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Summary:
Staying Awake by Ursula K.Le Guin is an article that discusses the huge decline in American reading level and quantity. The article starts with some very interesting facts about the decline of Americans that read. For example, the author talks about how recent surveys revealed that 43 percent of Americans had not read a book in a year. The author then goes through other reading systems through the history of American reading, and shows how different reading is today for most Americans. Following the comparison through time, the author takes it another step, comparing the American reading system to other countries. The article then goes over what a book actually is. The author shows some very unique viewpoints on what a book is, how a book works, and how companies manipulate books and booksellers.
Reaction after reading:
While reading Ursula K. Le Guin's article, 'Staying Awake: Notes on the alleged decline of reading', I noticed she mainly talked about how and what has drove us to this decline as well as her view point behind it. She opened the article by talking about the many thoughts behind reading and where many onlookers see it going. Le Guin's article counterbalanced many points but her main question that she analyzed was whether or not reading books was on the way out. The argument she made showed both points of view and she started the article with the history of reading and analyzing its past and how it has evolved over time. One of Le Guin's main strengths to this article was that she analyzed the history of reading and how it developed over time, dating all the way back to the Romans, the Middle Ages and The Renaissance. Reading was kept a secret at the beginning of history and then many people seemed to see it grow into this form of work that revolutionized peoples' lives. She points out that the 1850's to the 1950's were the highlight of reading and when books really struck ground and made an impact. Reading was scene as a social activity to many people and nowawdays its harder to see it as that. Le Guin later discusses how recently if people are reading it is because they are forced to, not because they would enjoy it and it has become increasingly harder to stay focused because many people treat reading like a job and they don't enjoy it. Ursula K Le Guin's article gave a reader an idea of how reading books has evolved over time and many peoples' opinions on them today, as far as if they will stick around or leave a lasting impact. This article also raised some questions for me. I wonder how Le Guin formed her opinion on books and developed her ideas so strongly about whether or not they are on they way out. I enjoyed how she was able to make connections and references to supporting pieces that really made sense to the reader and helped develop her ideas better.
Key Words/Phrases:
- Associated Press: Independent news gathering, collects polls etc related to literature/writing/english.
- "The Midlist": The well stuffed section of a publishers catalog, they are neither debut or best sellers.
- The Old Curiosity Shop: Classic novel by Charles Dickens, used as an example of novels which people are missing out on.
- Michael Pollan: An american author and journalist who wrote The Omnivore's Dilemma, a book which Le Guin referenced.