Why isn't reading "cool"?

[kennyc]

I also think there is a difference in literary discussion, analysis, and picayune comma parsing.

[sufue]

Originally Posted by Catlady

One more time--some of us are objecting to the excruciating levels of analysis, not to any and all discussion and evaluation of the work being read. It serves no purpose other than to make reading boring, and I doubt that's the goal.

This!!!

I guess it's sort of like pornography - you'll know the right amount of analysis when you see it .

And that's part, I suspect, of what makes a great teacher - the ability to figure out when the analysis and discussion are adding to the students' understanding and appreciation of the work, and when the analysis and discussion are killing all interest in the work.

But, for me, at least, there definitely is a point where too much is too much, and there are a number of books which I suspect are really pretty good, but which have been spoiled for me by being forced to over-analyze them.

[Harmon]

Reading is not "cool" because "cool" is a teenage concept, teenagers are herd animals, and reading is a non-herd activity. No non-herd activity is ever cool, unless the herd leader decides to do it, at which point it turns into a herd activity. This is rare.

[Ubermensch]

Originally Posted by xg4bx

no we couldn't have anything cool like Fahrenheit 451, 1984

I had to read these in high school, they are awesome books. I don't know if it's because it was a French school, but because I was in enriched English the teachers didn't seem to have anything predefined to teach us, so they would show us books they personally liked and thought were important, such as the two you mentioned.

I do agree that teachers generally make students run away from books because of the boring selection and post-reading work they impose on them. I said "post-reading", but really, even the notes they force you to take while reading are a pain in the rear hole and totally gets you out of the book's mood. I never use notes (ever!) because I don't work like that. My brain doesn't understand or remember better with notes. Still, many teachers force their students to take notes (that won't be neither evaluated or allowed during the exam) regardless of students' preferences.

I wasn't scared by that because I read a lot so I know how much of a pleasure reading can be, but for the other kids that never read, such practices can make then associate books with unpleasant work.

[Turena]

"Cool" or "not cool" can be really important just for teenagers. When you're grown up you have totally different values. Among my friends it's considered really cool when you've read a lot of books. Everyone wants to be smarter, to know more...

[mldavis2]

... and so a lot depends on the socio-economic environment in which children are raised and educated. In upper middle-class suburbia where I grew up, straight-A students were admired, almost revered by those who were not able or willing to achieve that level. In rural slum areas with low tax bases (in the U.S. anyway) and under-funded schools, peer pressure keeps many students from rising above what is often the norm of "just getting out" and free from classrooms. Children seen as 'geeks' are ostracized by the majority, and it takes an extraordinary amount of maturity and will-power and parental support to ignore that and soak up all the knowledge available through reading.

[DuskyRose]

Originally Posted by Turena

Among my friends it's considered really cool when you've read a lot of books. Everyone wants to be smarter, to know more...

I'm in my late 40's and basically it was just the opposite for me. Reading was self-entertainment because I wasn't cool and was never going to fit in.

So I bascially read to pass the time and keep myself busy in some way because I wasn't cool, and wasn't ever going to be. I knew once I grew up and could get out on my own, things would get better.

It was either reading, or get drunk all the time, like some of the other "uncool" kids did. In the end, I think I've fared a lot better than they did.

[speakingtohe]

I'm in my late 40's and basically it was just the opposite for me. Reading was self-entertainment because I wasn't cool and was never going to fit in.

So I bascially read to pass the time and keep myself busy in some way because I wasn't cool, and wasn't ever going to be. I knew once I grew up and could get out on my own, things would get better.

It was either reading, or get drunk all the time, like some of the other "uncool" kids did. In the end, I think I've fared a lot better than they did.

That is sad: Hugs