In some ways, I do think that schools are killing the love
of reading. They force high school students to read challenging books that are irrelevant
to this time period. I don’t believe that genre fiction is less “worthy” than
literary fiction. Genre fiction can have just as much value and convey just as
strong of a message as literary fiction, and being a “popular” read doesn’t take
away from that. There are many popular books out there that can still have
valuable lessons like classics do that actually pertain to this time period.
When books are relevant to the time period we are in now, students enjoy them a
lot more because they can actually relate to them. When we read books where we
have to resort to SparkNotes for every single line, it takes away from the joy
of reading. If schools wanted us to enjoy reading, then they shouldn’t flood us
with books that confuse us on every page. I think that if schools switched to a
50/50 system where half the books we read are literary fiction and the other
half are genre fiction, the love of reading would still be present for some
students. For example, they could still keep Macbeth in the curriculum, but they could also add a more popular
title like The Hunger Games. Schools
should also add more independent reading projects. With this, students can pick
a book that they are actually interested in and still do all of the reading
analysis that the curriculum requires. For me, the love of reading has not been
destroyed. Mostly because I find books that I love and read them in my free
time. Not having a deadline or a mountain of packets to complete is what makes
reading enjoyable to me. Monday, May 14, 2012
Readicide
In some ways, I do think that schools are killing the love
of reading. They force high school students to read challenging books that are irrelevant
to this time period. I don’t believe that genre fiction is less “worthy” than
literary fiction. Genre fiction can have just as much value and convey just as
strong of a message as literary fiction, and being a “popular” read doesn’t take
away from that. There are many popular books out there that can still have
valuable lessons like classics do that actually pertain to this time period.
When books are relevant to the time period we are in now, students enjoy them a
lot more because they can actually relate to them. When we read books where we
have to resort to SparkNotes for every single line, it takes away from the joy
of reading. If schools wanted us to enjoy reading, then they shouldn’t flood us
with books that confuse us on every page. I think that if schools switched to a
50/50 system where half the books we read are literary fiction and the other
half are genre fiction, the love of reading would still be present for some
students. For example, they could still keep Macbeth in the curriculum, but they could also add a more popular
title like The Hunger Games. Schools
should also add more independent reading projects. With this, students can pick
a book that they are actually interested in and still do all of the reading
analysis that the curriculum requires. For me, the love of reading has not been
destroyed. Mostly because I find books that I love and read them in my free
time. Not having a deadline or a mountain of packets to complete is what makes
reading enjoyable to me. 
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The classics have no purpose in today’s world, we have newer better books to read now that do a much better job and are more fun to read.
ReplyDeletei agree that schools are killing the love off reading. i like how you said that "They force high school students to read challenging books that are irrelevant to this time period." because it is so true.
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