Staying awake and Death to the Reading Class
While reading 'Staying Awake' by Ursula K. Le Guin, I noticed some similarities between 'Death to the Reading Class' by Marshall Poe. Both articles seem to mention the same topic that many people have lost the spark of reading. It is so rare nowadays to see anyone pick up a book anymore, and whether it be because they do not have time or are plain out not interested there seems to be a decline in reading. Both articles highlight this as their main subject. 'Staying Awake' goes into detail on the history of our practice with reading emphasizes what has changed over the years, and 'Death to the Reading Class' goes into detail on how this decline of reading all started. Both articles seem to share some overlapping themes of a reading decline and where it began.
Changing Reading forever, again.
While reading the article "Changing reading forever, again" I made some connections to " The Reading brain and the digital age" such as Technology is changing the way we read. Reading is being split between the readers and the non readers, because of technology. People who enjoyed reading will now just read paper books ( for the most part) when they read for pleasure. And when non readers read. It is usually articles on the internet what were assigned for something, like class.
Reading Brain and the Digital Age
Technology is changing the way we read, but it also changing our intelligence. Many People think that the internet is making us smarted, while some think that it is just increasing the amount of information that we have access to. This ties to the "Does the internet make you smarter?" because it is talking about how the internet is changing our access to information, and how that is affecting our intelligence.
Does the Internet Make you Smarter?
Just like the printing press caused both the protestant reformation and scientific revolution possible, this article discusses what changes the internet could have on the way projects are done, how content is created, and what other 'New Norms' could arise due to the internet. This ties into the next piece we recommend viewing for our reading guide, "Txting is Killing Language.JK!!!", a TED talk by John McWhorter. The TED talk discusses what 'New Norms' are arising due to the use of instant messaging and texting.
Txting is Killing Language!!! JK!!!
While watching the TED Talk Texting is Killing Language. JK!!! by John McWhorter I noticed it connected to another TED Talk, What makes a word ‘Real’? by Anne Curzan. In McWhorter’s TED Talk he describes how our ways of communicating are evolving due to texting and the invention of this “new language”. Anne Curzan speaks in her TED Talk about defining what makes a word real and who decides that. McWhorter went into detail specifically about a conversation he observed where the acronym ‘LOL’ was used consistently almost like a word filler. It made me wonder and brought me to the thought of Curzan’s talk, who decided who made the word ‘LOL’ real? And should it count as a real word and not just a place holder? Texting is Killing Language went into more depth on debating whether or not these new advancements as far as technology and new language were helping or hindering they way we are as a society. I think wondering what makes a word real ties in because it has the same kind of idea behind it, who gets to decide if this new language makes sense or if it should stay in place. McWhorter and Curzan’s TED Talks not only raised questions but also made connections about changing the ideas of language and how we are evolving.
What Makes a Word 'Real'?
After watching Anne Curzan's TED Talk "What makes a word 'real'?" I was able to find connections to another article, "Staying Awake" by Ursula K. Le Guin. In both sources, there was a similar idea mentioned that they we are observing literature and language as well as reading is evolving. Curtain's TED Talk described how we as a society have evolved and we are changing the way literature and words are being developed. We have this new found control over what makes words real or not and that is somewhat similar to Le Guin's article. Le Guin talked about how we are evolving as far as reading goes and our society has changed its point of view over the past few years in regards to whether or not books and reading an actual tangible item is still prevalent in our lives today. Both articles assess the evolution that we as a society are inevitably going through with regards to literature and reading.