The Knowledge of Reading Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

The Knowledge of Reading - Essay Example According to the study reading helps people find things that they may need. People read directions, warnings, and advertisings. Without reading, no one would know what is right and what is wrong. Reading warnings and special signs prevent people from getting into dangerous situations. For example, there are signs that read â€Å"caution, end zone† to tell people to avoid a certain area. If a person does not know how to read that, her or she may get into trouble. The roads give directions so that people can find their way to any destination. In order to get to certain places, people must know how to read directions and signals. It is always important to know how to read because it prevents people from being lost or confused. Secondly, reading helps when communicating with our family and friends. Today, everyone communicates by email, Facebook or texting, etc. What if nobody knew how to read? How would relatives that live far away with each other? This is why reading is truly im portant. From this paper it is clear that people know what happens around the world by reading newspapers and articles. They are aware of the actions that happen among them. Reading also challenges the mind. In the article, â€Å"Response to Alberto Manguel’s ‘Reading Ourselves and the World around Us,† the author says that words and letters are only symbols that allow us to give meaning to literature. He also says, â€Å"If people do not take the time to read and give meaning to everyday occurrences, they will not fully understand the reason behind a lot of things and will not be able to function properly in their lives†. This is important because people need to know the surroundings and the knowledge inside themselves which will help them to reach their goals and put their lives on track, because the more knowledge the individual have, the more chance to success. Most importantly, however, reading gives people the ability to access ideas of other people, from other perspectives. Each person has only one life, only one lived experience, through which to filter what happens in the world. This can be a very disastrous thing. For instance, if someone grows up very rich and in a lot of luxury, they may not be able to understand that some people are very poor and have nothing to eat. Or if they grow up in a very repressive society where they are not allowed to say what they think or challenge existing ideas, they may not know that there are other ways of doing things, other societies that act differently. Reading allows people to break out of this cycle, to understand the world from many different perspectives. This happens because every time one reads, one is exposed to a different way of thinking, a different way of seeing the world through a different set of filters. This is true in non-fiction, obviously, because it allows a person to explain how they think through and work through things. But this is also true