br>
I also think your excuse for why you quit reading back in middle school is spurious- if you think they were hammering you down, why didn’t you resist? Show them, read what they told you not to!</p>
<p>You are reading comic books, daily current events, articles in your field of interest. You read CC. Are you a student? Bet you’re reading textbooks up the wazoo. YOU ARE ABSOLUTELY FINE, NORMAL AND CONTRIBUTING TO YOUR LITERACY SKILLS EVERYDAY! How about your writing skills? Do you journal? Writing is very important to literacy. Novels just may not fit in your life right now. When you have time for relaxation, sticking your nose in a book may not be what you’re looking for. But life changes and literacy interests change. Classes have to give required reading. One day, you’ll have more time and interest in picking up a book BY CHOICE and enjoy it. </p>
<p>It’s the foundation you have from earlier in life, that can bring you back to reading for pleasure are you get older and out of school.</p>
<p>Oh yeah - and movies shouldn’t take the place of books. Movies don’t allow for imagination, the investment is short - two hours. Books can be savored longer. I wouldn’t even put movies and books in the same category. Movies cannot be substituted for books.</p>
<p>“Why do you see books as not contemporary?”</p>
<p>I didn’t mean to say books aren’t contemporary. I was talking about high schools forcing students to read classics instead of contemporary novels.</p>
<p>“I see it more as a function of effort. A real book takes more of a commitment than a movie, and more solo effort than a video game or whatever without the feedback from your WOW fellow gamers.”
I don’t play games, that stopped as soon as I started taking AP classes. Movies I’ve began recently to watch nonstop because I like watching certain actors and the plot/story to some of the movies are pretty good.</p>
<p>“I also think your excuse for why you quit reading back in middle school is spurious- if you think they were hammering you down, why didn’t you resist? Show them, read what they told you not to!”
If I read what I was told not to read, I would have wasted the time and effort needed to write book reports. Most of the papers and reports I had to do on books I soon learned were easy to do once I knew basic themes and events in the story. Micro-analyzing every detail goes a long way when writing long papers. It’s not like I’m going to change the system by refusing to read Romeo and Juliet and writing a paper. I’ll just get an F instead. So I learned not to fight it, and just work around it.</p>
<p>abasket, I am a student and everything you said was true, except the textbook part. I find most textbooks for my classes to be an absolute waste of money. I get them each semester as cheap as a I can and find that I only use them when there is problems assigned from the textbook. I don’t write as much this year because I’m not taking any liberal arts classes fortunately. However, next year I’ll be back to finishing those liberal arts classes which do require writing (just 3 left!).</p>
<p>Also I’m not saying movies are substitutes for books, but it takes less time to watch the movies and there’s a visual in front of you. I’ll admit, I like details just not reading those details. I’ve had to read some books in the past which take like 3 pages to describe the environment. To be fair, I know not authors are like this, but some of thebooks I’ve had to read were like this and completely drove me nuts. I like seeing things, not imagining.</p>
<p>I like imagining! It probably helps that I don’t consciously try to visualize; that would frustrate me because I have terrible visualization and terrible visual memory. I remember taking a memory test with numbers, stories, random details embedded in charts and stuff, and I beat my friends at everything (by small margins) except for visual memory, where I got 0/3 in both trials and they got 2-3/3… anyway I naturally conceptualize when I read a book; imagery creates a mood, not a picture for me and while I can’t visualize characters, I get an ‘essence’ feeling of how they are and then I can spot if they aren’t how I thought they would be if the book is adapted to a movie… but before that I couldn’t tell you how they’d look to me. So I wouldn’t try to read a book in a specific way; but I do think reading is more stimulating by far than watching a movie because you’re engaged in a book, you’re deciphering the words and analyzing stuff, whereas with movies- especially those cheap blockbusters- it’s noninteractive, you’re just taking it in… like TV…</p>
<p>I think about the same thing too. I can’t say that I’ve genuinely enjoyed books as much as avid readers do. There are maybe a couple books I’ve actually liked while reading, but they were required readings for school. Pretty much the only things I actually read for fun are my textbooks. Some people tell me I’m missing out, but I just… don’t care?</p>
<p>I love reading books and read every night. Personally, I think the schools should break away from a strong emphasis on just a handful of classics and introduce books more relevant to the target audience. It isn’t like no one has written a decent book in the last hundred years. There’s no way to turn someone off of reading faster than to force them to read a book they’re not interested in and then over-analyze it to death. Simply reading a variety of books will help improve one’s grammatical skills, vocabulary, expand their horizons, and give them a means to relax anywhere. It comes in handy if you fly a lot also.</p>
<p>I hope you’ll get back into reading for enjoyment again even if it’s not until you’re done with college.</p>
<p>I absolutely agree with ucsd that the schools need to broaden their reading lists. I also think they should be testing reading level in every year through the 12th grade to make sure the kids aren’t given books that might as well be written in a foreign language for the degree of comprehension. This teaches kids to hate reading. For those whose children are naturally avid readers, as I was as a young child, it may be difficult to understand just how turned off the high schools have made reading for kids who find it a struggle. I tell my kids that reading is like exercising any other muscle. The more you do it, the easier it becomes and exercise of any type is good for you. (But, honestly reading some of these books before the base has been built just causes injury.)</p>
<p>My advice to the OP is to gradually expand your reading by looking for books that are easy and fun. My college student finds the time because books give him an excuse to avoid homework he is procrastinating on doing. He finds that the right book can be as easy a way to unwind as watching a game on T.V. He definitely would not have time for the degree of recreational reading he does if he perceived it as taking effort. I’m not sure why, because I spent his whole life trying to engage him in fun reading, but he didn’t really learn to love reading until college. I am still working on my high schooler, who isn’t convinced yet that books are worth his time. He had agreed to try Enders Game over spring break and I never give up offering up stuff that might spark his interest.</p>
<p>I happen to read about three books a week and actively look for books my boys might love, so they are spoon fed recommendations. I am getting to the point where I can’t feed books fast enough to the oldest (since I do read a lot of stuff I know he wouldn’t like), so he is going to have to start hunting on his own. I also still miss the mark on occasion, so always encourage them to not feel compelled to finish any book that doesn’t interest them after the first twenty pages or so; there is an infinite number of books out there to try. I also wouldn’t worry about reading quickly. It’s OK to savor a book. As a matter of fact, many books that aren’t plot driven must be read slowly to be fully appreciated, in my opinion. Don’t worry if your interests seem simplistic at first. In my experience, your choices will naturally mature as your reading skill increases.</p>
<p>Another vote for expanding the high school reading list. There are so many worthwhile YA and contemporary fiction titles that could be thematically linked with classic titles and themes.
My kids were avid readers when they were younger, but the irony of an honors curriculum in many high schools is that the homework leaves no time for reading – for pleasure reading, that is.</p>
<p>I love sci-fi! We had Ender’s Game as required reading in 6th grade and almost everybody loved it and read it several times… reading it now, it seems too simple but the there are sequels and a companion quartet that are written at a higher level and I love them. I would recommend them to anybody, you should read them :)</p>
<p>And that’s special because I usually don’t like books written by ultra conservative people…</p>
<p>Classics are a part of most schools’ curricula because they set up the basis for more contemporary reading: there are so many allusions to the classics (especially by modernist writers) that if you had never read Homer or Shakespeare or Byron, you wouldn’t understand what was going on. Personally, I like older books: I know what’s going on nowadays, why should I have someone tell me what I already know? It’s much more interesting to me to look at the past and see if there’s any precedent.</p>
<p>Edit: On the flip side, I totally agree with post #12. Ender’s Game is such a good book.</p>