Richard Selzer / Discuss how reading books changes my life Richard Wright, in his essay “Discovering Books,” explains how reading books changed his outlook on life and eventually his life itself. The first book that widened his horizons was an overtly controversial book by H. L. Mencken. I have a story not so dissimilar from his. Coming out of High School, I had in my possession the perspective that I knew everything. So I started, straight off the bat, working in a variety of menial jobs, which would have lead me to a dead end, for as the good jobs in today’s society required college degrees. So, after working for two years with a white-collar full of frustration, I decided it was time to take matters into my own ink-stained, carpal tunnel syndrome-stricken hands. I immediately gave my two-weeks notice, and pontificated about going to college. Headed along the yellow brick road towards the registration office, I was intercepted by my malevolent manager, the “Ineffable John” as he was called by my fellow co-workers, and he said unto me, “Michael, you don’t want to go to college, stay here and you shall have bestowed upon your unworthy head all which you need to know. Here, fill up my coffee cup.” With his words still echoing in my mind, I wanted to sprint down the hallway, pole-vault over the cubicle prisons, hurdle the water ration cooler, and dive through the double-paned sliding glass doors. This spectacular display of athletic ability would have been terrific, but the ball and chain still shackled to my ankles would have slightly hindered my escape. One week after my pre-resignation notice and John’s wise words of discouragement, my manager’s secretary, Mary, who just had a baby earlier that day but wouldn’t take unpaid sick leave, approached me and said, “Don’t listen to John, college is a sure ticket to get out of this galley, otherwise you’ll end up having a baby and coming to work on the same day because this company doesn’t provide maternity leave.” A week later I was walking out the double-paned sliding glass doors and into college life. In the counselor’s office, my counselor advised me towards taking a psychology class, seeing as it is a requirement for an AA degree, and because I did not know what sort of degree I wanted at the point. So, I agreed to take the class. Bob Rice was the eccentric instructor of this introduction to the wonderful religion of psychology.
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Show MoreIn this article Nemko is illuminating the issues that our modern society is facing involving higher education. Students are starting off college with bare minimum requirements for next level learning and feeling disappointed when they are not succeeding in their courses. The author acknowledges that the courses being taken by students are sometimes not beneficial to life after college. Nemko states, “A 2006 study supported by the Pew Charitable Trusts found that 50 percent of college seniors scored below ‘proficient’ levels on a test that required them to do such basic tasks…”(525). Students are specializing in areas of learning to in turn be denied to working in that field and stuck with unnecessary skills. “Many college graduates are forced to take some very nonprofessional positions, such as driving a truck or tending bar”( ...
Throughout the United States, some types of work are valued highly over others. This stigma strongly associates the idea all career paths without the need of formal education require no cognitive skill and are unable to teach the same principles as a traditional classroom. This also causes the view that blue-careers specializing in a trade are overall lesser than white collar or office work that mandate a college degree. Authors Matthew B. Crawford and Mike Rose both argue this widespread belief is unfair and incorrect in their essays “The Case for Working with Your Hands” and “Blue-Collar Brilliance,” respectively. However, Crawford’s recollection of his own personal experience does not explain the valuable skills and knowledge learned from
I began to read not out of entertainment but out of curiosity, for in each new book I discovered an element of real life. It is possible that I will learn more about society through literature than I ever will through personal experience. Having lived a safe, relatively sheltered life for only seventeen years, I don’t have much to offer in regards to worldly wisdom. Reading has opened doors to situations I will never encounter myself, giving me a better understanding of others and their situations. Through books, I’ve escaped from slavery, been tried for murder, and lived through the Cambodian genocide. I’ve been an immigrant, permanently disabled, and faced World War II death camps. Without books, I would be a significantly more close-minded person. My perception of the world has been more significantly impacted by the experiences I've gained through literature than those I've gained
When people read books, they often get into them and some can even change their views on life. Certain books can have assertainable stories that are strongly appealing to others mentality. If a person is going through a problematic period and they read a book where the main character is in a predicament that is similar, that reader might connect to that book/literary piece and it may transform their views on life and the world around them. With the literature that I have read this semester, there were times where they made me think about life and how it truly is. Some of them even made be see the world and society differently. The two literary pieces that we read this semester that changed my observation of the world was William Goldings book, the Lord of the Flies, and Henrik Ibsens playwrite, A Doll’s House.
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.
College is the place where people go to retain the necessary training for a job that requires specific skills, which results in earning a higher pay check. In today’s world, employers are scouting out for individuals with the proper dexterities to fill the shoes for that specific job. Blanche D. Blank, the author of “A Question of Degree," argues that possessing a degree of higher education isn’t the only way to have a very successful life. This statement is highly argumentative, due to the fact that college graduates still out-earn people without degrees. Obtaining a college degree is one of the best things someone can do for themselves, when it comes to looking for a stable job. There is also so much more to college than just receiving a
In Caroline Bird’s “College is A Waste of Time and Money”, it’s argued that there are many college students who would be better off if they were to begin working after high school graduation. Colleges and universities can no longer ensure that one will go on to get a better job, getting paid more than they would have without a higher education. However, high school seniors still stress about where they will be attending college, how they’re going to pay for it and what they’re going to study for the next four years. Bird points out how college has changed over the past few decades and how, in turn, it has set many young adults up for disappointment, if nothing else.
People continue to wonder if college is worth the time and money spent with numerous individuals still unemployed, a valid concern of young students. Despite the information the majority have heard about unemployment rates, this is not a valid argument. (Michael Greenstone and Adam Looney) notes, “In Apr. 2013 the unemployment rate for college graduates aged 25 and over with a bachelor’s degree was 3.6%, compared to 5.0% for associate’s degree holders, 7.5% for high school graduates, and 11.4% for high school drop-outs.” These statistics alone should put your mind at ease relieving concerns an individual may have in respects to finding a job in their field. Moreover, employers that can see someone’s passion toward the carrier they’re seeking will increases one’s chance of successfully finding
From reading Alice in Wonderland to now, I have grown to appreciate literature much more. At the beginning of the year, I read purely because it was assigned for me to read, and I only read for important events and story plots. When reading Alice in Wonderland for the first time, I missed everything that Lewis Carroll was trying to convey to the reader. I had no idea that he had written Alice in Wonderland with the intention of preparing children for the real world. I thought it was just a story full of random events and nonsense, but after my realization of a deeper meaning, I grew to appreciate his efforts. From then on from Beowulf to the Fairie Queene, I have learned to see literary works as more than just stories but a...
In 1975, Caroline Bird’s “College Is a Waste of Time and Money” describes why college degrees cannot buy you five years in the work force. Bird’s essay heavily describes the emotional struts these students encounter while attending college, and the anguish of dreadful classes which seem irrelevant to your actual desired occupation. High school students are inevitably being pushed to believe that college is a fundamental difference between working a desk job making $80,000 a year, and working a minimum wage job the rest of your life. Many college students are finding out that your twenty-thousand dollar degree won’t land you your dream job. Although some may advocate that college is the proven method to a successful career path, the majority of people that attend college are setting themselves up for failure with barricades like loans, low graduation rate, lack of experiences, and career success rate after receiving a degree.
My relationship with books and reading has not been the greatest adventure for me thus far. I will not say that all my experience has been terrible but for the most part not that great. I know for me it started when I was little and unfortunately it has carried to my adulthood.
George R.R. Martin once said, “A reader lives a thousand lives before he dies… The man who never reads lives only one.” For centuries, books have transformed readers into someone else and transported them to different worlds. In my fourteen years, I have fought dragons, saved the world, and survived World War II. I have become others who were anywhere from a toddler to an adult. I have gone to wizarding school and a summer camp for demigods all because of books. Something magical happens when I open bound pages of words and begin to read. Books inspire me because they each open up a new world of experiences and feelings that will last with me forever.
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.
Throughout Gerald Graff’s own personal struggle with reading books, he learned that reading critically while also engaging in critical and intellectual discussion could open a whole new world of personal connections he was never able to make before.
I didn’t have “sense enough” to be disappointed by quitting school and joining the workforce. I was that someone who once sold their books for beer money before the quarter was over. With each year that has passed the dark cloud of this failure has grown. While making the decision to return to school I found myself starting to ask some tough questions of self-doubt. Am I smart enough to earn a college degree? How embarrassing will it be if I fail as an adult? I finally put all of this nonsense out of my mind. Being the person I am today, and knowing all that I have accomplished thus far, is proof to me that I will achieve my goal of an undergraduate