English is the most important class you will
take in college. You know you were thinking that; you just didn't
want to admit it. Well, it's out there now. We've told the truth.
English--and I mean writing--is important because it helps you express
what you know. You bring knowledge with you to college, you know lots of
stuff, you have wisdom. Writing makes you aware of what you know.
It induces you to think about it and question it. "Is what I know TRUE?" Writing is
important also because you link what you know to new information. You
read, you think, you write. You make new knowledge. Writing helps
you learn. Finally, writing is important because it helps you become a
full participant, in class, in work, in life. Don't just sit
there. Do something. Say something. Be something. Writing helps with
that.
Writing makes you aware of what you know. It induces
you to think about it and question it. "Is what I know TRUE?"
And so does reading.
But something is happening to
the way we read. Watch yourself read. Especially when you're
reading online. You've probably noticed that when you read online,
you skip around. You skim and click. You resist long-term focus.
Sometimes you don't so much read as simply view the words. Click. Maybe
the next screen will be more interesting. Click.
As
we migrate from reading books to reading screens, there is gain and there is loss. The gains are obvious: instantaneous
access to information. Want to know the dates of the Great Migration,
the historical event that saw Detroit's population increase tenfold?
It's right there on your computer or your phone. On your
phone! Google, Great Migration Detroit, Search. Bingo. There's no
arguing with this miraculous, totally painless delivery of information.
It's good. It's great. So what have we lost?
If you Googled Great Migration Detroit,
you probably saw the link to the Bentley Historical Library, an article by
Elizabeth Anne Martin. Did you read that article? Would you read it? If
you started to read it, would you finish it? That depends, you say. Yes,
you're right. It depends on many things: how interested you are in
that historical event, your family background, your feelings about
Detroit, whether you are required to read it. How much time you have.
Accessing information is one thing. You
click and there it is. Ingesting information is quite another. And
digesting it still another. Reading, writing--and learning--require
concentration, sustained attention. One of the most important
by-products of a good education is mental discipline, the ability to
stay with a complex task for a long period of time. Writing requires
that. Reading does. Learning does.
Sometimes burgers are so perfect they demand a
hymn, or at minimum a moment of due appreciation.
I love a good burger. I even love a
pretty good burger. I love the feel of it in my hands, the soft fragrant
pillowy goodness of the bun, that first bite of warm ground beef,
redolent of the hot smoking grill, with crunchy lettuce, cool tomato,
and the sweet and tart tang of catsup and mustard swirled together and dripping
onto the plate. Sometimes burgers are so perfect they demand a hymn, or
at minimum a moment of due appreciation. "This is a burger for today,"
you think, "and quite possibly for the ages."
You can get your burgers fast. But you
can't speed-eat them. You bite, you chew, you taste and swallow. You
digest. All this takes time. Today you can get your information fast.
And you can speed-view. You can skip-click-skim, but that's not reading.
That's neither ingestion nor digestion of ideas. Nothing much
happens.
One of the most important by-products of a good
education is mental discipline, the ability to stay with a complex task
for a long period of time.
All of this is just to say, again, that
English is the most important class you will take in college. Reading
and writing slow you down. Thank goodness for that. They slow you down
and invite reflection, improvement, intellectual growth. You develop
your mental muscles. You can't rush that process. Slow down.
Take your time. Read and think. And write. It's good
for you.
