prospectus

We’re frequently encouraged, starting at a young age, to turn off the television and pick up books. In a country with such a high literacy rate (99%, as dictated by the CIA World Factbook), there are many social and academic pressures to encourage reading. The question we often ask ourselves (and each other) is that, while reading is necessary to keep up with the rapid pace of information speeding through our daily lives, what is the importance of reading/being literate to us? Physiologically, does it make us smarter? Does it improve memory? Psychologically, does it really open up as many new perspectives as we think it does—more so than other media sources? In today’s world, we are constantly using reading. Many believe that reading is somewhat futile in a lifestyle where information is available in so many other vehicles, but I will show how reading actually improves/conditions the brain’s given faculties.

I plan to review the evidence supported in a few of my sources (How The Brain Learns to Read by David Sousa, Proust and Squid: The Story and Science of the Reading Brain by Maryanne Wolf, and Reading and the Brain: The Science and Evolution of a Human Invention by Stanislas Dehaene) to generally back this point up, but other sources will be cited/utilized along the way. I also plan to insert various images of brain scans, such as PET scans, fMRI scans, and possibly EEG scans, to show the arousal of the brain when reading as opposed to other activities.

I have also contacted UF faculty regarding research projects they are currently facing, specifically regarding reading and brain activity. I hope, particularly with time constraints, that I might be able to utilize some of their findings.

The largest counterargument that I see myself running into includes (but is not limited to) comparing the brain’s stimulation during reading to other activities that require rapid visual processing or “using the imagination” (for example, heading a story be told, or watching a fast paced advertisement). I hope to do further research regarding a unique quality of reading and its effect on our brains that will illustrate my point better than the functional images previously mentioned.

While I have the makings of a “game plan” for this research project, I hope that the writing process will make me more inquisitive about the facts and statistics I include. I hope to do a lot of learning with the growth of my report, not only with the information at my fingertips which is completely relevant to my path of study, but also with learning how to make my writing more concise and organized.

your parents must be so proud

“The Achievement of Desire”

In reading Rodriguez’s biography on page 513, it clearly states that even his previous collection of essays, “Hunger of Memory”, ‘Rodriguez’s loss is represented most powerfully by his increased alienation from his parents and the decrease of intimate exchanges in family life. … This separation…is a necessary part of every person’s development, even though not everyone experiences it so dramatically.”

Rodriguez grew up with immigrant parents who were generally proud of their backgrounds, but at the same time wanted better things for their children. This is a theme uniformly tied into most parents' motives. With time progressing, adults see the opportunities growing and the mistakes they once made, and will often try to rectify those mistakes through their children's accomplishments (this is often the case of the parents "pushing too hard" or "living vicariously"). I think that because this theme is present in the essay, (his parents always pushing him but at the same time not always expressing their pride/positive reinforcement) many readers have a common ground with Rodriguez and relate to the idea of "the scholarship boy".

While it is not his main point, Rodriguez also expresses the need to grow as an individual (without one's parents), which is another common sentiment with all/most of his readers. There will always be a separation of sorts between us and our parents, which will cause us to rebel in a way (which may or may not be advantageous to our growth) and, quite often, this starts us on our journey of self-discovery.

The pieces that some readers have a harder time connecting with involve Rodriguez's specific experience. He specifically said on page 516, "Ambition set me apart." From his family, from classmates, and sometimes from himself, Rodriguez frequently felt estranged (as many of us do) and alienated along his journey of growing up and figuring out what his motivations were for being the black sheep.

There were two passages in particular that I thought somewhat embody the piece.

On page 520, it reads:

'"Your parents must be very proud of you." People began to say that to me about the time I was in sixth grade. To answer affirmatively, I'd smile. Shyly I'd smile, never betraying my sense of the irony: I was not proud of my mother and father. I was embarrassed by their lack of education. It was not that I ever thought they were stupid, though stupidly I took for granted their enormous native intelligence. Simply, what mattered to me was that they were not like my teachers.'

On page 529, it reads:

'But this is criticism more accurate than fair. The scholarship boy is a very bad student. He is the great mimic; a collector of thoughts, not a thinker; the very last person in class who ever feels obliged to have an opinion of his own. In large part, however, the reason he is such a bad student is because he realized more often and more acutely than most other students...that education requires radical self-reformation."

on "the pain scale"

In reading "The Pain Scale", I was reminded of this scene, which also plays with the subjectivity of pain and various theological ideas.

In “The Pain Scale”, Biss explores many ideas, including religion, it’s purposes, its subjectivity, faith, pain (and the subjectivity of that as well), and things we regard as fact vs. opinion. While, ideally, I’d like to get to the nitty gritty of the purpose of religion and math, and why we acknowledge one to be fact and another mythical, I will only dwell on the matter “explicitly” (kind of) discussed in the essay.

I found the most relevant (to readers with minimal experience with pain, math, religion, etc.) theme to be fear. “The suffering of Hell is terrifying not because of any specific torture, but because it is eternal” (Biss 179). Biss points out that the measuring pain in such a simple way (from one to ten) is impossible without “dimensions” , such as duration. We are familiar with the saying “time flies when you’re having fun”. What if you’re experiencing chronic pain? The already unpleasant sensations that seem longer (than the pleasant ones) are intensified by the duration.

“The Pain Scale” also toys with the idea of pain’s subjectivity (as does the Fight Club scene). Biss even mentions her experience of when the doctors even refer to her pain as though it were a hypothetical problem, “‘we have reason to believe that you are in pain, even if there is no physical evidence of your pain.’ I had not realized that the fact that I believed myself to be in pain was not reason enough.” Throughout “The Pain Scale”, Biss equivocates with how she feels about her pain and how she was taught to feel/how society looks at pain. Eula’s father has told her frequently how her pain isn’t really pain at all, in comparison to something else. This essay explores many “what ifs” of pain, and pain comparisons between persons (literally and figuratively, as described in allusions to Dante’s Inferno).

blog i: summary, (pollan)

Michael Pollan’s “Why Bother?” debates the core issues involved in our ecological state, offering solutions for the common man to personally combat their carbon footprint. Pollan references the thought that many American consumers share: how will this one small deed counteract the damage already done, and the damage still being done despite my efforts? The structure of Pollan’s essay allows the reader to question the logic of our everyday purchases and actions, as well as our dependency on industries for energy and food. Pollan strongly supports the idea of a sustainable lifestyle, particularly regarding our own food resources, in his article. The main solutions he offers are to correct the problem of “the cheap energy mind” and its dependency. According to Pollan, our problems are essentially a product of our mindset. “If we could just get the incentives right…the economy will properly value everything that matters and nudge our self-interest down the proper channels. The best we can hope for is a greener version of the old invisible hand. Visible hands it has no use for.” Pollan’s most elaborate example of how we can change our habits is to start relying on our own gardens to feed ourselves, and how that will have profound effects on our economy, energy crisis, and health. Much of Pollan’s essay also expands on the idea of our small changes making a difference, rebutting the reader’s mindset. “If you do bother, you will set an example for other people. If enough other people bother, each one influencing yet another in a chain reaction of behavioral change, markets for all manner of green products and alternative technologies will prosper and expand. Consciousness will be raised, perhaps even changed: new moral imperatives and new taboos might take root in the culture.” Pollan makes a point of being somewhat pragmatic (yet still subjective) when evaluating his utopian ideas for our sustainable lifestyle. “Going personally green is a bet, nothing more or less, though it’s one we probably all should make, even if the odds of it paying off aren’t great. Sometimes you have to act as if acting will make a difference, even when you can’t prove that it will.”

exploring topics, take two

i haven't finished reading, but i know if i don't write this down now, i'll forget it later. i'm going to briefly document this idea as well so i can expand on it later. i'd like to look into how relationships also affect us as people (that's very broad, i know). i'm not sure if i'd like to research how holding and sustaining healthy relationships may or may not have a large impact on our mental stability/perception of "happiness", or if it allows us to focus our time, or if it just generally elevates our mood. that part will be for later.

exploring topics, take one

freewriting.

we are asked to explore a topic related to our major for future research. well, my major is psychology, so that's pretty broad. everything we interact with is technically our perception of stimuli, which is then subjected to our mental set, schema, and opinions. i could investigate something that has a lot of research (i could endlessly rant about nature vs. nurture regarding gender identity, mental illness, etc.), or i could explore something with a less factual/scientific basis.

actually, right now i am writing. i just finished a seemingly endless mountain of math homework, and then i took a quick Facebook break. my mind is running in a slow and rather awkward fashion. i am about to open my allyn/bacon book to chapter 5 and do some light reading (lol). i'm sure that i will find that after reading or doing something that stimulates my intellectual faculties, i will be much better at writing or at least less awkward, and be able to write about what i'm actually thinking.

which brings me to idea 1. at a very young age, we are encouraged to read (whether it's just a ploy to encourage productivity in general, or because of it's actual mental benefits). it might be interesting to look into just how reading (and reading different types of literature; fiction v. nonfiction, things that interest us v. things that bore us, etc) affects our brain. i'm sure there is a solid amount of research on the actual chemistry of reading, and even how it changes our perception of things is discussed in our "ways of reading" introduction.

or maybe i'll prove my own point and brainstorm another idea once i finish tonight's reading :)