Feb 23, 2014

This is Essential (Question)

Q: To what extent is the decline of reading among Americans?

A: Let me get back to you.

I was having issues coming up with a question. I came up with a few and did some bare minimum research for them, just to see which one would be easiest to find stuff for. And you know what? They were all freaking hard. Apparently no one cares about books (excuse me while I go sit in the corner and cry for a while).

I was really attached to this question, though, because I can't believe that there are people that don't read. Like, at all. I grew up in a family of book lovers and my whole life now basically revolves around books and words and things like that. So I endured and endured and found articles that related to this. As a result, I would just like to say this: HA! Take that! (Although, I don't really know who/what that's directed to. Let's go with the world.)

I had no other motivation for choosing this question other than pure curiosity. I'm not a major math person, but these are the kinds of numbers I want to know about. How many people don't read? What's it like compared to previous years? Don't comic books count? The list goes on.

Really, though, I don't find essays to be all that fun. Even ones where I can pick my own topic. I find it really hard to come up with an argument and find actual proof that shows why I'm right. Honestly, as a teenager, my best argument is "Just 'cause, man." Essays are just really hard and I don't see them getting any easier any time soon. But, as they say, practice makes perfect. And, as I say, my writerly pride is on the line. (Now that I think about it, I actually do say that quite a bit.)

4 comments:

  1. Remember, however, this is not an argumentative paper. This is just a paper about a question that peaks your interest.....the contents includes what experts in any given field say about your question.....that's all, no big deal!

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  2. You should read Ashwin blog about his question for your blog this week. Your questions are somewhat interrelated.

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  3. I think your question is very interesting. I will be apart of the statistics of not reading. I do not enjoy reading, and did not grow up in a family of readers. I think there could be a lot of interesting things out there about this question. Good luck!! :)

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  4. In agreement to Mrs. Bonagura's second comment, our questions are very interrelated. For my essential question, I am trying to figure out if the over use of simple Google searches is the reason to why people are growing lazier and why less and less people are reading books and doing more extensive research. I look forward to seeing what you have to come up with and seeing if we get similar research!!

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