Welcome to English 1010! This blog is the place to find links to articles, post discussion questions about the articles, and respond to others' discussion questions.
Here is a link to the first reading, due Friday, August 31st. Remember to bring a hard copy or electronic copy to class, be prepared to discuss it and answer questions about it in class, and then post a question or comment about it on the blog. Email me at emilywhitby1@weber.edu if you have any trouble accessing the article.
Caleb Crain, "Twilight of the Books"
What did everyone in the class think about the fact that reading is declining in the U.S.? Is this a problem?
ReplyDeleteEmily W.
I'm feeling like yes, this is a problem. Specifically with employment. As Dana Gioia wrote in the article, "Poor reading skills correlate heavily with lack of employment". I hear complaints all the time about employers hiring foreigners before Americans, and that foreigners are taking over the job market. I think reading has a lot to do with it. Employers are going to hire the greatest asset to them, and if Americans aren't very literate and educated, then duh, of course a foreigner is going to get the job before them. That's where i see the problem taking place.
DeleteColby Wilcox
The article seemed to point to many connections that reading has to the progress of our nation. I agree that it does. Education was the backbone of this country when it started, and if it goes away, there goes our position of being a world power. Who would've thought that reading a few minutes each day would boost the economy?? It sounds too simple for the people running the economy to believe! Let's put more money, time, and investment into education. If we do that, I believe that many of our nation's problems will take care of themselves with time.
Delete-Colton W.
To me, reading is a huge source of education and knowledge. No matter what type of reading it is. If we can read together collectively then the important things we read will make more sense and be more useful to us. If we can retain more information from the things we read we can be smarter individuals. And smarter individuals can help create a stronger and more well rounded nation.
DeleteKyle, L.
I really do not believe that reading is declining. I think people are reading more then ever in this last few years. Maybe is becoming a problem reading a educational book.
DeleteZul M.
The article mentioned television and how watching television rose from 10 minutes a week to 10 hours a week, this was between 1955 to 1975. I'd like to know if the average American still watches that much a week or if it lessened. How much television does our class watch a week compared to what they were watching back in the day? My approximation for myself is 3 to 4 hours a week.
ReplyDeleteOh, it all depends on the week. My average would probably boil down to about the same amount, 3-4 hours a week. But man, 10 minutes a week, that's not even one show!
Delete-Bryson C.
I try not to watch to much television, however, I'm curious to know whether or not something like video games would have similar results if studied or possibly have a different outcome. Mostly because it takes a little bit more engagement to entertain your self with a video game opposed to just starring at screen.
Delete-Felix B.
There have been studies surrounding video games (specifically iPad games, app style with highly interactive graphical user interface) that have been shown to help autistic children become higher functioning. Not necessarily more intelligent, but better able to cope with the world around them for sure.
DeleteI don't like to watch television a whole lot. I would say on average 3 hours a week. I try to leave my free time doing something productive or outdoors. But like Bryson said, 10 minutes a week is nothing. Sometimes it feels like 10 minutes could only be one commercial.
Delete-Lauren F.
There are a couple shows per week that I like to watch that can take up to 4-5 hours per week. Since school has started I thin I'll probably have to cut back some on watching or at least record and then watch on the weekends.
DeleteKyle, L.
I try not to watch to much T.V. but once in a while I will allow myself more time because I would like to relax and just watch a good show.
Delete-Taylor O.
I heard a review of a book "Cradles of Eminence" on the radio that mentioned an aspect of this phenomenon. I haven't gotten around to the actual book yet, but in it the author correlates things that these leaders and historically important individuals had in common. One of these qualities was the amount of reading they did. From the famous to the infamous, they were leaders of men and they were readers.
ReplyDeleteIf we, specifically as Americans, are declining in our reading then the correlation is that we are declining in our ability to be world leaders...and THAT is a scary thought. How much reading do you think the Chinese do compared to Americans? Japanese? Swiss? French? Iranians? Cambodians? Estonians? I'll bet there's a definite correlation to reading and the level of their world presence too. (eg 1st world, 3rd world, word power, etc)
Just a thought, to me, the stats at the beginning of this article were just saying that recreational reading is decreasing not literacy itself. We still use and need reading to function, period. We still learn language in depth in school and use language and reading to read texts, Facebook posts, street signs, text in video games, blogs, etc. I don't think reading or literacy are dying, just recreational reading. I don't know, maybe I just misunderstood what the stats meant, but I think the article overreacted a little bit.
ReplyDelete-Bryson C.
Actually the article DOES report that over the course of a 13 year study Americans are becoming less literate. Here's an excerpt from the first page of the article.
Delete"...Americans are losing not just the will to read but even the ability. According to the Department of Education,..."
I thought it was kind of funny how the author stated that people improved on test scores, even when they watched pornography online. Does anyone really buy into that? Pornography is an addiction and eventually turns into disorder. Which means that the brain isn't functioning right at all. The author expresses a little knowledge of Psychology by describing and giving example to the lobes of the brain, however, he/she must have forgotten that there is behavioral AND situational reactions.
ReplyDelete-Jaxson S.
Yes,, when i read that I was completely shocked. I don't believe that. Like you said it does turn into an addiction and messes with your head and brain. There is no way that watching porn can help improve test scores. I would imagine it would lower them because you would constantly be thinking about that and you would be distracted, not being able to focus on what you're learning or studying.
Delete-Lauren F.
It seems reasonable that reading for recreation is declining. Reading will always have it's place as an informative source, but it has some tough competition when it comes to entertainment. In biology, organisms tend to favor foods high in energy that require less effort to consume and digest. The same principle can be extrapolated and used in this situation. Reading takes more effort than watching T.V. and isn't as readily entertaining. The reader needs to use his or her imagination to make reading fun, whereas T.V. fills in the blanks for you.
ReplyDelete-Charles S.
On the fourth page of the article, it states that reading is easier than watching TV. Except in cases of dyslexia, the brain wires itself to only use portions of the left hemisphere leaving the brain free to intertwine it's own thoughts with those being read. Television is a form of sensory overload. Your brain works harder to process all of the information flooding it. However, despite the increase in activity the article also states that television viewing had the effect of lowering a subjects grades by roughly one grade level.
DeleteYes, i think this is a problem. These days, what doesn't deal with a little bit of reading/literature? Everything. You can't go somewhere and not expect to have to read some kind of material. It's like math, if you think about it, some way, some how you can make anything into a math problem. It's like this with reading too. It stated that fourth and eigth graders reading skills increased more than the average adult, and each year the numbers dropped even more. It is causing many problems such as unemployment, and the loss of opportunities for adults. In this world/economy today, there isn't much room for illiterate employees, and that could be a big problem for many people.
ReplyDeleteI agree we need to become more literate to have a successful life. Otherwise we could be working at a low wage job and going nowhere in life. Reading is a very importaint communication skill that we should try to improve on not just to get a high paying job but to be a role modles to the younger generation.
DeleteThe levels of reading has definitely decreased in my opinion, due to the fact that families have become less involved in their children's education. This can be caused by many aspects and dynamics in a family. In my experience when I volunteered in a first grade classroom in my hometown in Southern CA, was that the parents of these children were not involved due to the following reasons:
ReplyDeleteThe obvious one being technology.
Also, the parents were young when they had a child and were unable to focus on their education, let alone their child's.
There were also many single parents who had three or four children under the age of six and were unable to focus and feed the quickly growing minds of their older children due to the fact that they had an infant who required constant attention and another baby on the way. Thus, the children act out to get attention and only get negative attention and therefore not the positive feedback that is required for a young child to maintain interest in a subject such as reading.
The last reason being that large children's companies are supporting health and that that young children need to be active, and many parents take this in the way that their child must continually be active, and thus extra curricular activities become more important than school.
Thus, these are a few reasons that I have seen in my own experience, how family dynamics themselves have impacted the decline in reading.
-Karleigh A.
In my opinion reading is declining. Is rare now to see someone reading a book specially high school students or elementary. Also the reading ability as decline. I think a person that reads about different topics becomes more academically higher. Understands the different situations or other people and have a more open mind to things.
ReplyDelete-Zul M.
I believe that recreational reading has declined. I have personally seen it within my own family. My mother absolutely loves to read and reads almost everyday. My older sister will read a good book every now and then. But as for me and my little sister we hate it. We will only read a book if we have to for school. So i can see it happening just within my own life. I think that for younger generations there are so many more technological advances and opportunities that they use their free time doing other things. I was just wondering if my family relates to anyone else?
ReplyDelete-Lauren F.
I think people who read on a weakly/monthly basis, or every so often, are more likely to keep growing in a world of literature, imagination, and life itself. When you read a book, you can be anything. Whatever you may choose to read, is going to affect you in some sort of way, whether it be good or bad. There are so many things you can take out of a book and i think it pushes you to think outside of the box with many different situations. Reading is also good for you to escape from reality. At the end of the day, i truly believe that people who read and have read different forms of litterature will continue to grow and develop great qualities, because they have been able to relate to other people, and their problems.
ReplyDeletethe article states that our genes are not coded to read but the skill does exercise and help develop the brain. we still get this exercise by reading school texts and other reading material. the problem is with the decline of recreational reading there will also be a decline of creativity and the ability to think deeper.
ReplyDeleteI was wondering if this article includes all the college students that read text book and require books for the class or just people that read for fun? Because college student reads on the daily bases, well at least me.
ReplyDeleteZul M.
I can't believe this class is almost over already! Thank you so much Emily for being a great teacher!
ReplyDelete-Taylor O.
I agree with Taylor. This semester has flown by. I haved really enjoyed this class and would love to take another class with Emily.
ReplyDelete-Bailey M.
I am so grateful for all of your efforts Emily, you made this semester a lot more enjoyable for me. You are a wonderful professor and I learned a lot from you!
ReplyDeleteStaci Galvez
DIDO! (of what Staci said) THis was a great class! THanks Professor Whitby and all you classmates for making the mwf 7:30 english the best class!
DeleteKaylee Moore