In common things that round us lie
Some random truths he can impart,
--The harvest of a quiet eye.
--William Wordsworth
"Your ability to focus will be your most important skill."
(From "20 Big Ideas 2020" by LinkedIn)
But it got more interesting to me when I got to letter #4 "What Will Become of the Readers We Have Been?" Again, lots of questions and diving into how much we read (more than ever), how we read (lots of word spotting and skimming), what we read, and how things are written. In other words -- every aspect of our reading and writing lives has been affected by the digital age.
The short of this is that with all the skimming we have trained our minds to do, we are not using our working memory as much as we used to. Herein lies the danger -- not having the patience to do the hard work of reading, because we've adapted to making it quicker and easier, both in how we write, and how we read. We no longer take the time to apply the "quiet eye" mentioned by William Wordsworth -- a practice of focus and attention that is getting lost.
And it goes beyond our reading lives. Wolf says: The future of language is linked both to the sustained efforts by writers to find those words that direct us to their hard-won thought and to the sustained efforts by readers to reciprocate by applying their best thought to what is read (p.85) It reminded me of my last post about my reading life in 2019, where I reflected on my reading and found myself saying: It's a joy and a delight and I am grateful to every writer who has the courage to get their books in print. I will do my best to uphold my end as a reader!
As a writer myself, I am not taking this reading issue lightly. As a reading teacher, I can't afford to.
But the eye-opener here is what came next. Wolf describes her own "case study." She decided that after years of fast reading, she would pull a beloved book off the shelf, one she loved in college by Herman Hesse, and give it a read. She found immediate frustration with the long sentences, the complexity of thought and text, the effort it took. She found she simply could not read it, and put it aside.
Later, she realized she didn't want to give up on her book "friends." She gave the Hesse book another try -- but this time, took it slow. By applying the quiet eye, allowing for some cerebral patience, she was able to recapture her love for the book, for the meaning it invoked, and what it had to offer. She discovered that her problem had been trying to read too fast.
This reminded me of last February when I got the book Unsheltered by Barbara Kingsolver from the library. I knew I only had two weeks to read it, since there was a wait list at the library. It was 464 pages, and I had a full work schedule. But I was determined. I set to work, making a keeping a schedule that would help me get through the book. And it wasn't an easy book, by any means. It was the longest book I read all year and, in Kingsolver fashion, had at least five different archaic words sprinkled through the text I had to look up. There was a lot to absorb, and couldn't be read quickly, even though I was on a tight schedule.
When I completed the book (a day early, if I recall correctly) I remember feeling ecstatic. I had taken on a challenge in the past I would not have done. Many times I've started books only to return them by the due date unread. The other part of this is that I was delighted with the dual stories that were presented, and felt smarter for it.
After reading Wolf's experience with Hesse, it got me thinking about that experience -- how I set my mind for two weeks to a task that really worked my brain, every day, because the goal was important to me.
But then I looked at my reading list, and had to chuckle. After that experience, the deep reading with a quiet eye for a dozen days or so, I see I followed it up with three youth novels, two that were written in verse. I also read a popular fiction book, a beach read it would be called. It was like the workout of Unsheltered left me in a place where I just needed a break!
So...has my reading brain changed? I'd say it has. I can see it. But I am also learning that there are times for fast reading, and times from slow, and it is up to me to discern which.
The implications for me as a teacher -- well, a lot of that remains to be seen. I have seen kids read large books and then say they want something easier, and I've always supported it. The cerebral patience it takes for large books can be daunting. I think of the kids who read nothing but Wimpy Kid and Dork Diaries type books. There is a lot of debate between teachers on whether to wean them off of those books -- and I've tried at times, rarely with success.
Knowing what I know now, about the need for some focus and attention on reading, the fact that our distracted mind and desire to read everything quickly is detrimental in the long run, I believe I need to find ways to make this knowledge part of how I approach my teaching in reading and writing (because some of my writers just want to write fast and not really delve in.) I want to remember how writers choose their words carefully, put everything in for a reason, and consequently help inspire my readers and writer to develop some cerebral patience. It is a worthy cause in a changing world.
The bottom line -- there is a time for word spotting, and a time for a quiet eye. Probably the best thing I can do is teach myself as well as my students how to balance the two. It's an exciting adventure and a new semester. I've got work to do!
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