Throughout elementary school, we have always been told to read books. Some books for enjoyment, but the majority solely for educational purposes. The one question that I continually asked myself was, “Does reading really make me smarter?” Within hours of reading my textbooks, I find myself downing another cup of coffee, struggling to get through the tedious lines of ink. Not only was I uninterested in what I was reading, but I felt disconnected from the true meaning of the material. While deciphering text can be mundane, studies have shown that “reading has cognitive consequences that extend beyond its immediate task of lifting meaning from a particular passage” (Cunningham 137). Reading not only makes you smarter, but makes you rhetorically analyze things better. The skills that you gain through reading last a lifetime, not just for reading the latest Twilight book. In The Lonely, Good Company of Books, Richard Rodriguez describes himself as a small child looking at reading posters on the wall of his school. “OPEN THE DOORS OF YOUR MIND WITH BOOKS”, “READ TO LEARN”, and “CONSIDER BOOKS YOUR BEST FRIENDS” (172) were posters that young Rodriguez gazed upon in his classroom. He depicts himself as continually reading books to become smarter. “I vacuumed books for epigrams, scraps of information, ideas, themes- anything to fill …show more content…
Many studies have shown that students who participate in reading more often than those who don’t obtain higher GPA’s in school. Cognately reading an interesting book is stress relieving. Reading offers an alternate dimension that allows readers to escape reality. I agree with Rodriguez’s point of view that the more you read, the more precise and elaborate your English writing skills will be. If you read text that includes difficult vocabulary, you may establish a more professional way of writing using the vocabulary you found in your
The relationship between reading and writing is magnificent because they are one and the same. A great consistency of reading can permit someone to become a great writer. While reading a variety of books, he/she learns about text structures and language that he/she can transfer to their writing. I believe that reading gives me knowledge, which I can use to create narratives, argumentative essays and analyses. While in college, I plan to read extensively and develop a love for reading and writing, which I will have to use to be successful in my
Reading expands your vocabulary and knowledge. When I was reading my book, the Crossover, there were new words and their definition throughout the book. I learned so many new words like, patellar tendinitis which is also known as jumpers’ knee, an injury to the tendon connecting your kneecap (patella) to your shinbone. Joseph Addison said “reading is to the mind what exercise is to the body,” I think that quote is very true; we need to read in order to keep our minds going. If we don’t read during the summer, our vocabulary could shrink, and it is more likely kids will struggle at the beginning of the school
“The Lonely, Good Company of Books” by Richard Rodriguez, is an expressive narration about the importance of learning through reading. The essay is a narration of his life from his early school years to high school and how he struggled with the general belief that reading books are the main source of education. “Open the doors of your mind with books” (172) he quotes from a poster over his teacher’s desk. He learned early on that books were the key to academic success. Even though his bilingual parents never read for pleasure, they instilled in him the value of books. This idea was repeated by his teachers that reading was the main activity of learning.
Many students who struggle with reading ask why should we read, what is the point? The point is that being able to read opens you up a whole new world of knowledge and imagination. But to have that new world opened up you need to be able to comprehend what you are reading. The primary goal of reading is to determine the meaning of
Richard Rodriguez, in the passage “Remedial Reading” from his autobiography “Hunger of Memory”(1982), promotes active reading as a developer of one’s mind. He justifies his position by describing his initial experiences with reading, specifically his attachment to the reading. Rodriguez’s anecdote functions as an encourager of stubborn minds trying to read and displaying its potential to change their life for the better. Rodriguez uses a very descriptive style that may be too verbose for children but compliments the verbosity with enough explanation of his purpose for his message to be known or ascertained.
Richard didn’t like to read not only because he couldn’t but because it made him feel alone. One quote that explains what he’s trying to say is,”To console myself for the loneliness I’d feel when I read, I tried reading in a very soft voice”(2). Mr.Rodriguez did not like reading at all, because he spoke very little english, so the school set him up with at tutor. He would meet with this tutor and she read so well he started to actually like reading,”Our sessions pleased me: the smallness of the room; the noise of the janitor’s broom hitting the edge of the long hallway outside the door; the green of the sun, lighting the wall; and the old woman’s face blurred white with a beard” (2). This quote is saying that it started to not make him feel alone anymore. After the days went he began to read more and more and he started to love it. In Strange Tools he says, “Didn’t I realize that reading would open up whole new worlds? A book could open doors for me. It could introduce me to people and show me places I never imagined existed” (3). When Richard realized the importance of education and how important it was to read he began reading and got a B.A. at Stanford University, got a M.A. at Columbia University, and was a Ph.D. candidate in English Renaissance literature at the University of California,
In the 1600s, critics saw the increased production of books as a threat to society, because they feared that people would not be able to keep up and process the information at the same rate as it became available. Others feared that new books would outshine the classics, and as a result the society would plunge into a primitive state with masses of uncultured people. Ann Blair offers quite the opposite perspective in her article titled “Reading Strategies for Coping with Information Overload ca. 1550–1700,” where she demonstrates that the plethora of books, rather than numbing the minds, in reality cultivated new learning methods while making reading a more personal and intellectually stimulating experience.
In Annie Murphy Paul's "Reading Literature Makes Us Smarter and Nicer," she tries to persuade the reader of the importance of deep reading. She wrote this article because she heard an argument which she disagreed with and wanted to show her beliefs. Her audience, the readers of Time, are meant to learn about deep reading and its importance to them. Paul's tone is confident, as she speaks about what she thinks and supports it with a lot of evidence. Paul uses many rhetorical devices and appeals in her essay to accomplish her purpose.
The story “Remedial Reading” (excerpt from Hunger of Memory) written by Richard Rodriguez, is an autobiography of his childhood struggle with reading in which he describes how difficult it was being a young Hispanic boy out-casted by classmates because of his illeteracy. Initially, Rodriguez is overwhelmed by a sense of loneliness while reading, but later embraces that struggle when put in a remedial reading class with a very old nun that helps him tremendesly. She does this by guiding him through words he cannot comprehend. Rodriguez does an excellent job connecting with the reader throughout the story, this is especially evident through Aristotle’s three “appeals”- ethos, pathos, and logos.
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
We all know reading is boring, time consuming, and compulsory. All though, most kids would agree with that statement, some may disagree. Some can say that if one does not read they can lose knowledge and become less smart. If you don't read there can be consequences for stopping. Reading is valuable because it gives readers the power to escape, to maximize their potential, and to strengthen their mind.
As printed text becomes more difficult to read, reading as a hobby has gotten a lot less attractive to some people. UCLA psychology professor Patricia Greenfield points out in her studies, “reading develops imagination, induction,
(Attention Getter) Reading is a hobby that many of us can or already do enjoy, but what if I told you that the benefits of reading can stretch far beyond a little ease-of-mind? (Thesis): Some claim that readers will be able to enjoy a notably longer life than those who do not read. (Relevance): Out of the lazing pastimes that we occupy our little free-time with, very few of them have such a considerable, long-term effects as these claims
Many people read for fun but they are also learning while doing it. They are learning new words and expanding their vocabulary. Learning is a necessity in life and people learn the most by reading. Reading is an everyday activity and if an author writes something people expect to learn from it. It also makes the author learn. While writing the author is putting his skills to use. By doing that they are keeping their brain function high and they are getting relieving themselves from any medical issues that come with age and affect the brain.This being true that is an effect from writing you can learn from reading it and from writing
Reading develops a person’s creativity. Unlike movies where everything is determined by the producer, writer and director, books allow students to create in their minds how a particular character looks like or imagine how a scene plays out.