Brandon Colcord
Professor Frank
English 110
October 12th, 2021
Things To Keep In Mind When Approaching A Higher Education
“Deep Reading” needs to become a part of your life to make your life easier. During my high school career I never really took learning seriously. Honestly, I never even gave it a thought that there are different ways to approach a book that can expand the way you think of things. Recent articles by: Patrick Sullivan “An Open Letter To High School Students About Reading” and Scott Newstok “How To Think Like Shakespeare” both explain how us as students aren’t receiving a proper education. Patrick Sullivan, an English professor at Manchester Community College in Manchester, Connecticut, Gives us a way in which we can expand our minds through reading, making it so you can receive an outrageous amount of benefits from it. On the other hand, you got Scott l. Newstok who believes life’s experiences and your personal encounters is enough to become successful. Both authors got me thinking about how seriously I want to take my education.
“It’s not what you know it’s who you know” mindset will only get you so far.Newstok says “the ones who have been assessing you for the past dozen years-act as is cognitive “skills” can somehow be taught in the abstract, independent of content.” (Newstok, Pg. 4, Par. 3) He is saying that you can’t teach life skills within a classroom, you need to actually go out and experience it. Which he is not wrong about in a way. I just don’t believe life experience would be enough. However when Newstok says,”Part of what made Shakespeare collaborate so well with others was his radical sense of empathy; he probably would have called it fellowship. “Researchers have found that literary fiction improves a readers capacity to understand what others are thinking and feeling.”” (Newstok, Pg. 7, Par. 2) He is trying to explain that you can develop a sense of empathy through books that are not real and that will in return improve your ability to communicate, which to me personally wouldn’t be a bad skill to develop. Only issue I have with this mindset is you can’t just depend on others’ knowledge to succeed, can you? Throughout Newstoks article he explains to students, college students to be specific that expanding your mind like Shakespeare and depending on others knowledge to move forward which honestly is kinda what we already do. I see myself relating to a few of his claims, I just don’t think having a mind like that will help me personally push forward in my higher education.
Patrick Sullivan is right and students need to embrace reading as a part of their life. During my time reading his article I couldn’t help but feel like he was talking to me directly. When Sullivan says, “many students candidly admit that they did not even read assigned materials at all. Many often readonly to finish rather than to understand what they have read. Students may favor this kind of approach because it requires minimal effort. Obviously, however, with minimal effort comes minimal rewards.” (Sullivan, Pg. 2, Par. 6) He is reminding me of how I was as a student in highschool, reminding me that I didn’t take it seriously. I have a strong belief that me being unsuccessful in my highschool career had a lot to do with not reading much or having a “love” for it. So when he says, “I also have to admit, in the interest of full disclosure, that we as teachers have probably helped create some of the aversion to the reading many students feel. This made me realise he wasn’t ashamed to admit the reason I hated reading throughout school was due to the way it was taught and when he explains “Instead of mesmerization, recall, and shallow engagement, “deep reading” requires reflection, curiosity, humility, sustained attention, a commitment to rereading, consideration of multiple possibilities, and what the education scholar Sheridan Blau has called “intellectual generosity.” These are characteristics highly valued in the workplace.” He made me realise that these are the benefits that come out of deep reading. Why would somebody not want a solid working mind with a solid job?
In conclusion, both articles were worth the read and gave me a completely different point of view on my own education in college. I already took the Newstok route in high school and that didn’t exactly pan out so well. Ended up with a few boring jobs and having to make a much bigger decision with my life. Now that I am attending the University of New England to expand my education Personally I think it be best to pursue a route that new and although it does seem pretty scary, I think developing that love for reading by using the skills Newstok was talking about than focused my attention on reading as much as I can in my spare time and doing it in a way that actually benefits me as a whole, like Patrick Sullivan wants us to do.
Work Cited
Sullivan, Patrick. “An Open Letter To Highschool Students About Reading.” American Association Of University Professors, vol.102 no.3, May-June 2016, No Pg.
Newstok, Scott. “How to Think Like Shakespeare” The Chronicle Of A Higher Education, August 29, 2016, No Pg.
