Saturday, December 17, 2011
Question of the Week (12/16/11)
Our last question of the week in 2011! Hall cites four types of reading, which one do you use most prevalently and which one would you like to cultivate. For instance, I use reading to escape everyday when reading for pleasure, but I would like to cultivate reading to engage. Then elaborate on your reasons why. Explore this question. Posts are due by the end of the school day on Tuesday. Enjoy your holiday break.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
I am a voracious reader and always have been. My love of books began early. I love nothing better than to stack books up for my mom to read to me when I couldn’t read myself. Because of this, and the fact that I was home schooled, I learned to read early. Once I could read by myself I rapidly progressed to higher material as I devoured books. When I was about ten a shift happened in my reading. I stopped reading books more for the story and started reading books for the characters. To this day my reading is still slightly divided into reading for the story and reading for the characters. It has taken much thought to try and find what category I full under according to Donald Hall. I believe the most prevalent type of reading I use now is reading to engage. I still do read for pleasure which, I believe, Hall described as reading to escape the world, but just not as often because most of it is what I call trashy fiction. I think trashy fiction is a waste of time. I love my world which is full of my family, friends, school, singing, dancing, sewing and making other people happy. I rarely feel the need to shut myself up and escape. I love to read because I fall in love with the characters. To me reading a book is a journey of exploration about the characters and not to escape from the real world. Once a book is finished I am normally very attached to its characters as I have just finished a, sometimes roller coaster ride, experience of emotions with them. I love the Jane Austin books and have read and reread them because I experience what the characters experience right along with them. I read and reread them so much that for my thirteenth birthday present I received the complete works of Jane Austin along with the complete works of Louisa May Alcott and the Bronte sisters. Maybe I wrong and my type of reading is reading for pleasure, but I thought that it fell more under the reading to engage type. I want to cultivate reading to learn as I believe it is my weakest type of reading. When I read to learn I often don’t give it my full attention and can be easily sidetracked or the read the page with the information not passing through my brain. It is like I read and the information goes into my head and I know what I am reading, but as soon as I close the book I wouldn’t be able to tell you what I just read. It takes a lot of focus for me to read and learn at the same time. I need to get better at paying attention to what I read and not just reading to get it done. I can skim read and process the information very well if I pay attention and focus, but when my mind is wandering off on different topics and I skim read I don’t process a word I read. I need to cultivate and encourage my reading to learn skills as I will need them later in life, college especially.
ReplyDeleteWhen reading a book it’s hard for me to stick to the authors intended plot. I’ll begin to read a book only to find myself reading the wordings without paying any attention. Instead of the story I’m supposed to be reading my mind wanders. I take the characters the author created and make my own story for them. Even if the story is engaging to me and I read through to the end, when I finish, I love to daydream about where the characters are now, how their story continued. Hall says, “Narcotic reading survives the impact of television; because…the reader is in control; once the characters reach into the reader’s feelings, he is able to…superimpose his own daydream” (261). TV sets the plot with no wiggle room. Books allow you to create the character on your own, you essentially get to build the scenes in your head. Books allow your imagination to really take off. In classic books like Harry Potter where the world the authors writes is one far from our own, we get to imagine the impossible and really go wild when creating the images in our minds.
ReplyDeleteThe type of reading I would like to cultivate more in “reading for information.” The books I like to read are for pleasure. I like the books I described above that let your imagination have fun. There are books about science that I’m sure I’d find interesting and would have a whole knew experience with because what they’re discussing is real, and true. When Hall discusses reading for information, he says that it’s more for skimming. This is what I do when I come across more informational readings. I need to learn the patience to sit down and read in depth more cerebral writings.
In response to Bethany: I totally get what you mean when you say that you love the characters in the story more than the plot, the characters are the ones we get to create and dream about. I also like when you said you go through this rollercoaster ride of emotions with the characters. After reading a book I always feel like I know the characters so well, because it feels as though we’ve been through so much together.
I have always been told that reading is very important for the present and future of your life. Until recently I didn’t fully understand what that meant. I think reading is a big part of ones philosophy of life and how the go about living it. I think that I am the kind of reading in which Hall describes as “we read slowly, and we hear all the words.” I am not sure if this is how I always read although more often then never I seem to be reading books that require one to interpret meanings of sentences or of the motif in the story. I think I take reading sometimes to seriously not taking account of maybe a word or sentence could actually mean what has been said, without overlooking the simple facts. I believe that I now read more to engage then for fun. I think this is because of the lack of time that we have for leisure reading because of the constant burden of homework and other pressing matters.
ReplyDeleteI think the type of reading that I would like to cultivate more in is Narcotic reading.
I never really thought about it, but I used to read for fun and let my mind create whatever the book will let me. I don’t do that as often because I simply don’t have time for that pleasure. I look at it as if everything I read must be done and if I have time to read for pleasure I will. I know this idea might be a flawed, but I have nothing else to base myself upon because that’s all that I know. I think that this might be because of the society we live in. I aspire to read more for leisure and not for academic stimulation for the better of myself.
In response to Bethany: I understand where you are coming from I put myself in the characters position too, which always makes the book more interesting to you.
Making the book seem relevant to your life and imagining what could have been differently. I’d also lie to comment on how I can’t help, but feel a bit jealous of how much you read!
I remember a time when reading for me was a past time. I really enjoyed reading then. I could use narcotic reading and make up my own storyline for what might happen after I put down the book. There was a time when my life was like that, but now that’s not the case. I am an example of a human being that has replaced books with other pastimes that help me daydream such as television (as hall mentions) and music (as many people would agree with me). Reading for me now is no longer a pastime. My reading now is taken up by loads and loads of textbooks. The kind of a reading that textbooks bring is quick reading. I find myself more and more often reading just to understand a concept rather than actually enjoy the material. Taking notes for a class involves a lot of quick reading and scanning for you need to winnow out what is unnecessary and jot down what is necessary. Quick reading does get dull sometimes, but if one were to get work done, they have to know how to quick read.
ReplyDeleteI would like to cultivate in more of reading for pleasure like I used to. It would make me feel, as hall says, more of the upper class because it would show that I have spare time. Time, however, is not on my side. As more and more textbooks, data, and tests appear, I feel like I’m suffocating more and more. The thing is, I’m not even sure reading in my spare time helps alleviate my stress or helps me have fun anymore. To me, television and music have become more potent than reading and I enjoy those more now. I’m glad that reading hasn’t completely died out of my life just yet. Television is great, but I think it lacks the sophistication of reading. In the long run, I know that reading will help me more.
Despite all this talk about television being more a part of me than reading, I do occasionally find some time to free read a bit. Bethany started a trend within the past three posts about the characters. I have to agree. I read a book for the characters. Sometimes, I find this world to be boring, but it interests me when I put my place in a character’s perspective and journey around in their fabulous world of magic instead. Another thing I like to do with the books I read is to combine them in my imagination. For example, I would be reading a scene when all of a sudden I would think, “Hey, what would this other character do here instead?”
As with Carolyn, my post is also about not having enough time to indulge in the pleasures of reading. Hopefully, after the chaotic world of high school and college are over, I’ll find time to read in peace without any worries of a potential paper due the following morning.
I have always been an avid reader, always wanting to push my limits and read literature that was way beyond me. This passion for expanding my intellectual and literature-based world hasn't changed in the last few years, but the amount of free time I have definitely has. For the most part, when I read, I tend to go for classics and great literature. The majority of my reading is done in the literature-method as Hall described, reading every word, and picking up on each detail. I think the reason I enjoy reading literature is because I grew up in slightly intellectual household, where both my parents are professors, and my brother was semi-obsessed with russian literature and culture. My brother and parents gave me the impression that reading material by the greats was the most worthwhile type of reading, and so I strived to be able to read classics. When I was in 8th grade I remember I started my first "complicated" book, a story by Solzhenitsyn named A Day in the Life of Ivan Desinovich. Although I didn't understand at least half of it, and I really had no substantial knowledge of Soviet Russia, I still was relieved and invigorated when I finished, and took any moment I could to share my knowledge of the book.
ReplyDeleteAlthough I enjoy taking time with every moment in a book, I think I would like to cultivate information reading the most. In my opinion, it seems like information reading is the most practical to have in every day life. You need to be able to pick out the most important bits information quickly without going in depth into the writing.
I agree with what bethany said about reading for information, I also find myself getting sidetracked, and often I can't tell someone what I just read after finishing if I am distracted.
I’ve never been the biggest reader around, it is hard to say what specific reading I tend to use and explore the most. We all read some sort of each category at some time or the other. Even so, I think I most prevalently read literature to escape every day life. I will always have a novel type book at my house that I read every night. Usually the stories I read are adventures or a person’s life that gives you plenty of room to explore your own mind and imagine. For Example, right now I have been reading the hobbit by Tolkien. It is part of the Lord of the Rings trilogy and is filled with adventure. I can think of many different images and sights in my mind that I have adapted just from reading the book. The imagery and places I can go are endless and free. Fortunately and unfortunately, there has not been a movie for this specific book in the trilogy (but I do think they are making one). This is good because it keeps my imagination open and doesn’t restrict my mind. That is one of the things I hat about movies compared to books is that it only gives you one strict image of the story to go by. If I had read all the Harry Potter books before watching the movies, I am sure I would imagine Harry Potter in many different ways. Now, when I think of him, I immediately think of Daniel Ratcliff (I think that’s his name). I would like to see the movie of the Hobbit though just because it also brings action right to life in front of you. This is something that everyone likes but really is just mind candy. Anyway, I think most stories I read give me this room for imagination. I also prevalently read reading for learning books. The most obvious time I read these types of books are in school. This is a large part of our sources for reading. For example, I take my math book home every day to do homework and learn. Like I read my fun book every night, I also read my math book every day. One type of reading I would like to cultivate more is reading intellectually and connecting with the words. The idea that Hall presents “to read literature is to be intimately involved with the words on the page” really fascinates me. I feel like this type of reading is something I haven’t quite yet discovered. Really connecting with the idea on the page I feel like would help me in general with my English. Becoming more intimate with words I’m reading would help me become more intimate with words I’m writing. I think in this way this type of reading could also help me become a better writer.
ReplyDeleteI really liked what Bethany said about how we should all try to read so we can really focus on what we are reading rather than just for the sake of getting it done. Doing I think would also help me a ton. The more you practice just getting reading done with, you will continue to not really focus on what your reading. But if you practice focusing on what you are reading, you will tend to focus even more in the long wrong. Focusing on reading could also help in tons of ways: SAT’s, school books, and any other future literature we read in our job or anywhere. Really focusing could also help us remember things much better.
Throughout my high school career the amount I read has slowly dwindled until it is a rare occurrence where I am reading a book for my own enjoyment outside of school. The majority of what I read is for information. I read quickly, doing my best to finish the assigned reading in as short a period of time as possible. I may read the story twice but mostly to mop up any details I missed on the first read through. In elementary and middle school I was the kid who read all the time. I used to read all through school and my Christmas list would just be a list of books I wanted. I read constantly and it has helped me enormously in school when it comes to spelling. These days though, during the school year I just don't have the time or motivation to read. I think that I want to read more for narcosis. I like reading books to escape and imagine a different world. Not necessarily fantasy but simply a different perspective that I don't have or don't know about. I think that this is beneficial to ones character because it helps you put yourself in some one else's shoes. I think that at this point in my life reading "literature" using Hall's definition of the word is not high on my list of priorities. To me that type of reading is not enjoyable and that is the primary reason for which I read. I think that reading more fiction and novels would help me improve my vocabulary and keep me relaxed. I agree with Brendan that it is crucial that we as a class focus more on analyzing what we are reading so that we can deconstruct the various grammatical uses and misuses as well as rhetorical devices being used. This will help us in life as well as on the SAT.
ReplyDeleteI am, to quote Hall, a complete “narcotic reader". I always have been, and I hope that is something that will never change. Hall made narcotic reading sound bad on it’s own, for reasons that it shuts people off from the world around them and is little better than watching television for the mind. In my opinion, that could be no further from wrong. Television does not allow room for one to use their imagination and interpret the story how they wish. To the accusation that it cuts people off from the world, I would also disagree. Especially when I was younger, I spent every single moment I could reading books, (I even won some legitimate awards-still haven’t decided if that’s something to be proud of) but I maintained many great friendships and didn’t live in some fantasy world. I was lucky to have parents who taught me to read well before I was in Kindergarten, something which has certainly shaped me and defined who I am.
ReplyDeleteReading for me is a way to escape and it is something I do on a daily basis. In this sense I assume it is like what many people enjoy with TV. I don’t have television but reading has proved just as vivid as a screen in front of my face and it gives me more room to exercise my imagination and edit parts however I wish. Narcotic reading for me is fiction, fantasy, and sci-fi for the most part. There are very few books in the classic genre that I have enjoyed but I have found some like The Old Man and the Sea by Hemingway, 1984 by George Orwell, and And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie. Jane Austin books and other similar books could not be more boring for me. I do not know how many times I have tried and failed to read her books. 18th to early 20th century themes and characters are incredibly irritating and leave my pretty agitated, so I try to avoid those. I absolutely love The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings series along with many other less dense books.
I’m the kind of reader that, once I get into a book, I refuse to put it down until I’m finished, literally. I have a pretty fast pace, even faster if I am rereading a book. This can sometimes be a problem because I will push everything off until I am done. For example, yesterday I started the fourth Harry Potter around mid-afternoon and didn’t stop until I finished it around 1:30 in the morning today, after which I had to do my homework. A lot of people, my dad for one, don’t like this kind of reading but I find that pausing only distracts from the story.
I really should try to cultivate my literary reading skills. I have a hard time slowing down to debate over a character’s motives for his actions. Analyzing literature has never been my forte, which is a bit of a problem considering its prevalence in today’s society.
I completely agree with what Bethany and others have said about becoming attached to the characters over the course of a book. Almost every time that I finish a book I feel sad because I’m missing some people or part of myself that I came to understand and know so well. Unfortunately I can’t just go back and read the story again at least for another several weeks or I might get sick of it, but that deep connection remains.
I agree right off the bat of what Henry has said. I found that slowly from 9th grade and beyond I am no longer reading my “narcotic” choices. I, instead only ever read labs, textbooks, or history books now, which I classify as reading for information. 80% of the times I do not enjoy what I am reading and find it painfully slow to get through the pages. I love reading books of my choice and getting engaged and lost in a story. I don’t get emotional when I read about chemistry or math; I find it rather complete opposite, which is boring. I really do love reading, especially in the summer time on the beach, because that is really the only I have time to read. I am far too busy doing homework, or a sport that I honestly can’t remember the last time I sat down and read a good book for more than 30 minutes. I used to read for about twenty minutes every night before I went to bed, but now I don’t even need to read because I am so exhausted as it is. I even find myself falling asleep reading books for school. I always ask for books for Christmas too, but the past years they have all been sitting in my bookshelf untouched. I would love to cultivate “reading to engage” just as Ms. Piro said. I remember in middle school when I couldn’t ever put down the Twlight books, which is probably the best feeling when you’re reading a book. It’s sad to me that I haven’t been able to get “lost in another world,” because I have too many things to complete in my own. I recently bought the The Hunger Games novel because I want to read it before the movie comes out. Hopefully over holiday break I will finally be able to break it out.
ReplyDeleteI’m a huge narcosis reader. I like nothing better than grabbing a piece of really good writing and shutting the rest of the world out as I delve into someone else’s world. Reading is one of the things I do to relax, and there are many times that I stay up into the long hours of the night, reading a book that I just can’t put down. Being able to read because I want to read is important to me. I have to do a lot of reading for school, and one might think I would abstain from the activity over vacations. But over vacations I have the opportunity to read because I want to read and can read whatever I want. Fantasy is especially addicting for me. I also read a lot for information. My dad has always stressed the importance of being able to read a textbook quickly and efficiently, picking out the key pieces of information. To increase this faculty I read a lot of newspapers and magazines, and the result is that reading newspapers and magazines is just a part of my life, as it’s also a great way to learn about the news of the country and world.
ReplyDeleteThe type of reading I would like to cultivate more is reading philosophy or reading for ideas. It’s difficult for me to read slowly and deeply think about and explore the thoughts - whether implied or stated – of the author. I can gather a lot of facts from a piece of writing, and I enjoy narcosis reading, but slowly turning over the writing in my mind, whether for a piece of literature, poetry, or any other writing is something I would definitely like to cultivate. I think that one reason I might be a horrendous speller is because I see a word, and the word registers a meaning in my head, but I don’t really take in the letters. I glance at the word and move on. So perhaps taking my time when I read could improve my spelling.
I agree with Claudia and Henry that as I have grown older, my opportunities for narcotic reading have significantly decreased. That’s why over breaks I take the time to do some reading.
Reading has never been one of my favorite activities. For the most part, I read only when I have to. I read the assignments a teacher assigns because I am told to. I do not usually read on my own for fun. Therefore, most of my reading is reading for information. I read the newspaper when I need to learn about events in the world. I read books only for the sake of gathering the information I need to write an essay. In other words, even when I am reading a novel, I read it by skimming through it for important information, the way Hall describes reading for information. Overall, if I go to the trouble to read something, it is because I need some sort of information from it.
ReplyDeleteI would like to cultivate reading for entertainment. During the few times that I have chosen to read on my own, I have enjoyed it. If I choose to read, it isn’t as boring as when a teacher tells me to read. Therefore, I would like to cultivate this form of reading. For example, I was lazy and never bothered to read the Harry Potter series. A teacher never assigned it, and I never bothered to read it for fun. I don’t hate reading, and I think I would certainly benefit from reading it. But for some reason I haven’t. The same applies to the Lord of the Rings series. I have always wanted to read it, but it is much easier to simply watch the movie. Overall, I wish I engaged in more narcotic reading.
I agree with what Claudia said about how being busy prevents people from being able to be lost in the world of reading. Perhaps if I had more time, I would be able to engage in more narcotic reading. Much like Bethany and Carolyn, I love putting myself in the position of the characters in the books. I face their dilemmas, and attempt to solve their problems.
I read for information more prevalently than any of the other types. I read the sports section of the paper almost everyday to find out what is going on in the world of sports. I also read articles online to find information out about other stuff. Reading for information is the only one of these types of reading that I can honestly say that I do on a consistent basis. I would like to cultivate reading for pleasure more than I already do. I enjoy reading very much, but only when I have a really good book. I’ll have a good book, read it for a couple days, then not read another book again for a month at a time. I need to find more books that I like so I can become more of a reader. There are a couple reasons why I should become more a person who reads for enjoyment. First of all, reader is a much more productive activity than other stuff I do with my time. Right now I use my computer and play video games and do very little reading. If I became more of a reader I would spend less time playing video games and using my laptop. Also, reading is something I enjoy, but I always forget how much I like and choose to do other things.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Henry that as you go through middle school and high school the amount of pure reading you do decreases exponentially. And when you do reading for school the attentiveness at which you read it is not where it should be. Many students read quickly, trying to pick up the important points, just trying to find the answers to questions that are usually assigned with the reading.
The type of reading that I do the most is probably what he considers narcotic reading. When ever I get a chance I read what ever book I think will have the most interesting story. I read these books quickly and with out thinking much about the actual writing and without thinking about the characters too much. I just pay attention to the plot line and what is going on, basically to become involved in someone else's story other than mine. The other type of reading that I probably do the most is reading for information, I read a lot for information for school, mostly in textbooks. I don't really like reading for information, but I am required to do so. Also when I read news paper articles or magazines Hall considered these types of information, but I think that I read these types of text as narcotic reading because although I want to find out the information, it is merely to become involved in someone else's story. I think that I would like to cultivate my literary reading and learn to really enjoy what I am reading more that I do. I would love to learn how to read for the words that are being written, not just for the story.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Ellen that being narcotic reader is something that is really important to me despite what Hall says about it, and I also agree that it would be nice to be able to slow down and absorb the literary parts of a text.
The type of reading that I do most often is informational reading. I have lots of reading assignments in textbooks and many book based assessments which I study for buy referencing small piece of information from pages. I also enjoy doing my own research and learning about topics I am interested in but which are not specifically taught at the school. I read lots of articles and reference books on astronomy because I am passionate about the subject. Before breakfast I will often skim astronomy articles for quick information on new discoveries and missions in the field. The type of reading I would most like to cultivate is also informational reading. This is because while I enjoy reading for information, it is closer to narcotic reading for me because I take my time and when I have the chance, go through every detail and read like I would a novel. I am less adept at what Hall describes as the fashion of informational reading where the reader quickly gleans the necessary words from a page of text. I am a terribly slow reader and have much difficulty with skimming a piece of writing. Either I read every word, or I literally skim the page with my eyes and see nothing more than a page with ink, but no meaning. I would like to be able to read a sentence here, a sentence there, and subconsciously know where to jump to across the page. As of yet however I am stuck slogging through SAT passages and articles, nightly homework’s, and reports, one word at a time. I am not saying that reading itself is difficult for me, or that I have difficulty reading a sentence, but rather, but rather I have difficulty jumping across the page and skipping any length of text. I am practicing however by reading more often now than I used to, and hopefully I will be able to improve. I agree with Oren the reading literature is often emphasized by parents. I do not however think it is a good thing to ask children to read Tolstoy or dickens when they are in elementary school. Reading the words will not make one smarter. It might even make one averse to future reading. I believe children should challenge themselves to read harder and harder pieces of text but only in topics of interest and inquirer. Reading with a purpose is always better in my opinion than reading for the sake of reading.
ReplyDeleteBy far the type of reading I do the most is literature reading. This is for school because I am assigned books that I have to read. My favorite type of reading is narcotic reading. I do not like to read for information or read poetry or anything like that so narcotic reading would win by default anyways. I would like to cultivate narcotic reading because I do not do it enough even though I thoroughly enjoy it. I do not have much free time, so the time I do have I do not normally spend it on reading. Now that christmas break is upon us I will have some time to read and am planning to read “The Hobbit”. Hopefully I can re-spark my love for reading and spend more of my time doing it. When I was little all I did was read. I would run home from school to read until dinner, and then read until bedtime, homework was squeezed in here and there. I would rip through books, usually finishing a couple per week. Some of my choice favorites were the Redwall series by Brian Jacques, also the Alex Rider series. That was when I had tons of free time to read but now I have none and consequently I never read anymore. Reading is also very good for your mind, even if it is not educational reading. One learns words and correct grammar by reading good writers.
ReplyDeleteI completely agree with Henry that the amount of time spent reading decreases as you enter middle school and then high school. I have the same story as Henry because I used to read a lot but never do anymore.
Reading to garner information about a topic is typically the kind of reading that I do most often. As I am still in school, many of my assignments are out of textbooks or articles and the goal that our teachers set is for us to fully understand the information given without just skimming it. They want us to contemplate it and elaborate on it with each other, yet I am the type of person who doesn't comprehend all of the complicated details and rather just recognizes what is going on and reflects off of what I think. This is why I think that I am more of an imaginative person and enjoy reading for narcosis. I like reading where I can guess what happens next or make up my own ending to the story in my mind. Like Sammy said, I tend to lose sight of what is actually happening because I substitute what I want to happen. Even though this happens, I still enjoy reading books for just the fun of it. They are an alternate place for me where I seem to get sucked into. When I pick up a really good book that is both interesting and fun, it is almost impossible to put it down. This kind of reading doesn't happen a lot these days because of the little extra time that I have. On the other hand, I would like to cultivate reading slowly and thoroughly piece by piece (mostly for informational reading). It is most often that when I read an assignment, I get bored and also wander. I think if I took my time with reading, I would understand more and therefore be able to go even farther with my reflections and knowledge. When I rush to get it done, the only thing that I am thinking about is the end and when it will be over. I think this is the main reason that I get lost in informational reading and in the future I need to read the material a couple of times to really get a sense of what is going on.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Claudia when she said that almost all of her reading that is not for narcosis ends up being boring and doesn't stir up any emotion like math books or chemistry books. I also agree that I get lost and it has been a habit for me not to sit down with a book and read for fun because I am always tired and overwhelmed by school or extra curricular activities.
I read for information the most often. Since I am in school, I frequently read from textbooks or articles and I barely ever enjoy it. It also takes me a much longer time to gather the information and thoroughly understand it. I tend to skim the book or reading and anxiously wait to finish the reading. It's a bad habit of mine, but it's only when I have to read something boring that I skim the reading.
ReplyDeleteI would say that I enjoy reading for narcosis the most. During the summer, when I have a lot of free time, I read about two or three books for fun. I will read a book in a span of two or three days and enjoy every single second of it. When I read a book that is in a series, I will anticipate for the day the next book comes out. Like what both Elise and Sammy said, I tend to get incognizant of what is happening and will make up my own ending. Reading books can be fun for me because of how sucked in I can get in the book. If I start reading a book that is romantic or gossipy, I get into such a happy mood and I never want to put it down. Narcotic reading barely ever happens because of how little time I get in between sports and school. I tend to only read for fun during the summer and then get nothing else accomplished.
I agree with what Carl said. In elementary school, you have so much more free time than you do in high school. I didn't ever have homework and when I had a sports game, it was at most 30 minutes away and after school, not two hours away and I have to miss school for my game. Even though the books I read in elementary school weren't nearly as long as the books I'm reading now, I read a lot more books for fun than I do now.
I mainly read scifi for pleasure but I do occasionally read historical biographies. I enjoy scifi because it is a relatively simple genre that allows authors to fully explore there imagination as to create a more imaginative and incredible story telling universe than many other literary mediums. I generally read for pleasure which is fun and extremely productive, however it does not get my homework done. I feel that reading for pleasure is the most beneficial form of reading, because when you read for pleasure you are reading a book that you enjoy allowing you to relax and become completely absorbed in the story. Once you have become completely absorbed in a story it is easier to follow the books ins and outs. When reading Scifi this is helpful because it means that sometimes more confusing passages make more sense.
ReplyDeleteThe type of reading I would like to improve or expand is reading for academic reasons. I believe that if i continue to train my brain in reading comprehension I will only have to read threw a passage once to answer questions about it. This would streamline my academic reading.
Personally, I disagree with his classifications. I felt slightly insulted by the way he classified pleasure/narcotic reading. He seemed to believe that it had limited, or no value, and in fact make it less easy for a person to look critically at a work of literature.
ReplyDeleteI spend the most time doing “narcotic” reading, and frankly, even though I’m enjoying what I read, I’m still capable of thinking about in a critical sense, identifying stylistic choices, and looking for various interpretations and meanings. I don’t like the way he categorizing types of reading. It seems more than a little narrow-minded. Perhaps that is the way he reads, but I don’t agree that it’s universally applicable.
That said, I would like to hone my ability to slow down, and break things apart. It do find it difficult at time to read something I consider “dry” or overly focused on substance over style. I prefer to think of a novel, or article as a whole, rather than a collection of connected parts.