is the end of reading here?

Is the End of Reading Here?

Laurence MusgroveDepartment of English and Modern Languages

Angelo State Universitywww.laurencemusgrove.com

@lemusgro #endofreading

My Contract: $100

1. Feed me2. Let me sleep on your couch3. I’ll sell and sign some books

The End of Reading

Termination vs. Purpose

The End of Reading

I don’t think reading is ending.

I think the purpose of reading is to promote individual liberty and to lead

us to participate in and preserve democratic ideals.

The End of Reading

HOWEVER,there are challenges to the reading.

And some come from the place where reading, liberty, and democracy should

be promoted most successfully.

can’t get into it

it’s hard

don’t get it

it’sboring

can’t make anything

out of it

can’t follow it

doesn’t move me

draw a picture of what happens when you read

#endofreading

Our ordinary conceptual system, in terms of which we both think and act, is fundamentally metaphorical in nature.

George Lakoff and Mark Johnson

Metaphors We Live By

Metaphor is a linguistic equation; an analogy that compares two unlike things in order to better understand one or both of those unlike things.

• “You broke my heart.”• “I feel down today.”• “She makes my heart sing.”• “Call me when you feel up to going

out.”

We use metaphors to think and talk about how we read.

metaphors we read by

see the handout!

reading is a bodily experience

despair

school failure

education = commodity

know-whatvs.

know-how

consumption&

control

resistance to oppressive experiences in school may be good

even though the consequencesmay be unfortunate

aesthetic experienceis not transferable

no one can read a book for you

reading is the cognitive embodiment

of individual liberty

reading is the cognitive embodiment

of identificationand association

with others

the end of the teaching of readingshould be to provide students

with free and faithful experiences with books

reading is a private and public good where we learn

with our entire human organthe privileges and responsibilities

that come with living in a democratic society

choice in textsand

choice in response