One of the perennial challenges school librarians is creating male readers, regardless of age or school setting. However, in today’s increasingly fast-paced society, it is particularly hard to reach adolescent males with the gospel of reading. Many of them have been scarred by years of painful reading experiences in school, weakened by little to no exposure to print and meaningful literary experiences outside of it, and a distracted by a plethora of extracurricular activities and entertainment alternatives that knock recreational reading several notches down their priority lists. While no social, racial, or ethnic class is exempt from this issue, and good readers can be found all over the socioeconomic and ethnographic spectrums, the struggle …show more content…
Recreational reading is a powerful tool that can help these boys boost their academic performance, better relate to their peers and authority figures, better understand society and empower them to engage it and even change it, and reduce the risk of them leading lives of poverty, unemployment, addiction, and incarceration (Tatum, Teaching 15). Yes, reading has that kind of power to influence young men and put them on the right track to achieve success and happiness in life. In particular, this paper will examine strategies to entice black teen males to read, explore themes, authors, and titles that resonate with young black men, and seek ways that school libraries can better serve the needs of this vital population. Since American society is only as strong as its most vulnerable members, arming black adolescent males with the gift of reading is as important of a national and societal security program as they …show more content…
Pride and Reid remind us of the power of the dust jacket to attract attention (33-34). Black students are drawn to books with black people on the cover, so these books must be seen. Welch notes that male readers are particularly attracted to books with exciting photographs and edgy title fonts (41). Consequently, a good strategy for increasing the “visibility” of books is to shelve them with the covers out. While it is not feasible to face all or even many of the book covers out, it is possible to pull books out and place them on tops of shelves or in other locations where they can easily be seen. Another way to connect with teens and increase the visibility of not only individual titles but the library as a whole is through the use of social media (Pride and Reid 34). School library websites and social media platforms can connect students with books and media-savvy publishers, blogs, and other book sites. Booktalking is another tried-and-true trick that can be used to introduce students to books across a wide variety of genres, cultures, and interests. A good booktalk should be a brief advertisement for a book that catches the audience’s attention without giving too much away and leaves them wanting more, thereby increasing the likelihood that that they will want to read the book themselves (Lesesne, 115). Librarians
In 1975 the “interesting” books for students of the Island Tree School District were nearly thrown under the bed forever. The Island Tree School District was presented with a complaint from the group Parents of New York United that posed a concern regarding the content of library materials. This community was concerned that public school libraries in the district were exceedingly “permissive” with the books they provided for students. The list of books that the Parents of New York United were wary of were: “Slaughter-House Five,” by Kurt Vonnegut; “The Fixer,” by Bernard Malamud; “The Naked Ape,” by Desmond Morris; “Down These Mean Streets,” by Piri Thomas; “Best Short Stories of Negro Writers,” edited by Langston Hughes; “A Hero Ain't Nothin' but a Sandwich,” by Alice Childress; “Soul on Ice,” by Eldridge Cleaver; “A Reader for Writers,” edited by Jerome Archer, and “Go Ask Alice,” by an anonymous author(New York Times, 1982). The Island Tree School Board complied with the Parents of New York United's concern and took these books off school shelves in early 1976.
With such high numbers of adolescents falling below basic in reading, illiteracy is a battle that must be fought head on. The largest dilemma with the struggle is the number of variations that cause adolescents to become reluctant, unmotivated or struggling readers. Fortunately, a large number of strategies exist to encourage and strengthen readers of all ages, proving that adolescence is not a time to give up on faltering students. Rather, it is a time to evaluate and intervene in an effort to turn a reluctant reader into an avid one (or near enough). Ultimately, educators must learn to properly assess a student’s strengths and weaknesses (Curtis, 2009) and pair them with the proper intervention techniques. If one method does not work, countless others exist to take its place.
in Richard Wright's Black Boy: Modern Critical Interpretations. New York: Chelsea House, 1988. Stepto, Robert. "Literacy and Ascent: Black Boy." Appiah, 226-254. Thaddeus, Janice.
In life, there are many things that can be taken away such as one’s rights, but there is one thing that can never be taken away: the power of knowledge. Richard Wright writes the piece titled, “The Library Card,” in which he explains his experience of being an African American male whose desires for reading and knowledge grew all due to coming across a man named, H.L. Mencken. His curiosity leads him to want to acquire a library card. However, this privilege is illegal due to the time period. Yet his first encounter with books inspires him to continue his path of acquiring an education. Wright takes this risk of getting a library card because he knows that the tool of reading is worth the outcome; this can be seen by his use of imagery that
In a world dominated by technology, reading novels has become dull. Instead of immersing into books, we choose to listen to Justin Bieber’s new songs and to scroll through Instagram posts. We have come to completely neglect the simple pleasures of flipping through pages and getting to finally finish a story. Sherman Alexie and Stephan King’s essays attempt to revive this interest in books that has long been lost. They remind us of the important role that reading plays in our daily lives. “The Joy of Reading and Writing: Superman and Me,” for instance, demonstrates how being literate saved the narrator from the oppressive nature of society. The author explains that even though he was capable of reading complex books at an astonishingly young
In this article, Brooks et. al (2010) focuses on black females and ways they are portrayed through some of the struggles within them. “This article examines how black girlhood is constructed through fiction” (p. 7). It is important to make a connection when reading something. Connections can be made either by text to self, text to text, or text to world. According to this article, Sharon Draper states that she likes to give her readers a strong character to read about so that the reader can fully connect (Draper, 2009, p. 8). This supports my belief of the importance of making a connection through reading. I gathered the understanding of the importance of sharing pieces of literature, similar to the ones that were mentioned, in my classroom because of the diversity it shows to the students. There are many pieces of literature that I have personally read that gave me
Ever since I was a child, I've never liked reading. Every time I was told to read, I would just sleep or do something else instead. In "A Love Affair with Books" by Bernadete Piassa tells a story about her passion for reading books. Piassa demonstrates how reading books has influenced her life. Reading her story has given me a different perspective on books. It has showed me that not only are they words written on paper, they are also feelings and expressions.
In comparison, the women’s section contains books about feelings and relationships. He talks about how men prefer novels written by women. Brooks then discusses why this might be, the part of the brain where men experience negative emotion, the amygdala, is not connected very well to the brain unlike in a woman’s brain, the cerebral cortex, the part where women feel and experience negative emotion is very well connected, so women are better at processing emotions and expressing them through words. Brooks brings up a good point that teachers should devise different curriculums to instill a love for reading in girls and boys alike. A big problem is that guys are being told that they are bad students. They are being sent home with new-wave young adult problem novels. Brooks states that a percentage of young men who read has plummeted over the last few years and it is dropping three times as fast as in young women. He also states that men are drifting away from occupations that involve reading and school. Brooks then talks about Dr. Leonard Sax and his book, Why Gender Matters, and how boys and girls should be taught in a different way and go to single-sex schools. Sax says it would allow kids to open up and to break free from gender stereotypes. They could also be assigned books they actually care to
Devoss, Danielle, et al. "The Future of Literacy." Wardle, Elizabeth and Doug Downs. Writing about Writing A College Reader. Boston: Bedford/St.Martins, 2011. 395-421. Print.
United States. Reading to Achieve: A Governor's Guide to Adolescent Literacy. Washington: National Governors Association, 2005. Print.
Humans, are they Human? The article “How Reading Makes Us More Human” by Karen Swallow Prior is a very well structured and informative article. Prior immediately grasps the reader’s attention by providing a variety of examples to support the purpose of her article.
Reading a book is a great entertainment, but more importantly, it gives you more knowledge to learn. In a short story entitled “Superman and me” by Sherman Alexie, he discussed how it’s like to be in a minority, or an Indian in a non-Indian world, and how reading helped him get through it. Growing up, his father influenced him into reading books. Due to this he started to teach himself how to read and gained more knowledge. Though he is smart, it was hard for him to be noticed, “Indian children were expected to be stupid,” because of this he worked hard and proved the majority what he is capable of. Alexie’s passion in reading had helped himself and his fellow man rise against all the discrimination and be accepted by
While I believe every child is a reader, I do not believe every child will be enthralled with reading all the time. All students have the capability to read and enjoy reading, but just like any other hobby, interest will vary from student to student. The students in my classroom will be encouraged in their reading, be provided with choice, taught how books can take you into another world but, my students will not be forced to read. This paper will illustrate my philosophy of reading through the theories I relate to, the way I want to implement reading and writing curriculum, and the methods I will use motivate my students to read and help them become literate.
“Libraries are filled with masterpieces that great authors toiled over to complete, but the pages in the books go untouched by many of us” (Barnett-Bey 333). You may either perceive reading as a privilege or take it for granted. Reading is one of the most fundamental parts of our daily lives, that’s why some people may take it for granted and not even realize it because of how we use it every single day. It is important because it improves concentration, vocabulary, and imagination. People often read for their own entertainment and it improves the mind’s ability to understand ideas, follow arguments and detect implications. The amount of people who are illiterate is astonishing. “The challenge is taking the time to read respectable literature, but it is vital to us as individuals and as a country” (Barnett-Bey 336). I couldn 't imagine how hard illiterate people 's lives must be, living every day and not being able to read simple sentences, read a cookbook and try to learn how to cook or even a sign in a resturant. General wonderings occur to me of how and what people will be reading in a generation, and if it will actually make a difference in their lives. "If we, as a society, do not connect to literature by reading we are missing the very essence of our being" (Barnett-Bey 334).
Required reading material in school often centers on female heroines. In the essay “Why Johnny Won’t Read,” authors Mark Bauerlein and Sandra Stotsky state, “Unfortunately, the textbooks and literature assigned in the elementary grades do not reflect the dispositions of male students…On the other hand, stories about adventurous and brave women abound.” The two authors are stating that there are hardly any male-oriented novels available from a young age, and so there is not much for boys to make self-connections with. The same essay provides several statistics to highlight the idea that girls read more than boys: “Between 1992 and 2002, among high school seniors, girls lost two points in reading scores and boys six points, leaving a 16-point differential in their averages…” Because reading is the sort of test that can be improved only by practice, it is evident that girls read more often than boys. ...