Why English Class is Awesome

Someone should have paid more attention in English Class...

 English Class is AWESOME!!!!! I mean, reading takes you to new places, makes you smarter, and is one of the cheapest forms of exciting entertainment.  Writing allows you to persuade, express, and, with a little practice, entertain (check out http://writingenglish.wordpress.com/2006/09/12/the-25-funniest-analogies-collected-by-high-school-english-teachers/ for a reminder on why clever writing rocks)!

Reading is often the basis for success in all your other classes.  The last time you read a science textbook, solved a mathematical word problem, or completed your Phys. Ed. Written test on badminton, did you remember to thank all the words you’ve ever read in your life?  They helped you complete those assignments, you know.  Reading improves vocabulary and spelling…..employers will love you, and in this economy, that is a very, very good thing!  When we read we access new ideas—whether about chemistry, politics, or the weather, reading lets you understand what goes on in this world we live in.  

Here is a list of activities that good reading makes A LOT easier:

· Understanding exactly what terrible side affects you have to look forward to with your new medical prescription.

· Car manuals: To some of us, reading the Japanese instructions is just as helpful as the English

· Reading food labels for allergies, calories, ingredients, or just checking to make sure you’re getting chicken and not dog meat….

· Baby care products:  All you future parents better know how to read the baby bottom ointment label…….

· Reading bus schedules, traffic notices, plane itineraries.  Without reading, you’re gonna get way lost, way fast.

· Think of the money you could save on taxes, if only you knew how to read those darned forms right…..

·Shopping receipts: Getting over charged is nothing new, right?  

·   If you can’t thoroughly read your housing or loan contract, it’s no big deal, right?   Like going to jail or owing millions of dollars more than you thought is no big deal…..    

· Movie titles, times, locations, and prices….You wouldn’t want to end up at Chubby Bunny’s sing-a-long with you meant to see that new action flick, would you?

Hold on a second, you might be saying, What does reading these sorts of things have to do with studying “Wuthering Heights” or “To Kill a Mockingbird?” Although we will spent a good amount of time learning to decode and apply informational and expository text, fiction reading is also a huge part of our current curriculum.  And it’s not just to torture you.

            Knowing how to pick out the main idea, find symbols, recognize point of view and the reliability of a narrator are all common things we do with literature, yet far too few students realize that these skills transfer to the “real world.”  When you pick up a textbook, do you automatically trust the opinions and beliefs?  (Enter point of view and narrator reliability).  When your boss asks you to read company statements, can you summarize them into memorable points (enter main idea)?  Basically, the skills you garner from reading complex plots and a variety of narrative styles does indeed increase your ability to succeed in the other aspects of your life. 

The number one reason for English class?  Good grammar could save your life one day……

Cartoons from www.mchumor.com

"Shcool" photo from http://www.flickr.com/photos/35393854@N00/1409351331/