Kaycee Knochenmus, Alyssa Boscaljon, Emily Pudwill, Brent Smith, Tom Eitreim (and many others) have emailed me to tell me that--now they are in college--having read these novels, plays, poems, and essays has helped to make them "well-read." We have four major novels left. Students of the past have enjoyed reading them and doing the thinking these books provoke. Do you believe that a person must be "well-read" to be well-rounded? Does being "well-read" help you write essays, make important decisions, catch allusions, make connections between topics in debates/arguments/conflicts? Otherwise, why would people keep reading the "classic and newly-significant novels"? Consider this website, then respond:
44 comments:
Both Alyssa and Emily have written college essays about books they read in this class. Conversations will be held about these novels and authors forever, I'm sure. Interestingly, references are also made to them all the time in the media.
I read once that a large percentage of errors on math tests are actually reading errors! That really resonates with me still. Reading (finding and discerning) meaning is the one skill you must have in every concentration/major/area.
Being well-read helps you have something to say in conversations. Being well-read also helps you have something to ask about. I think people respect others who are well-read.
Reading is training for: getting humor in movies, catching jokes in newspapers and conversations, holding conversations, making speeches, wondering about big issues/problems, completing math exercises, knowing history, evaluating other people, comparing situations...
Being well read makes you more aware of what is going on in the world. If you arn't well read you are missing out. Their are books out their that have allowed us to converse about certain issues and the problems in our soceity. In my opinon to be a well rounded intelect you should be well read. When a person is well read it shows that you have something to offer.
Whether it be Harry Potter leaving you with a sense of imagination or Angels and Demons leaving you with a sense of mystery and true curiosity, every book gives your mind new skills or atleast new thoughts that help range your thinking level above the average non-reading person. Mary Higgins Clark's books are known for being horror story books that truly scare a reader yet coming from a well-read and well-rounded mind you can easily see that by the way she plots her books and uses her words so wisely, that that is how she acheives her perfect books that have you wanting to read more and more. The more someone reads, the more they learn on their own how to analize a book or story. By reading a book a person teaches themselves knew ideas and skills. So a well-read person plainly has more skills to offer. The more books being read, whether it be The Da Vinci code, the Bible, House on Mango Street, or Clifford; the mind knows more, and therefore makes a person well-rounded.
Without proficient language use, we cannot express our best ideas effectively. In fact, the English language--along with all languages--is probably an inadequate tool to fully communicate our complicated ideas and thought processes.
English class = our attempt to use our inadequate linguistic system to communicate our significant ideas effectively.
It won't matter how smart you are/become. If you cannot communicate, your ideas will remain obsolete. Words are the best we humans can come up with (so far).
I think that reading helps you learn more about yourself. So the more that you read the more that you have to offer, because the more that you know about yourself the better you are. So on your quest to finding yourself one should always take some time to settle down with a good book. Growing up I always hated the rules that my parents had set up for me. But after reading Lord of the Flies I realized that my parents rules were only set up for my oun protection. And now even though I still wish that they were a little less strict, I understand why there are so many rules.
Aichele is so right about Lord of the Flies by William Golding. It is one of my all-time favorite books, perfectly-suited for college bound students. Golding was a schoolteacher who discovered he could write novels. He used his experiences in the classroom to create a timeless allegorical tale that shows young people why at least some structure is necessary. Lord of the Flies is timely right now in America, as we are engaged in the war in Iraq.
Lord of the Flies is about human nature, one of the most fascinating topics to explore.
If you've read Lord of the Flies, you will catch and make so many more references that you would have missed. It is one of those books that nearly every college-bound student reads and analyzes. Highly literary, highly scholarly, highly entertaining. Sweet art goes with the novel, too. I'm looking forward to starting it in a week or so.
Like "Pollard" said, whether you read Harry Potter or One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, reading provides an escape for people that allows them to wonder and dream and experience new things that they would never experience. It allows into the minds of different people and introduces new perspectives that can help aid them in proving a point or helping someone in the future. Whatever you read, it will teach you something, whether it be a new way of looking at someone, a new way of saying someone, or a new vocabulary word. I agree with the fact that being "well-read" will also make you "well-rounded" because of all the things a person can experience and learn from other people's experience and knowledge. It can help a person write essays by providing new ideas and new facts to back up a point and knowledge from a different perspective. Whether it be a book, a magazine, or a newspaper, reading will increase your knowledge just that much more, thus making you a "well-rounded" person.
I think that reading helps kids out alot they just dont realize that they are learning alot when they do read. Reading also can be fun but very few students read a book for the fun of it. Reading is not much fun to some kids and alot of kids now dont like reading at all but when they do read they learn a bunch more vocabulary and they also learn to think on a higher level, which is good and does prepare the student for college. To answer the question, i do believe that reading any material makes the student become "well rounded." I dont think that reading is a must to be well rounded, but it helps alot.
Aichele is a scholar, unquestionably.
Being well read helps in many different situations. It can help when making disicions, knowing what is going on, and gives you experiances. Like if you read the newspaper you and informed of what is taking place in the world today and everyday. If you read books and other materials it can help give you experince through other peoples mistakes and accomplishments. Being well read is important to everybodies lives not matter what that person is reading.
being well read is needed no matter what field you decide and whatever path you choose, college or tech school, or just a highschool diploma you need to be able to read and understand everything. by reading you learn more and understand more about yourself and about the world whether it be a magazine or a long thought out novel reading is the best way to better yourself
I agree that reading anything and everything can help anyone and everyone succeed. Most of the time, information is free and easy to acquire, like a library for example. Books, magazines, newspapers, online blogs, etc., act as catalyzts into real world discussion and action. They can expose the under-the-surface scum that no one talks about, or experiences that people can relate to. One example of a scum exposer is The Jungle by Upton Singclair, which touches the evils of early twenties child factory workers (I think...). So, with the given knowledge and resources, we can change the world. We can all be heroes with reading...it just takes a little time and patience to produce powerful knowledge and a burning passion to take action.
one of the best quotes one of my older friends gave me was this one and it seems to fit in some with the well rounded points that reading and trying to learn make
"quit makeing statements and start asking questions youll find that the right answers make a lot more sense"
-dan
just think about it
When you read you learn so much more. The more you read a novle the more symbles you find. It is good that we read them in highschool so that we can learn the deeper meanings to the books that we have read.
One piece of literature America needs to read is the Bible...it is completely relatable to the past, present and future. It, too, contains allusions, symbals, history, love, mystery, adventure, etc. I believe the Bible is the most important and valueable reading material there has ever been... people should learn how to use it.
In The Jungle, Upton Sinclair wrote about horrendous working conditions in Chicago--for adults and children alike. He was an advocate of/for socialism, which would theoretically eliminate poverty, making each person's salary the same. Somehow, the tenets of socialism work in Scandinavia (Norway, Sweden, Finland) and other regions of the world, but communism, socialism's cousin, has failed tragically in a lot of areas. One could argue that communism is working for the Cubans and Chinese; I'm no master of governmental regimes, but I like to wonder. And I'm sure I have a copy of The Jungle to lend you or anyone else, WrightE
Being "well-read" is important in life. Every novel, book, magazine, or newspaper article expands your mind and awareness in the world. Expanding your mind helps you to think outside the box which in turn makes decision making easier and helps you to debate, argue, and solve conflicts. If you are "well-read," your brain interprets all of the grammar, spelling, and content you have seen. This makes you a better writer because you become accustomed to all the usage.
Being well read is really important to really understanding what's going on in the world today, from my point of view. My biggest pet peeve is when you say a word... the most simple basic word and someone has no clue what you're talking about. I think that if they were alittle bit more into reading books then maybe they would have known the word or would have cault on from the words surrounding it.
I was kind of surprised to learn that in college you read some of the same books that we are reading now in high school. I am glad we are reading them now so that when I get to college I have already read it.
Being well read can help you in your future when things start to change around you. you could remember what you have read and connect it to anything that is going on with you and the world. Being well read could help you write papers and make some decsions.
i think that reading different types of novels, plays, and short stories in high school will help us alot because it develops other sides of our reading skills that might be lacking. For example, in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, i can remember that right at the beginning of reading the novel, nobody had any idea what was going on and it was hard to comprehend what was happening in the novel. Now, when i began to read The House on Mango Street, some people were telling me that they had no idea what was going on, but i think i understood it better or it just plain out made sense to me because of the way i read it.
Typhinie is so right: we have to be able to refer to a knowledge base when we encounter change. That's the only way we progress, by building on our prior knowledge and making decisions accordingly. Relates a lot to history classes, it seems.
I believe that a person should be well-rounded...You don't necessarily have to be well-read to be well rounded. Being well read on the other hand, is extremely helpful in writing essays and understanding literature on the next level. There is no way i would have ever known that the family guy episode was a Pygmalion allusion. Knowing that there are millions of little things like that hidden inside shows many of us watch today kind of makes you more inteligent---and you would get to laugh at many more things--becaues you will understand the material.
I think being well read does make you a better writer. Certain types of writing make you more aware of how different types of sentences can be made. For example, writing an essay in science may not include as many adjectives as a story but may need more facts. Having been read in both stories and science novels makes these differences more appearent and easier to write about.
Someone doesn't need to be "well- read" to be "well-rounded." Being "well-read" can certainly help you write essays better, but at the sametime many people can write essays without being "well-read," and have the essay still be enjoyed by others. I believe that if one is "well-read," it will help them make better decisions for when they need to write an essay, but it is not a major factor in sounding intelligent.
Being well read helps you in all aspects of life. If you read more you can write better and everyone writes in whatever they end up doing in life. i however do not believe that you need to be well read to be well round but it can not hurt you. the more you read and the different types of things you read will also help you in life.
I believe being well read does make you a much better writer. Whether it's a magazine you read or a 1000 page book, it still helps. You need to connect to what your reading. That might help you relate to what your reading so you can comprehend it. Also, you learn new things like words, phrases, and even analyzing the book. This will make you a better writing so that what you write, others can relate to it.
The books we read today are taught to us for a reason. By reading about other peoples life experiences and read about how they handled tough times in there life may be teaching us life long lessons. These books are not called "classic" just because someone thought it was a good book. These "classic" books were chosen to be taught because they get us thinking and asking questions about the book, life, and how we can relate to them.
I think being well read is important and will helps me write essays. I don't always like reading but if I can get into a good book I enjoy it. Being well read helps you to be well rounded, you can talk better, know more, and helps you learn english better. I think when you read a novel you can always learn a lesson, whether it be a big one or not it always helps.
By reading many classical and modern novels it helps us better understand our culture in the present, past, and possibly our future. The "classics" are novels that have been around for quite a long time. People wouldn't keep reading them and teaching them if they weren't significan't to our life and who we become as a person. By reading books that are allegories, and contain a lot of symbollism, we can furthur understand who we are, what are values are, and where we stand on many important issues. It's important to be a "well-read" and a "well-rounded" individual, but there are other important things in life too. People who don't have much of an education and live in poverty can be "well-rounded" too. Maybe not academically but there are more ways than one...
I believe that by being well rounded in literature you are able to simply read things easier. By aquiring a wide spread vocabulary you are less confused when you read an intelligent piece of writting and are therefore able to understand the message of the piece and not be so focused on what the words mean. By experiencing cultural literature you can eventually achieve a good understanding of life in general.
Yes, being "well-read" will help immensely. What is we each do every day? read. Whether you are reading a novel, the menu at Burger King, billboards on the interstate. We are constantly reading an obtaining information. With readin we are building are volcabulary, and in effecting the way we sound be it like the stereotypical blonde or a highly sophisicated person.
It is work to acquire language proficiency, but the benefits are endless. The more language proficiency one has, the more one can communicate. The more one can communicate, the more one can prove one can think well. Thinking well gets one rewarded.
I agree with the the fact that one is benefitted with a strong knowledge of language. Being able to communicate is extremely important, especially in today's business world. I think that reading helps develope one's vocabulary and expands one's reading skills.
I do not think that being "Well Read" is a prerequisite for being "well rounded". Yes, reading more complex novels will help you catch allusions more consciously, and analyze better - but sometimes its nice to be able to just enjoy the book without having to worry about what something means (if it even symbolizes something).
We read Tale of Two Cities in Honors 10, and the fact that we had a 30 page packet to do completely ruined the reading experience for me. Had I been able to just read the book and not have to worry about picking up on every minute detail I would have enjoyed the book much more.
I think it is good to be well-read. If you don't read, you are missing a lot in your life.
I dont think that a person must necesarily be well read in order to enjoy reading. Everyone has their own style of reading they enjoy and they read at their own pace. If these people dont keep up or agree with others do we consider them to be ignorant and not well read? I enjoy reading when i have the time to do so, being in school and being forced to read creates time and helps young adults either develop good reading habbits or turns them off to the idea entirely. If you are well read person i think it is easier for you to comprehend certain concepts and therefore make you a better writer.
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