Great Conversations
In Robert M. Hutchins essay, ”Preface to The Great Conversation” he discusses how he believes Great Books are the finest creations. According to Hutchins, Great Books are the books written in the Western civilization. Robert Hutchins believes reading these books will help everyone morally, intellectually and spiritually. In the fifth paragraph Hutchins state, “the rising generation has been deprives of its birthright: adults have come to lead lives comparatively rich in material comforts and very poor in moral, intellectual, and spiritual tone.” Hutchins believes this because this generation isn’t reading the Great books, to such on the materialistic thing in life. I disagree with Hutchins. I don’t’ believe everyone should read Great books. I disagree, everyone opinion of a great book is different.
I disagree with Hutchins belief, who is he to define Great books? I don’t think reading the books he describes in his essay will help our generation do better or worse. I think it’s up to our generation to define Great books. Our generation s is diverse. Everyone learning style and taste is different. However I do belief education is the key to our success, but the reading the books he describes in his essay will not do the trick. Our generation and society isn’t lacking because we aren’t reading these so-called Great books, it’s lacking for varies individual reasons. Knowledge is gained through several daily activities. Reading these Great books is essential. I would consider the works of Terry McMillan, Alex Walker and Maya Angelou to be Great books.
These authors talk about issues that affect me, my peers, and my community in today’s society. Reading the books Hutchins described help them overcome trials in their day.
Just because a person reads a lot of books doesn 't technically make that person a good reader. Richard Rodriguez clearly emphasizes this in his article The Lonely, Good Company of Books published in 1982 from The Hunger Of Memory: The Education Of Richard Rodriguez. As a child Richard did not like reading he saw "reading at best, as only a chore".(Rodriguez pg.227) Not truly understanding the pleasures and education he could gain from reading books.
There are both similarities and differences between the Raven of Edger Allen Poe’s “The Raven” and the Raven from Native American mythology.
First of all, Bradbury shows that when man represses intellectual endeavor, progress cannot be made. In this society, people are not allowed to be creative or make improvements as well as not being allowed to read. This is described by the protagonist Montag when he confronts the chief and explains how easy someone could change the programming of the hound. The chief tells Montag that he’s not being realistic because no one has enough knowledge to do so (Bradbury 27). This explains that people are viewed as normal or plain because no one believes that a person could think like that. Also, this is evident when Montag’s wife is watching television. Montag asks his wife “Why don’t you watch something useful for a change instead of these soaps? Because I don’t need to be useful” (Bradbury 51). This shows how most of the people rely on the government rather themselves. In addition, when the fire chief Beatty visits Montag they begin to talk about books. Beatty tells Montag “What do people see in books? They’re just paper and ink” (Bradbury 30). This shows Beatty’s view on books and how they are of no importance to anyone. Therefore, when man represses intellectual endeavor, progress cannot be made.
In “The Closing of the American Book,” published in the New York Times Magazine, Andrew Solomon argues about how the decline of literary reading is a crisis in national health, politics, and education. Solomon relates the decline of reading with the rise of electronic media. He believes that watching television and sitting in front of a computer or a video screen instead of reading can cause the human brain to turn off, and lead to loneliness and depression. He also argues that with the decrease of reading rates, there will no longer be weapons against “absolutism” and “terrorism,” leading to the United States political failure in these battles. The last point Solomon makes is that there is no purpose behind America being one of the most literate societies in history if people eradicate this literacy, and so he encourages everyone to help the society by increasing reading rates and making it a “mainstay of community.” Solomon tries to show the importance of reading in brain development and he encourages people to read more by emphasizing the crisis and dangers behind the declination of reading.
Glaspell, Susan. Trifles. Making Literature Matter: An Anthology for Readers and Writers. Ed. John Schilb and John Clifford. Boston: Bedford / St. Martin's, 2000. 127-137.
In “Language and Identity Politics: The Linguistic Autobiographies of Latinos in the United States,” by Lea Ramsdell, she talks about three different autobiographies by Richard Rodriguez, Ariel Dorfman and Gloria Anzaldua. She describes that how their views on their different language differs from one another. Ramsdell states that “Language is identity and identity is political” in the beginning of her paper. She asserts that the language choice for each writer was a political act for which they use for self-empowerment. After reading the works by all three, she realized that the language heritage was brought together by their family and each ethnic history. I agree with the assumption of Lea Ramsdell because throughout the autobiography of Richard Rodriguez, we can sense that kind of relation of languages. Rodriguez thinks that by leaving Spanish behind and mastering English language, he becomes a member of the world of success. But question is that whether it is necessary to abandon your first language, while learning another language? I think Rodriguez has chosen a wrong direction while assimilating into English culture. He could be a successful person under these circumstances, without losing his cultural traditions.
Weinstein, Arnold. A Scream Goes Through the House: What Literature Teaches Us About Life. New York: Random House, Inc. 2003.
Young people, normally under 20 years old, tend to read less. The book The Dumbest Generation by Mark Bauerlein portrays the ignorance and lack of knowledge in teenagers as he connects this disparity to their declined reading habits. Bauerlein says that the young American mind is being tarnished by technological advancements that draw children and teens away from books. He often states how he fears for the country’s future because of the intellect of the younger generation.
Kenneth L. Donelson, 1980. Literature for Today's Young Adults. Edition. Scott Foresman & Co ,U.S..
.... Le Guin has found that there are many different reasons for why this is happening and they say what some of the reasons are for the decline in reading. They discuss the seriousness of the issue but are not in complete agreement about how serious this issue should be taken and what needs to be done to start solving the problem of declining reading. While reading is definitely in decline, Le Guin does not think that this declining reading issue is a situation that is completely hopeless. There may not be as many people reading books but someone will always want to read so they would never disappear completely. She believes that books will always have a purpose (If a book told you something when you were fifteen, it will tell it to you again when you’re fifty, though you may understand it so differently that it seems you’re reading a whole new book. (Le Guin p37)
In “The Lonely, Good Company of Books,” by Richard Rodriguez, you learn that Rodriguez had read hundreds of books before he was a teenager, but never truly understood what he was reading. His parents never encouraged him to read and thought the only time you needed to read, was for work. Since his parents never encouraged Rodriguez to read it effected how he perceived books.
Edgar Allan Poe?s ?The Raven? is a dark reflection on lost love, death, and loss of hope. The poem examines the emotions of a young man who has lost his lover to death and who tries unsuccessfully to distract himself from his sadness through books. Books, however, prove to be of little help, as his night becomes a nightmare and his solitude is shattered by a single visitor, the raven. Through this poem, Poe uses symbolism, imagery and tone, as well as a variety of poetic elements to enforce his theme of sadness and death of the one he loves.
Bambara, Toni C. "The Lesson." Making Literature Matter: An Anthology for Readers and Writers. 5th ed. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin's, 2012. 1142-147. Print.
As an instructor of secondary English, my task to promote the Great Books will be simple. I can choose novels from a list of hundreds of classics that have persisted over time. I am very exciting about sharing books that I love, like The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald and Voltaire’s Candide, with my students. My mathematics and science colleagues will have more difficulty, though. They will be forced to reeducate students who have learned by example into a curriculum that focuses on theory. Here lies another reason that I champion the Great Books philosophy: students learn from an epistemological standpoint, and therefore see for themselves how concepts originated. I believe that knowledge is absolute, and perennialism gives a basis for my claim. The Great Books have provided us with the answers to our questions, we only need to discover the truths for ourselves.
The internet is full of many things that could make us smarter. However, the internet is full of websites, games, even photos that could very likely have a negative effect on children and their behaviors. Also their education, speech could become affected and they could start doing badly in school or start cursing at a young age. Another thing is that their attitude towards life changes, instead of seeing it as their own giant happy playground they can view it as a very bitter and cold place and start looking, feeling, and talking negatively.