Blog Party

I have located four different pieces of evidence that answers my question, what about certain literature types draws a person’s attention? The first, “Can’t Put it Down,” by Nick Hornby discusses reasons people are concerned with finding out what we read. He states that people like business owners, politicians and marketing executives are highly concerned with what we read because it helps them guide their campaigns to get our attention. The second source, “The Information and Reading Preferences of North Carolina Children,” by Brian W. Strurn, is a discussion on the results of a study done on what types of literature children choose. The study discovers that children primarily choose books based on their gender and then in four top categories. The third source is the book, “Why We Read What We Read,” by Lisa Adams. Adams explains that people choose the books they read simply on their current life situation and not what their interests are. My last source is another book titled, “I hear America reading: why we read what we read,” by Jim Burke. This book is a collection of letters from 400 avid readers talking about their lives and why they choose a particular type of literature. His conclusions mimic that of Adams in that people choose literature similar to their life situations. The only possible conflict would be between the two books and the study. However, the study was done with children, so I would argue that children don’t really have a “situation” and this would explain the basic generalizations to their choices.

Introduction: I walked into my room the other day and looked at the wide variety of books on my shelf. It is such a strange array from text books to science fiction and even a few political biographies. So I ask myself, why does a particular type of literature draw my attention at different points in my life and what will I be reading in the future?
Point 1: As children, we choose books based on our gender and what is the popular topic being taught to us in our schools.
Example: quote a line from the study
Point 2: As we become aware of our life situation, around teenage years, our reading choices is not based on our interests, but our place in this world. As we become adults and are more and more aware of where we stand in this world, our literature is closer and closer to matching our life.
Example: Use a quote from Burke
Point 3: Decision makers in this world care about what we read because of why we choice what we read. If we choose what we read based on our situation, then they want to know what are situations are.
Example: Use quote from Hornby
Conclusion: We read what we read based on the situations we live in. If we change our life situation, then it is only natural our library at home will change.

If our life situation dictates what we read according to these experts, then what does it mean when we read a book completely unrelated to our life?