Re: Reading: for pleasure, for information

[Debbie Abilock <debbie@NUEVA.PVT.K12.CA.US>]

Doug (and Louise Edwards, whose message echoes his):

I think you misunderstand my point about literature/information.  Susan
Langer has been doing research for about 10 years at the National
Research Center on Literature Teaching and Learning.  She, in turn, draws
upon Louise Rosenblatt's "transactional" theory of reading in which the
interaction of student and text, using the reader's experience and
knowledge, is the root of meaning-making.

What she says is that the reader orients him/her self very differently
for literary purposes than for discursive purposes.  A literary reading
involves "exploring a horizon of possibilities" with a recognition that
there will be no "right answer" to the emotions, interpretations,
stances, etc.  This idea of the possibilities, of multiple
interpretations, is very different disccursive reading where the reader's
purpose is to gain or share information, to "maintain a point of
reference."

Now, Langer does say that neither orientation operate totally separated
from the other.  For example, when my kids researched WW II last year,
many got caught up in the stories of peoples lives.  Conversely, in
reading fictional accounts of the war, they were also driven to
understand and explore the informational parts of the novel.

Why make a distinction between kinds of reading?  Because if the
orientation toward the text is different, the strategies you use to
understand the text are also different.  One wouldn't dream of skimming
the boldface and italics to get an overview of a novel.  Nor does it seem
to be useful to identify plot structures or the journey of the hero in
nonfiction.  And strategies for understanding are an essential part of
how we teach information literacy and aesthetic reading.

Further, in LOST IN A BOOK by Nell, the author reports on a study he did
with "ludic" readers.  In measuring their physiological and psychological
responses to pleasure reading, he found that ludic readers are absorbed
in an almost hypnotic like trance in which they clip along at reading
speeds between 200 and almost 700 words per minute.  There is also a
measureable "state of arousal" even though it feels effortless to the
reader.  Whatever kind of reading that is (fiction, biography,
nonfiction), it is "pleasure" reading...

> Just to stir the pot:  Why do we always separate "literature" from
> "information"?  I think it can be argued that good literature provides
> "information" about values, the human condition, exemplary behaviors,
> psychology, and vicarious life experiences which are as important to
> children's development as are learning about volcanoes or spelling or
> multiplication tables. Broaden your views of information!

The point here, Doug, is that you are right but your are not precise.

>
> And as far as that goes, reading for pleasure (I like the pc term "reading
> practice") for many children, especially boys, is done with "information"
> materials.

I don't see this happening until adolescence...most of my elementary
school boys are reading literature regularly.  I think what happens has
much to do with what is offered in fiction, as their preferences for
fiction vs. nonfiction as they get older.  Science Fiction, Fantasy, and
Historical Fiction get to be the "big three" for adolescent boys at our
school.  Girls tend to continue to read more widely in fiction as
adolescents...


- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Debbie Abilock              "It is important that students bring a certain
The Nueva School            ragamuffin barefoot irreverence to their studies;
6565 Skyline Blvd.          they are not here to worship what is known,
Hillsborough, CA 94010      but to question it."  (Jacob Bronowski)
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -