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nonfiction buffet table
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From: HUMMINGRK at aol.com <HUMMINGRK>
Date: Wed, 7 Oct 1998 17:24:28 EDT
In a message dated 98 16:25:13 EDT, Nancy Silverrod wrote:
<< I have much more difficulty with the deluge of non-linear non-fiction. I
know it appeals to young readers, and makes subjects seem more accessible,
but I ultimately think it does a disservice to children by not teaching
them how to engage deeply with a text or subject. It also, by example,
doesn't lead to learn how to put thoughts into writing in any logical
and linear sense. I suppose when today's kids become college teachers
they won't be concerned with student's inability to express themselves
in writing. I realize this is very old?shioned, but I think there is
value in struggling with and engaging with a meaty, full text, rather than
accepting fluff. >>
I disagree that nonlinear nonfiction is "fluff" just because it doesn't read in a narrative line. It will never replace more traditional nonfiction (just as the style used in fiction should not and will not replace a tale with a single plot/narrator), but it serves a purpose of its own, attracting readers who prefer browsing nonfiction at certain reading stages (my two boys and their father included).
Think of it as a nonfiction Groaning Board (a buffet--from the name of a restaurant in the western Maryland hill country). You can stuff yourself full at groaning board--watch out the kids don't eat only the desserts... I, personally, prefer to be waited on in an elegant cafe than to belly up to the buffet table, but both restaurants can dish out substantial meals.
And don't worry that a generation raised on Eyewitness Books will grow up with no idea how to dig in and research a topic in a more meaty book or even write communicate their ideas in writing. Look at all the people who loved comics as children who are now creating real books... Learning to think in an organized, methodical way does not preclude reading unorganized material. In fact, making sense of a jumble of information presented by the world is one of the great gifts of writing, science, and engineering.
Lee Sullivan Hill humming rk at aol.com
Received on Wed 07 Oct 1998 04:24:28 PM CDT
Date: Wed, 7 Oct 1998 17:24:28 EDT
In a message dated 98 16:25:13 EDT, Nancy Silverrod wrote:
<< I have much more difficulty with the deluge of non-linear non-fiction. I
know it appeals to young readers, and makes subjects seem more accessible,
but I ultimately think it does a disservice to children by not teaching
them how to engage deeply with a text or subject. It also, by example,
doesn't lead to learn how to put thoughts into writing in any logical
and linear sense. I suppose when today's kids become college teachers
they won't be concerned with student's inability to express themselves
in writing. I realize this is very old?shioned, but I think there is
value in struggling with and engaging with a meaty, full text, rather than
accepting fluff. >>
I disagree that nonlinear nonfiction is "fluff" just because it doesn't read in a narrative line. It will never replace more traditional nonfiction (just as the style used in fiction should not and will not replace a tale with a single plot/narrator), but it serves a purpose of its own, attracting readers who prefer browsing nonfiction at certain reading stages (my two boys and their father included).
Think of it as a nonfiction Groaning Board (a buffet--from the name of a restaurant in the western Maryland hill country). You can stuff yourself full at groaning board--watch out the kids don't eat only the desserts... I, personally, prefer to be waited on in an elegant cafe than to belly up to the buffet table, but both restaurants can dish out substantial meals.
And don't worry that a generation raised on Eyewitness Books will grow up with no idea how to dig in and research a topic in a more meaty book or even write communicate their ideas in writing. Look at all the people who loved comics as children who are now creating real books... Learning to think in an organized, methodical way does not preclude reading unorganized material. In fact, making sense of a jumble of information presented by the world is one of the great gifts of writing, science, and engineering.
Lee Sullivan Hill humming rk at aol.com
Received on Wed 07 Oct 1998 04:24:28 PM CDT
