Reading - Why Should I Read?

  Hello Twisters!  It's Bianca here and today I will be discussing the reason why we should be reading.  Let me cover some background information before we dive headfirst into this topic though.

  First, why did you decided to begin reading this blog post?  Was the title interesting?  Do you have a level of expectation that you hope reading this entry might fulfill?  What type of content do you expect this post might have?  Was this post suggested to you by someone who thought you might enjoy it?

  These are the questions that any reader automatically asks themselves before they read anything.  If I went up to anyone and asked why they were reading a certain type of medium, whether it be a book or some text messages sent by a friend, they will always ask themselves one of these questions.  
  Now, why is this important to know?  Whenever we pick up something to read, we want the content to do one (or more) of three things:

  Inform.

  Persuade.

  Entertain

  If we read something that doesn't do one of the three, there really is no point in reading at all.

Reading for Pleasure - The Reading Agency Blog Post

In June of 2015, The Reading Agency did a study of 'the power of reading for pleasure and empowerment'.

  This agency made six graphs on how reading relates to External, Social, and Personal Outcomes.  And the subtopics, within the main topics, that I will be covering is 1) Knowledge of other cultures, 2) Relatedness, and 3) Emotional Intelligence.

External Outcomes - Knowledge of other Cultures

  Welcome to the world of Inform and Entertain.  As an Informer, we read to understand the world around us in ways that we couldn't from just listening to it.  From reading, we are able to personally experience cultures, different societies, religions, all in the form of words that string into moving sentences.
  For Entertainment purposes, the Knowledge of other Cultures can just be used to learn. I, personally, know of many individuals who would pick up a history book of another country just because they were curious about their life and what they had to do for society.

Social Outcomes - Relatedness.

  Relatedness, surprisingly, can be classified under all three types of reading material expectations: Inform, Persuade, and Entertain.

  To understand this concept, we first have to ask, what does the world 'relate' mean?

  In the first definition, it means to 'make or show a connection...'.  So, if there was some way that we could connect with the content we are reading, we would be more likely to 1) remember the content, 2) express more emotion-based opinions about the content, and 3) we would be able to relate the content with an experience we've had or of an experience that happened to someone we know.
  We could literally reading anything - fiction, nonfiction, research papers, etc. - that could connect with us and relate to us in ways that it wouldn't to others.  It honestly depends on the person and the reading material.

Personal Outcomes - Emotional Intelligence

  This intertwines with relatedness.  As a person who likes to look for common ground in anything I read, I am a firm believer that there is a mountain of wealth regarding the knowledge one might find in any type of reading material that connects with them.
  I like to read fantasy novels, but my favorite type of novels are Old English novels like Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare, Emma by Jane Austen, Frankenstein by Mary Shelly, Lord of the Flies by William Golding, etc.  Since these are Historical Fictions, 1) I have a perspective of what society was like back then, 2) I can relate to the characters (as every character is just an extension of the author writing them), and 3) I grow my personal identity as I find characters that have a specific trait that I want to obtain and grow.

  These are reasons, along with many more, of why we should read.

​  Thanks for reading friends!

Until Next Time... Adieu.