Tuesday, September 18, 2012
"Literature is the new Latin"
Literature, specifically books and novels, are comparable to the Latin language due to the fact that it is slowly dying out. "We have entered the three-minute world. Anything that takes longer is just not worth it" says Michael Reist, author of "Literature is the new Latin." The reading of long novels, especially in school, is being replaced by students watching the movie or reading the summaries. Contributing to this shorter attention span is the amount of distractions like television, the computer, and cell phones. Novels, and their summaries, are available in the palm of one's hand now; this is bringing about a change in the curriculum of English class. In some schools, literature has been replaced by literacy activities used to engage students online. Soon, the reading and studying of novels may be replaced completely by electronic alternatives.
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Oh Scott...always with the subtle messages.
ReplyDeleteIt is an interesting point, although in this class reading sparknotes has less to do with a lack of interest and more to do with Homer's diarrhea of the pen.
ReplyDeleteThe fact that students are reading summaries and not the actual text is both a true fact and a tragedy. To have the stories and rhetoric of these books ruined by summaries takes away from the learning experience. Not only do students need to learn what the book is saying, which is when sites like Sparknotes comes in handy, but readers also need to learn the style of writing and how the author is presenting the information. The appreciation of this art has been lost recently, and, although sparknotes allows you to understand difficult text better, it takes away from experiencing the book the way the author wanted it to be read.
ReplyDeleteThis is an interesting thesis, and you include an effective quote from a credible source.
ReplyDeleteWhat's missing is your own insight. Do you agree with Reist? Is the extinction of literature a good thing, or a bad thing? What are the possible effects? Tell me more.