The Problem of Aliteracy

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Recommended: Value and nature of childrens literature

“The man who does not read good books has no advantage over the man who cannot read them.” – Mark Twain

All children at a young age are taught to read either by their parent or at school. Then after some time the joy of reading books like Dr. Seuss “The Cat in the Hat”, or C.S. Lewis “Chronicles of Narnia,” and J.K Rowling “Harry Potter Series” becomes nothing but a distant memory. So the question that arises is are you aliterate? Unbeknownst to most people they have no idea of the word “aliteracy,” or think it is a spelling error for “illiteracy,” aliteracy is the disinclination to read, despite having the ability to do so (Oxford English Dictionary). Surprisingly most people, ranging from the young to the old are aliterate, but do not know. While there are programs to quell the spread of illiteracy, aliteracy has gone unnoticed for decades spreading rampant through out the United States. The thought of reading for pleasure is an unquestionable idea to most of the young generation who would rather spend their time with other faster stress relieving tasks, or they are a slave to their reading or homework assignments. Aliteracy is an unknown problem facing most young adults, but what makes a person aliterate is it having alternative methods of entertainment, or finding reading boring, and what are the reasons persons like to read, comparing previous and my own research, I seek to shed some light on a problem that lurks in the shadows. C.S. Lewis, J.K. Rowling, and Dr. Seuss are famous children authors, but what about them inspires children to read. Their books are filled with vivid detail enough for young minds to develop a creative imagination, and their words are rich, so children keep coming back to them time and...

... middle of paper ...

...Relationship Between the Electronic Culture and Voluntary Reading (1986). UNF Theses and Dissertations. Paper 56.

http://digitalcommons.unf.edu/etd/56

Gilbert, Julie, and Barbara Fister. Reading, Risk, and Reality: College Students and Reading for Pleasure. Vol. 72. College & Research Libraries, 2011. Print. 5 474-495.

Goodwin, Latty. "Aliteracy among College Students: Why Don't They Read?" ERIC – World’s Largest Digital Library of Education Literature. May 1978. Web. 23 Mar. 2012. .

"The Beginnings of the Empire: The Cat in the Hat and Its Legacy." Dr. Seuss. Ruth K. MacDonald. Boston: Twayne Publishers, 1988. 105-146. Twayne's English Authors Series 544. Gale Virtual Reference Library. Web. 29 Mar. 2012.

http://go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?id=GALE%7CCX1372000015&v=2.1&u=avlr&it=r&p=LitRG&sw=w

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