SWA #1

The most alarming thing that Michael Skube sees in college students now these days is their lack of basic vocabulary. Even in high school, I started noticing that the vocabularies of many of the students around me didn’t seem to get any better as they progressed through school. Most of the vocabulary we did learn in English class wasn’t in the least bit useful in everyday speaking and we forgot most of it after we took the vocab test that week. Like Mr. Skube, I also noticed that very few people in my grade read for fun outside of class. People used to ask me, “Why do you take ten hours to read a book when you can watch the movie in two”. It is people like that who often have the worst vocabularies. Instead of putting in some effort and experiencing a book word for word, like it should be experienced, most people want to be entertained. Even now, the two hour long movies are becoming too long for our short attention spans to handle.

In Todd Hagstette’s essay, he speaks about the focus a reader must have in order to properly understand a piece of writing. For some, it is almost impossible to read and take in even a paragraph of writing, let alone an entire book. Some people may find it easier to focus when they are uncomfortable, but I disagree with Mr. Hagstette and would rather be comfortable instead. If I want to absorb what I am reading, I need to focus on the words on the page instead of how sore my back is getting form sitting in an uncomfortable chair. I do agree with him however that repetition is a main factor in understanding a piece of writing. Even the most focused readers can skip over something the first time they read a piece of writing. Repetition ensures that the reader sees the piece of writing as a whole.