#commonreader

[quietblizzard92]

Two new entries in my ever-growing mug collection • • • #wutheringheits #emilybronte #virginiawoolf #commonreader (at Groningen, Netherlands)

[wareyaan]

What is the meaning of life? That was all  a simple question; one that tended to close in on one with years. The great revelation had never come. The great revelation perhaps never did come. Instead there were little daily miracles, illuminations, matches struck unexpectedly in the dark; here was one. This, that, and the other

Virginia Woolf, To the Lighthouse

[tylersmanning]

What Freshmen Will Read (Jaschik, 2010)

I really enjoy the idea of a freshmen common reader program.  My undergraduate institution did not have one of these but the intent behind them is sound.  A collective and unique story or experience that is shared by an entire entering class allows for conversions to be had around the text even before students have started taking classes.  However, NAS (National Association of Scholars) has taken the intent of the program and distorted it.  They believe that in order for the text to be meaningful, it must be a classical text.  However, from the quotes of people working at institutions of higher education, it would seem benign to provide the students a text that they are going to need help interpreting.  Why give them a book for over summer that is not going to appeal to them?  

Since the hope of a common reader is to bridge that gap between high school and higher education, a text should be chosen that is going to be able to speak to all the students or at least a majority of them that are going to be reading the text.  Many times it seems, a personal narrative or a story with relatable experiences is the most effective type of text for students to read.  People are able to relate to what is happening in the story and it garners their “buy-in” to continue reading the text.  Freshmen are going to read books that they feel relate to them and in which they are able to share their own experiences and emotions.  A common reader program should not have to meet a specific standard because each institution that has a program like this is going to be serving a different type of student.  The book that is chosen each year should have to be accessible to the undergraduate students that are given the opportunity to read.