StudentShare
Contact Us
Sign In / Sign Up for FREE
Search
Go to advanced search...

The Act of Reading in America Culture - Essay Example

Cite this document
Summary
Reading was an art that mankind inherited from its forefathers. The very first of the books bought to man were the religious scriptures sacredly held and cherished by our forefathers and running into our family for centuries…
Download full paper File format: .doc, available for editing
GRAB THE BEST PAPER94.1% of users find it useful
The Act of Reading in America Culture
Read Text Preview

Extract of sample "The Act of Reading in America Culture"

Download file to see previous pages

This essay targets the current inclination towards reading that is prevalent in the American society and tries to lookup the reasons behind it. It was not very long ago that the greatest asset of the current generation's grandparents used to be was their large collection of books. Their best pastime was to indulge in the reading of books for hours and hours. Each person of the household was instructed to take extreme care of the books and to keep them clean and put them bake at their original places right after reading.

Discussion upon the theme of the latest book being read by the family used to be the main modes of dinner table conferencing. All this seems like just a dream nowadays. The fast paced lives of the present times have bought a distant gap between man and what used to be his most cherished hobby-the reading of books. It would not be incorrect to say that the infusion, rather explosion of technology changed the mode of the entire American society. It is quite natural to realize that youngsters were and are mesmerized with the advancements technology bought to them due the fast pace associated with digital gadgets and the immediate responses social media and chat forums gave to youngsters but for many the transition being experienced by elders specially the older generation was not too comprehensible.

They probably were mesmerized to see the way technology was changing life. The changes life was gone through with the help of technology were probably taking them into a world of fantasy making them neglect their most cherished pastimes. Assessing the above mentioned change many authors have discussed this transition. Mitchell Stephens mentions this issue in one of his remarkable works titled "The death of Reading" (1991) in the following words: " Our homes barely make room for reading. Those old islands of quiet -- libraries, studies and dens -- long ago were invaded by flat screens and Nintendos.

Now they are called "family rooms" or, more accurately, "television rooms." And our architects seem to have given up providing us with bookshelves; instead they busy themselves designing "entertainment centers." (Stephens, 1991) The author highlights a very major fact by emphasizing that this infusion of technology was being taken very well in the sense that even the living styles of men were being shaped according to it. The architects also began making room for the attention laden technology rich devices and in order to make room for them omitted the conventional and much cherished book shelves that used to house memories of hours of family time spent together and the treasure of priceless book collections.

The authors mentions that his arguments may not seem real statistically because figures showed a percentage increase in sales among the number of printed books being sold Also, there was an amazing fact that after fast food outlets, print book outlets were the next largest number of growing retail outlets in the society. But there was less good reason behind these figures. Most of the retail outlets showed that they did not have an increase in number of sales during the holiday season signifying that books were being sold merely as objects of gifts.

Books were being trended as favorite gifts mainly because everyone knew they needed to a lot sometime for reading but were unable to do so. So in order to satisfy their feeling of guilt they would buy books as gifts instead. Stephens(1991) mentioned some more figures that the number of people who had admitted to have not read a book in the past year had doubled from 8 eight percent to sixteen percent since the last year. It was also

...Download file to see next pages Read More
Cite this document
  • APA
  • MLA
  • CHICAGO
(“The Act of Reading in America Culture Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words”, n.d.)
The Act of Reading in America Culture Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words. Retrieved from https://studentshare.org/english/1463663-a-comparative-analysis-on-the-act-of-reading-in
(The Act of Reading in America Culture Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 Words)
The Act of Reading in America Culture Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 Words. https://studentshare.org/english/1463663-a-comparative-analysis-on-the-act-of-reading-in.
“The Act of Reading in America Culture Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 Words”, n.d. https://studentshare.org/english/1463663-a-comparative-analysis-on-the-act-of-reading-in.
  • Cited: 0 times

CHECK THESE SAMPLES OF The Act of Reading in America Culture

Culture in American Society

Because of existence of multiple cultures in america, the society as a whole is affected (Schlesinger 1991).... in america's case, it is because of migration of people towards America for the search of financial stability and better future....  This essay describes some research in the culture-related development of American society because the writer considers culture on development.... culture is webbed with our lives and its participation in the development of our personalities cannot be negated....
2 Pages (500 words) Essay

Effects of Mass Media on Mass Culture

The paper "Effects of Mass Media on Mass culture" evaluates the role of mass media in the creation of mass culture as judged by the Postmodernist thinkers.... That is, omnipresent media reaches various territories cutting across geographical lines and covers the activities of specific cultures and broadcasts or reports in a certain way so that culture becomes a mass culture.... How cultures are represented in media has a major impact on the way people look and imbue that culture....
8 Pages (2000 words) Coursework

Case Analysis Euro Disney

Miron (2009) posits that the rate of individualism is higher in america than in France.... The American managers in Euro Disneyland had become unpopular among the community and French workers because most of them did not make the necessary effort required to learn the local language as well as understanding and embracing the local culture.... The French culture is more collective compared to that of the Americans.... The collective culture emphasises on what is best for the group....
13 Pages (3250 words) Essay

American Voices: Poems for a Diverse Nation

he uses the sentences “social order moral order internal order” (Yamada 523) to show discrimination in america.... In the poem, she accepts herself as an immigrant, but emphasizes that america has… Metaphorically, she identifies herself as regions as she says, “I am Caribena”, “I am of Latinoamerica”, “Africa is in me”, The author intends that the readers understand about the American identity of American residents.... Most of them are from diverse lands and their parents or grandparents have immigrated to america after which, america has taken its current form....
6 Pages (1500 words) Essay

Culture in the Colonies and Modern America

For instance, it is because of the diversity of cultures in america that the word “western culture” often refers to cultures in the United States and Europe.... culture encompasses the behaviors and the beliefs of a group of people.... In addition, culture involves the values and… All the values, beliefs and behaviors of the group of people get passed to other generations through communication and imitation.... The young people learn from the way the old conduct various activities in the community Therefore, the culture of any community in any part of the world is superior regarding the operations of people....
8 Pages (2000 words) Essay

Multiculturalism and Change in Culture in American Society

Because of the existence of multiple cultures in america, society as a whole is affected (Schlesinger 1991).... culture plays a vital role in our daily lives.... culture can be defined as a system that incorporates various ways or patterns of performing any act, leading a life or behaving in a certain manner (Kroeber and Kluckhohn 1952).... culture can also be defined as a shared set of values identified by all members of the society (Kroeber and Kluckhohn 1952)....
24 Pages (6000 words) Research Paper

American Folktales to Those of Other Cultures: Native American and Hispanic

“Invisible Hands” and “Ocean Born Mary”, on the other hand, talk about the European migrants in america.... These folk tales encompass a region stretching from Mexico to the tip of South america and include Cuba and small islands that are part of the Americas.... , the interaction with the western part of america by those who made the US their home has given rise to stories about the Wild West and those who countered the native Indians....
6 Pages (1500 words) Essay

Chinese Food in the United States ( Food as Culture)

The author states that longitudinal study shows that the Chinese foods in the United States were an aspect of transnational culture, and as such, their culinary identity and authenticity in most cases rested on either the real or the imagined Chinese roots… This ties down most of the Chinese immigrants living in america to work in these Chinese restaurants because of the difficulties in finding suitable employment opportunities due to their natural status.... A good example used to portray the development of the Chinese food tradition in the United States is the Chop Suey dish, whose analysis provides a clear insight into the manner and style through which the Chinese food culture penetrated the American food market, and with time, became one of the leading alternative food cultures in the country....
12 Pages (3000 words) Research Paper
sponsored ads
We use cookies to create the best experience for you. Keep on browsing if you are OK with that, or find out how to manage cookies.
Contact Us