UNIVERSIDAD JAVERIANA from

MODERN LANGUAGES
INTERMEDIATE READING-1

In this course, we will identify some concepts in a text, we will practice some reading strategies and we will
learn how to design reading questions.

The concepts we are to study come from the series Reading and Thinking in English proposed by McArthur,
later adapted at Politécnico Grancolombiano by Restrepo et al. The concepts are seen from the perspective of
English for Academic Purposes approach. With these concepts and strategies, you will be able to understand
the information explicitly given in the text as well as deduce and infer ideas what you have read.

Answer these questions:

1. Why do you read?

______________________________________________

2. What do you read?

_____________________________________________

3. What can you identify in a text?

_____________________________________________

After reading we can identify the following aspects:

Topic: This refers to what the passage is about. The topic is always
stated in a noun phrase, not a sentence.

Field of study: It refers to the particular area or knowledge of the text. We can think of it as majors we
study and, in some cases, subjects in those majors. For example: economics, medicine, sociology, computing
and the arts.

Intended reader: This concept deals with the type of reader the writer addresses to. We may have general
readers and specialized readers. Some readers may be in between these two categories. They know a lot
about a specific field of study but they are not specialists in that area; an example is students. To identify the
intended reader, we can analyze the type of vocabulary the writer uses. When a writer writes to specialists,
there is no explanation of basic concepts because both the writer and the reader share the same knowledge.

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Source: The source can be defined as the place where the written text was taken from. There are two basic
types of sources: general sources---newspapers and general magazines- --and specialized sources---books,
journals, specialized magazines, and some types of manuals. Textbooks are in between depending on the
particular case. As you can see there is a logical relation between the intended reader and the source. For
example, if I write a passage I want everybody to read, I will publish it in a general source, where everybody
has access to it.

Purpose of the writer and type of discourse: The type of discourse is the way a text is written.
Depending on the purpose of the writer there are three types of discourse:

Type of discourse: Exposition

Purpose of the writer: to describe, explain, define, classify, compare something. The writer presents
knowledge already established.

Type of discourse: Enquiry

Purpose of the writer: to report on a study, give information about a study, summarize a research. The
writer presents knowledge which is not yet established. It includes hypotheses verified by experiments.

Type of discourse: Argument

Purpose of the writer: to attack, defend, praise, suggest something, to convince the readers of something or
to persuade the readers that something is true. The writer presents his/her opinion.

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TYPES OF DISCOURSE
We are going to read different texts to identify their type of discourse: Exposition, Enquiry or Argument

EXERCISE 1
Read the text and identify the aspects that follow.

Creativity is one of those traits that people seem to have an

intrinsic understanding of, but if you actually ask them to define it,
they get tripped up. It’s easy to come up with a list of creative
people (Frida Kahlo, Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak, Einstein), and
the outcomes of creativity (a novel, an invention, a new way of
looking at the world), but it’s difficult to wrap your head around the
actual concept of creativity. The more I researched this article, the
more I realized creativity is an incredibly nuanced phenomenon.

But you have to start somewhere, so let’s begin with a definition:

Creativity is the ability to transcend traditional ways of thinking or acting, and to develop new and original
ideas, methods or objects.

Let’s break that down:

It’s an ability
It’s also an ability to run a mile, or to do calculus or recite a Shakespearean sonnet (Shall I compare thee to a
summer’s day?). So creativity is a skill that is specific to an individual. For some people, it might seem to come
naturally, but it is something that anyone can improve at if they give it the time and effort.
It transcends traditional ways of thinking or acting
Transcending means you’re going above and beyond. It’s recognizing the limitations of what already exists,
and trying to improve upon it.
It develops new and original things
Creativity goes beyond imagining: it’s about developing. If it’s an idea, you go out and do the research to
prove it. If it’s a new process you try and test it to see if it works. If it’s an object, you build it.
Source undisclosed for pedagogical reasons

1. Topic: ______________________________
2. Field of study: __________________________
3. Intended reader: ________________________
4. Source: _______________________
5. Purpose of the writer: ________________________
6. Type of discourse: ____________________

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EXERCISE 2
Read the text and complete the sentences that follow.

Most of us have watched Sir Ken Robinson’s 2007 TED Talk “Do schools kill creativity”.
There’s a reason that it’s one of the most viewed TED Talks of all time. This wasn’t the
first time that Robinson had talked about the negative effect that education has on
creativity, and he’s also not the only one to have noticed this trend.

When you are thinking of organizations that have been looking towards the future of
work, NASA should have been near the top of your list in 1992. They were already looking
for a way to “effectively measure the creative potential of their rocket scientists and
engineers” and they had Dr. George Land and Dr. Beth Jarman develop a test designed to identify the capacity
for divergent thinking and creativity.

Land and Jarman were curious to see what test results would look like if they tested a more diverse group of
people, and a younger group of people. So they went and found 1,600 children between 4-5 years old and
tested them.

98% of pre-schoolers were considered creative geniuses. This was a surprisingly high number, so they started
testing the same group of children as they grew up. By grade school, only 30% of the children were considered
creative geniuses. By high school, it was only 12%. This was not a good sign.

They conducted the same test on a group of adults, and the results were still trending down. Less than 2% of
the adults tested in studies were creative geniuses.

So Ken Robinson had a really good observation. By the time we finish school, we’re probably much less
creative than we were going in. The really bad news is that creativity is one of the most in-demand 21st
century skills. We know that in order to keep up with the future of work, we all need to be able to come up
with new solutions to new problems, and we can’t do that if we don’t have creative geniuses leading the
charge.
Source undisclosed for pedagogical reasons

1. The topic of the text is: The decrease of creativity while growing up.
2. Its field of study is: Psychology and pedagogic
3. The text is intended to: general readers
4. The text may be found in: Journal and magazines
5. The purpose of the writer is: to report a research about the decrease of creativity.
6. The type of discourse is: inquiry

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EXERCISE 3
Read the text and answer the questions that follow.

It’s tough to put into words exactly what students are getting from their
education right now. Of course, there is still the course material and the
opportunity to learn new things.But what about the connections with
other people? What about the learning experience of speaking up in
class and interacting with the materials? Some of this cannot be helped
— must I say again that we are in a pandemic? Yet, we have to admit
that Zoom breakout rooms are not doing much for students’ connection
to their classes.

This is only the latest failure of our education system in terms of encouraging creativity in students of all
grades. One WSU professor is making a point of crushing the norm of preparing students only for careers. In
addition to their future jobs, Margaret Ritsch, assistant communications professor, said she is preparing them
for life. “Creativity, believe it or not, is actually one of the top three skills that employers are looking for in the
strategic communication and public relations area,” Ritsch said. In her Media Strategies and Techniques class,
students make a blog about whatever topic they want and work on it throughout the semester. This activity
may seem like busywork, but in reality, it is allowing students to dive into something they are already
passionate about while learning how to bring creativity into their career.

Some students have fashion-focused blogs, others are sharing their experiences with the foster care system or
chronic illness. “There’s some really great work going on in my classes, and I’m really very excited about it,”
Ritsch said. “I’m really gratified to be able to see or sense that these students are actually enjoying doing this
work.”

Zachary Settle, junior public relations major, focused his blog around his music. He has been creating music
since he was in high school. “I just think it’s cool that professors are giving students the freedom to write
about whatever they want and still get good grades,” he said. It’s also important to practice — creativity isn’t
enough on its own. “[At first] I knew my music wasn’t very good,” Settle said. “I tried to make it good, but I
was also so determined, knowing that if I just kept doing it, it would eventually get good.”

Artists like Settle should be able to bring their experience, talent and passion into the classroom. His
determination to dive into his creative side is not one many students have had a chance to explore. Giving
students these opportunities to connect with their creativity and passions is vital for our education. We have
to be able to use these personal experiences to relate the knowledge we obtain through school to really enjoy
life.

It’s not only vital for our students’ educations that we incorporate creativity into the curriculum. Teachers are
continuing to learn from these lessons, too. Ritsch spoke to her own experience with these blogs, sharing how

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grateful she is to be able to get to know her students even through this online platform. “I feel like I’m really
getting to know them, and I’m not sure if, in an in-person class, it would have happened this way,” Ritsch said.

Incorporating more creative approaches to our education can only help us. Particularly during times of
disconnection, projects like this blog are ways for us to continue to get to know one another.

“Music is kind of like a book on a shelf,” Settle said. “You don’t have to listen to it. No one is telling you to go
up, grab the book, open it and read it. No one is forcing you to do it.” Our education system works in the same
way, except there are so many metaphorical books on shelves we cannot reach without creativity. There are
many topics we have yet to discover because of this lack in the system.

With teachers like professor Ritsch and enthusiastic and passionate students like Settle, I believe this will
begin to change. In the meantime, go find ways to be creative in your classes. Connect with people you might
never have thought to reach out to before.
Source undisclosed for pedagogical reasons

1. What is the topic of the text? The importance of creativity in education.

2. What is its field of study? Education.
3. Who is the intended reader? General readers.
4. Where can you find this text? Journals.
5. What is the purpose of the writer? To give a solution to boost the creativity in education.
6. What is the type of discourse? Exposition.

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EXERCISE 4
Read the text and do the exercises that follow.

A. Five sentences have been removed from the text. Choose the most suitable sentence from the list A-
F for each blank 1-5. One sentence is not needed.

A. We Launched in 1972, the street-painting competition drew hundreds of European artists in

what was the first of many similar festivals around the world.
B. Meanwhile, chalk art has evolved from a summertime pastime to an important creative
outlet for children in quarantine.
C. 3D sidewalk chalk drawings are fun, interactive, ephemeral works of art that dazzle, inspire
and amaze.
D. The practice continued for centuries.
E. “What is the value of a toy in a quarantine?” Bentel asks.
F. In Knoxville, Tennessee, the annual Chalk Walk in Market Square event, due to run on April
4, has been postponed indefinitely.

The streets of Mill Valley, California, have been quiet lately. No

cars driving by, no humans babbling along, no cafes humming
with the promise of caffeine and social interaction. Sheltered in
place since March 19, many working adults in this county have
embraced Zoom meetings, and children are still grappling with
social distancing and canceled birthday parties. But give a
family some chalk, and you will see the streets come to life
again.

From California to Tennessee to Wisconsin to New Jersey, chalk

art is having a moment. With schools closed until further notice, homebound children are taking chalk sticks
to the streets. Here in Mill Valley, sidewalks and driveways are bursting with games of hopscotch—some as
long as 82 tiles—and hopeful messages like “we can do it” or “we got this.” Drawing on the driveway is an
activity for moments of boredom, but beneath that boredom lies a more visceral need to comfort and
connect with one another. And sidewalks, which urbanist and activist Jane Jacobs called “the main public
places of the city” and “its most vital organ,” have emerged as the perfect canvas for boosting neighborhood
morale, one chalk drawing at a time.

“Typically, when you make artwork, you don’t really make it with someone else. With the chalk, there is a
collaborative element,” says designer Nikolas Bentel, who upped the chalk game two years ago by reinventing
the ubiquitous chalk stick with his set of whimsical, three-dimensional chalk figurines. Designed to draw
original patterns in playful ways like rolling, rotating, or pushing the chalk, Bentel’s so-called Moon Chalk,
launched through a Kickstarter campaign, has helped redefine the function of chalk as not only a drawing tool,
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but also a toy that can help children engage with each other and with the architecture around them. 1. E “To
a parent, I think it’s extremely valuable.”

And as museums around the world have begun documenting life on lockdown by collecting photographs of
empty streets and asking citizens to keep diaries, parents have been doing their part by taking to Instagram.
“Be like the Mandalorian. Never take your mask off in public!” reads one chalk drawing in Milwaukee,
alongside a pastel blue sketch of Baby Yoda. “We’ll Rise UP!” reads another in Laguna Beach, California.

Colorful renditions of Rosie the Riveter, the cultural icon that became a symbol for unity and resolve during
World War II, are making a recurring appearance, too. In Columbus, Ohio, a 15-year-old student has even
drawn a 2020 version of Rosie wearing a mask. Having transcended time and place, Rosie is becoming a
renewed symbol of resilience. 2. B

In fact, chalk art has always had a purpose beyond beautifying the streets. While the earliest form of chalk art
dates back to the Stone Age, the street art tradition originated in 16th-century Italy, where drifting artists,
known as the Madonnari, made a living traveling from village to village and recreating pictures of the
Madonna on the pavement. 3.D

Around the mid-1880s, a street art movement emerged independently in Victorian England, where artists, this
time called “screevers,” graced the pavement with their ephemeral art. Unlike the art of the Madonnari, the
works of screevers were often accompanied by poems and proverbs with a moral or political slant. As Fiona
McDonald writes in her book The Popular History of Graffiti: From the Ancient World to the Present, “The idea
was to produce a brilliant text in beautiful writing that would catch the eye of a wealthy passer-by, who would
then pay a few pennies as a reward for the public sentiment and the benefit of all society.”

As many artists went on to fight in World War II, the street art tradition in Europe went into remission for a
good part of the 20th century. Then came the International Madonnari Festival in the Italian village of Grazie
di Curtatone. 4. A

Chalk art made its way to the United States in the late 20th century, largely driven by internet sensation Kurt
Wenner. Credited as the inventor of 3D pavement art, Wenner started the first pavement art festival in the
country in 1986. Since then, an increasing number of artists (as many as 200 in 2019) have gathered every
year to draw elaborate chalk compositions on the sunny plaza at the Old Mission Santa Barbara, a fitting
location for a tradition rooted in religious art.

Today there are between 50 and 100 chalk art festivals in the U.S. alone, many of which will no doubt be
affected by social-distancing requirements and varying stay-at-home orders across the country. In Florida, the
Sarasota Chalk Festival, which runs from March 6 to May 31 and draws as many as 200,000 guests every year,
has closed through April.

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5. F Instead, nonprofit organization Dogwood Arts has encouraged artists of all ages to create chalk art in their
driveways and sidewalks in the form of a virtual Chalk Walk competition. Among the submissions, there is a
giant 3D Purell bottle, a chalk poster of Wayne’s World captioned “Stay Home and Party On,” and an Easter-
inspired patchwork of triangles reminiscent of a stained-glass church window.

The chalk art festival season will have to reinvent itself this summer—and so will we—but it seems that a
festival of an altogether different amplitude is taking over our sidewalks. And in these lonely times, when hugs
have become air hugs and play dates are a distant dream, this may just be the best way to stay connected.
Source undisclosed for pedagogical reasons

B. Complete the sentences.

1. The topic of the text is _____________________________

2. The field of study of the text is _______________________
3. The text is intended for ______________________
4. The text was taken from _______________________
5. The purpose of the writer is ____________________________
6. The type of discourse is _______________________

C. Answer the questions below using your own words.

1. Why is chalk art increasing now?

______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________

2. When did chalk art in the streets begin?

______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________

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EXERCISE 5
Read the text and do the exercises that follow.

Is there a link between studying music and being better at math and reading?
Scientists have been studying and debating this for a long time, and a new study
has some really interesting findings. A music professor, Martin J. Bergee, set out to
prove that there is no link between studying music and better scores in reading and
math. But after a 10-year study, he discovered the link was stronger than he
imagined.

Martin Bergee co-authored this study in Kansas, and was published in the Journal
of Research in Music Education. He was absolutely convinced that the link between
music achievement and math achievement and reading achievement, once other
things that are controlled for and accounted for, essentially disappears. He spent 10 years on this study. His
research eliminated other factors that might account for why music students typically have such good math
and reading scores. He thought there were probably somewhere between 15 and 20 variables including the
sex of the participant, the ethnicity of the participant, the economics of the family, and so on.

And Bergee's goal was to disprove the link between music, math and reading. The beauty of research is that
you don't always end up finding what you expected. After studying more than a thousand mostly middle
school students, he discovered he was wrong to be so skeptical. The link was actually really strong. The
relationship not only remained strong, but it remained very strong.

Bergee cannot explain why that relationship exists, and he knows that his study doesn't exactly settle the
debate. But he says it could provide important context for school districts that are considering budget cuts to
music programs. “If I were a school board, I would want my goal to be the education of the whole mind. And if
you eliminate subjects like music, you eliminate the ability to learn others, like math and reading,“ he said.

In a recent interview, Bergee said that based on the findings, the point they tried to make is that there might
be, and probably are, general learning processes that underlie all academic achievement, no matter what the
area is. Music achievement, math achievement, reading achievement -- there are probably more generalized
processes of the mind that are brought to bear on any of those areas. Ha added that “if your goal is to
educate the person -- to develop the person's mind -- then you need to educate the whole person. In other
words, learning may not be as modular as it is often thought to be.”
https://www.npr.org/2020/12/09/944528396/examining-the-link-between-music-and-scores-for-math-reading
Source undisclosed for pedagogical reasons

A. Identify the aspects below.

1. Topic: ______________________________
2. Field of study: ____________________________

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 3. Intended reader: __________________________
4. Source: ____________________________
5. Purpose of the writer: ____________________________
6. Type of discourse: _______________________

B. Write T (true) or F (False) for the following sentences.

1. The hypothesis of the study was that there is a link between music and math and reading. ( )
_____________________________________________________________________________

2. According to the study, some variables determine the good performance of music students in math.
( )
_____________________________________________________________________________

3. The results of the study have implications on education in schools. ( )

_____________________________________________________________________________

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EXERCISE 6
Read the text and do the exercises that follow.

A couple of years ago a poll was conducted by the British performing arts newspaper
The Stage (www.thestage.co.uk) to determine the opinion that a majority of people
had on a topic that is close to the hearts of many people in the theatre community:
arts education in school. More specifically, these people were asked whether or not
they believed that the teaching of arts subjects should be compulsory.

The results: Approximately 77% said “yes”, while approximately 23% said “no”.

Granted, these results aren’t necessarily a good reflection of what the general public –
in the United Kingdom or in any other country – thinks on this subject, as it was merely
a voluntary poll that was conducted online.

Perhaps the most insulting and tiresome excuse I’ve heard from people who claim that arts education should
not be compulsory is that the arts are not as important to a child’s education as other subjects are. This could
not be further from the truth.

There is plenty of evidence out there that suggests that kids who engage in creative or artistic activities as a
child – whether it be acting in a play or playing an instrument or painting a picture – benefit significantly as
they grow up, as a result of it. Plus, kids these days are already exposed to many forms of art on a regular
basis, whether they know it or not.

It may be in the form of the music they listen to, the books they read, the movies they watch, the video games
they play, and if they have good parents, the shows that they attend. If they are going to be engaged with the
arts this much in their lives, would it not be better to gain a better understanding of it by learning about these
vital subjects early on in the classroom?

I’ve also heard people point to issues such as funding for education as a reason for prioritizing certain subjects
over others. In recent months, this became the subject of heated debate as some pondered whether school
budgets should prioritize subjects such as math and science, while others were disgusted at such an idea. If
you ask me, that whole debate only bolsters the case for not cutting education funding, but increasing it.

Nobody is saying that math and science should not be compulsory, but that does not mean that the arts
should have to suffer for it when there is proof out there that shows that learning more about theatre, music,
visual art, and even film, can be highly beneficial to the development of a child at a young age. Even if they
don’t end up staying with it for the rest of their lives, it can help them learn other valuable skills as they grow,
which leads me to my next point.

Other people I’ve heard discuss this – including those who are supposedly supporters of the arts – point out
that not everyone is as talented as others are when it comes to theatre, music, or visual art. Essentially, what
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they are arguing that they should not be forced to do something that they are not very good at doing. Yet part
of going to school, especially when you are young, is to take classes for the sake of learning and not the sake
of doing things which you already are good at.

Personally, I was never very good in math class when I was growing up. By their logic, should math have not
been compulsory for kids like me, simply because I was never good at it? I don’t think so, because I believe
that part of being in school is learning about all the basic subjects so that you are well-educated, and the arts
are very much a part of that.

So to those of you out there who may not think arts education is important, I urge you to please take all of
this into consideration. Even if you aren’t someone who is directly engaged with the arts on a daily basis, as an
adult, you should still be able to recognize the value of students learning about these vital subjects in the
schools.

Meanwhile, for those of us who are involved in theatre and in other art forms, this should be even more
important. The future of art – and that includes the future of theatre – could be on the line when it comes to
this discussion. The kids who learn about these subjects in school could potentially shape the future of the
arts, and if they aren’t learning about it in the classroom, many of them might never get involved with artistic
activities in their lifetime. And that should be a very frightening prospect for every theatre person out there.
Source undisclosed for pedagogical reasons

A. Answer the questions below.

1. What is the topic of the text? _____________________________

2. What is its field of study? ________________________
3. Who is the intended reader? __________________________
4. Where can you find this text? __________________________
5. What is the purpose of the writer? __________________________
6. What is the type of discourse? ______________________
7. Do you agree with the writer? Yes/No? Why?
_______________________________

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ARGUMENT
An argumentative text involves defending or attacking an opinion.
The purpose of the writer may be:

To attack something To convince the readers of something To suggest that . . .

To defend something To persuade the readers that . . . To praise something
To criticize something To convince the readers that . . . to protest against . .

So, when you read an argumentative text, you should identify the topic of the passage, the purpose of the
writer and the point of view of the writer. The point of view of the writer is a complete sentence that
expresses the attitude or opinion of the writer towards the topic. You can also identify the writer’s arguments.
Supporting arguments are sentences the writer uses to back up his/her point of view.

EXERCISE 7
Read the text and do the exercises that follow.

At this moment in the field of English/language arts, I’m noticing an odd friction
between two significant, growing movements that touch our work.

The first one, to me, is perhaps the most exciting thing going on in education right
now, period: the bursting field of new literature written for children and young
adults by an increasingly diverse field of authors. Wonderful titles are released
almost daily—and maybe for the first time it doesn’t feel like a huge struggle to find
books that represent the diversity of our students and the real world. While more
work needs to be done to reach full representation and challenge stereotypes, the
movement forward is undeniable. A great many educators are passionate about
bringing diverse texts into our classrooms and disrupting traditional canons, and they’re spreading the word in
their schools and on social media. In so doing, we are helping to create life-long readers who learn empathy
and self-determination through powerful storytelling.

This literary boom is very much centered on books, especially novels, as a major format for reading. And when
we think of the voracious young readers we know, books are generally what they like to read. While I’m all for
including and honoring all mediums and genres for reading, I believe that the practice of reading actual books
plays a key role in developing engaged readers.

On the other hand, in this same moment, there’s a second movement pushing for reading shorter texts,
including articles, poems, and excerpts of novels, thus minimizing the use of whole books.

The recent trend toward short texts seems to have come from the Common Core State Standards and
accompanying standardized tests. As Peter Greene explains in a Forbes Magazine article, Common Core
Testing and the Fracturing of Literature, “Both the standards and the tests are focused on ‘skills,’ with the idea
that the business of reading a play or a story or any piece of text is not for the value of that text, but for the
reading skills that one acquires and practices in the reading.” This limited focus on skills overlooks so much of
what literature offers young people. But my issue with excerpts goes beyond the skills versus content debate,
which has been going on many decades.

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I question the choice to alter a novel’s form by excerpting it. This is partly on principle—the author didn’t
intend for it to be read in bits. But more importantly, I believe reading excerpts puts students at a
disadvantage in developing a love of reading and their skills in literary analysis.

Literature is art. When we read a novel, we are reading an author’s artistic production, which was created
intentionally in a specific form. The novel as a literary form asks readers to spend time living in a world and
experiencing the story subjectively as it unfolds, detail by detail. Sure, the length can be prohibitive at times
on a practical level; but fundamentally, the work of art begins at the beginning and ends at the end. Without
the whole story, our experience is incomplete, and we really can’t know what the author is trying to convey
with major gaps in our knowledge of the text.

I like to compare this to looking at a work of visual art—a painting, for example. Yes, we can study a corner of
a painting, but we would almost never do so without first viewing the painting as a whole. Without seeing the
whole, we miss out on the experience of the art as it was intended. And we are at a gross disadvantage in
analyzing even the details we see in one corner, because we don’t know what purpose they serve in relation
to the whole.

To complicate matters, when students are reading excerpts and missing the whole picture, there is almost
always one person in the room who has the whole picture advantage: the teacher. Students learn to look to
the teacher to point out what’s important, and teachers end up doing a lot of the analysis for the class. This
direct transfer of thinking from teacher to student is a useful option once in a while, but this does not provide
students with the kind of reading experiences they need to be able to do the analysis themselves, which is the
goal. And students can critically analyze literature if they have the tools and opportunity, and appropriate and
meaningful texts with which to practice.

Having the whole picture is an advantage we ought to give students when we teach literature. That is the
concept at the core of the whole novels method I use in my English classroom. In it, I support students to read
entire novels—selected to be high interest and developmentally meaningful—and analyze them in discussions
and writing after they’ve read the whole thing.

Are there times when reading excerpted selections from a difficult but worthwhile book may be a better
choice than forcing students to read the whole thing? Sure, on a limited basis. But should we be using
excerpts from novels instead of whole books—and calling that a best practice—because someone told us to,
or because we’re not sure how to build confident readers who can read through a whole novel? No. We can
do better than that, and our students can, too.
Source undisclosed for pedagogical reasons

A. Complete the sentences.

1. The topic of the text is: The new boom of books in the market due to its diversity and focus on
young people and children and the dichotomy that exists between reading extracts of books or
reading them in their entirety.

2. The field of study of the text is: education

3. The text is intended for: General readers

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 4. The text was taken from: Journals

5. The purpose of the writer is: Explain the advantages and disadvantages between reading an entire

book or excerpts from it.

6. The type of discourse is: Argument.

B. Complete the chart.

Point of view of the writer:

ARGUMENTS
While I’m all for including and honoring all mediums and genres for reading, I believe that the practice
of reading actual books plays a key role in developing engaged readers.

But my issue with excerpts goes beyond the skills versus content debate, which has been going on many
decades.

I question the choice to alter a novel’s form by excerpting it. This is partly on principle—the author didn’t
intend for it to be read in bits. But more importantly, I believe reading excerpts puts students at a
disadvantage in developing a love of reading and their skills in literary analysis.

C. Answer the questions.

1. What is the first trend the writer talks about? What does he think about it?

He feels himself excited since the new boom is bringing diverse kind of books and that’s terrific
because people have more resources to improve their reading skills.

2. Do you agree with the writer’s opinion? Why?/Why not?

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EXERCISE 8
Read the text and do the exercises that follow.

Literature has been a prominent form of art throughout human history

dating all the way back to “The Epic of Gilgamesh.” In the time it’s
been around, literature has captured the hearts of billions, provoked
revolutions and divided nations.

At the heart of it all, literature merely consists of written words

clustered together, and due to the surge in technological innovations, more people are reading now than
ever. The unfortunate reality is that a bulk of what people read today has nowhere near the intellectual
benefits that classic literature offers.

Technology has connected the world and ushered in the recent growth of the digital age. It’s had a substantial
effect on what we read since technological advances in the publishing field have led to a greater variety of
books. This resulted in a sub-category of literature known as genre fiction, which places a heavy emphasis on
plot over deeper meaning.

This caused the public to move away from reading literary fiction and seek out other forms of reading material
seen by the notable decline in literary fiction sales when compared to genre fiction. This is unfortunate since
literary fiction is of greater merit through its deliverance of real emotional responses and an altered
understanding of the world.

Genre fiction ultimately has a goal of telling a compelling story that helps its reader escape the world around
them. Literary fiction, on the other hand, is a moving journey penned from the heart and soul of the author,
granting readers a greater understanding of the surrounding universe.

Many agree that genre fiction still possesses its own set of benefits. People argue that genre fiction has richer
character development and can be read within a month, whereas classic literature can become a year-long
commitment. While these arguments are valid, genre fiction is far more likely to contain simplified writing and
lack the impact on a reader’s writing or social skills that literary fiction creates.

This was shown in a study involving a group of people who had to read three to five minutes of literary fiction
before taking a test regarding human empathy to compare their results with those who read genre fiction or
nothing at all. The research found that people who read literary fiction scored better than those who read
popular fiction. Popular fiction readers were shown to make as many mistakes as people who read nothing.
This indicates that classic literature grants the reader greater empathy for people of all backgrounds.

“Popular fiction is a way of dealing more with one’s own self,” Albert Wendland, director of a master’s
program in popular fiction at Seton Hill, said. “Maybe, with one’s own wants, desires, needs.”

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Genre fiction isn’t the only way people read in the modern day. The internet is brimming with e-books, blog
posts and social media updates. It’s no secret that screens have become an extensive aspect of people’s lives.
Americans devote more than 10 hours a day to screen time. People’s increased exposure to the internet
increases their chances of encountering butchered grammar that inadvertently affects their writing. Studies
have found that students who consume primarily digital content — such as Reddit and Buzzfeed — had the
lowest writing complexity scores, while those who often read literature and academic journals had the highest
levels of writing complexity.

Classic literature is also beneficial to a person’s brain flow. A Michigan State University study proved this when
they monitored individual’s brain flows as they read the works of Jane Austen. Blood flow was shown to
increase in areas of the brain normally associated with tasks that require close attention.

Another quality that classic literature can provide that modern written works can’t is history and culture in
context. Classic literature has endless potential to educate the people of today about the past in ways a
history book can’t. This is through the presentation of a story written in the context of a particular historical
period. The narration of the Great Depression in John Steinbeck’s “The Grapes of Wrath” and the roaring ’20s
in F. Scott Fitzgerald’s “The Great Gatsby” are examples of this.

While classic literature is gradually fading from the public eye, with most works only being acknowledged in a
classroom setting, it’s important to recognize the potential a work of classic literature has and the vast impact
they’ve had on the world.
Source undisclosed for pedagogical reasons

B. Identify the aspects below.

1. Topic: The importance of recognizing the potential that a work of classic literature has.
2. Field of study: Education
3. Intended reader: General readers
4. Source: magazines
5. Purpose of the writer: To demonstrate the importance of classical literature in our lives.
6. Type of discourse: argumentative
7. Difference between genre fiction and literary fiction:

C. Deduce the meaning of the words in italics in the text. Write the grammatical function of each word
(n, v, adj., adv.,) and its meaning using a synonym, a near synonym or a definition.

1. Surge (P.2) ( Noun ): Inrush.

2. Is brimming with (P.9) ( Verb ): To be full to overflowing.
3. Butchered (P. 9) ( Adj ): Bad

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 D. Complete the chart.

Point of view of the writer:

ARGUMENTS

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EXERCISE 9
Read the text and do the exercises that follow.

Last week the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York announced that it is ending
its universal pay-what-you-wish admissions policy in favor of a mandatory $25 fee
for all adult visitors who cannot prove they are residents of New York. With this
new standard, the Met creates a significant barrier to one of the most acclaimed
collections of art in the world.

The Met's announcement has been met with emphatic declarations that museums
should be free. Museum professionals, museum scholars, and museumgoers are
defending the idea that museums have value that should be shared with everyone
regardless of income or residency and immigration status.

Part of the uproar over the Met's decision is that, for so long, it was dedicated to being a free resource to
everyone. The Met's historical motivations—to instill white middle-class values and behavior in new New
Yorkers — and its historical mechanism — the art of Western civilization — are elitist at best, but those
motivations and that mechanism don't determine what visitors do when they walk up those steps on Fifth
Avenue. Jean-Michel Basquiat's paintings look nothing like antiquities, but he learned about art from visiting
the Met, an opportunity made possible by the fact that it was free.

All museums should be free because — regardless of institutional intentions — when they are free we can use
them in ways that better fit our lives, and thus they become more accessible practically and intellectually as
well as financially. When museums are free we can see one painting everyday on our lunch breaks. We can
come back again and again to see all of the things we'd miss in just one visit. We can go on cheap dates. We
can take our children and not worry about wasting our vacation budget if they throw a tantrum after 10
minutes. Students can come on school trips and learn not just about art or history or science, but also about
experiences and institutions — museums themselves — that might otherwise feel closed off to them.

Whether we go on a tour with an expert or simply look at a diorama, whether we come for five minutes or we
stay for five hours, we use these spaces in meaningful ways whether or not we learn something in the way the
museum prescribes. In any of these visits, we're thinking, however tentatively, about the meaning of objects
and the stories that are — or aren't — told by the things that surround us every day. We're starting the work
of critical thinking, and we are able to do that because we can come in the door without worrying about cost.

There is still work to do to dismantle the elitism and the racism and sexism that are endemic to museums and
the fight for museums being free is not going to solve this problem. It's not an easy fight to win because
funding for museums is scarce. But free admission is a way to begin opening profound spaces up to diverse
uses and experiences that capture the power of objects to communicate regardless of whether they teach us
something specific or whether they simply fill us with awe, wonder and a sense of our shared humanity.

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Here in Philadelphia, we have an unparalleled tradition of making the artifacts of history, art, and science free
for everyone. Carrying the torch today are museums like the Wagner Free Institute of Science, the Chemical
Heritage Foundation, the Institute for Contemporary Art, and the Fabric Workshop among many others. These
places are not the Philadelphia Museum of Art. They are not places whose facades get plastered on national
sporting telecasts as representative of our city, but they are representative of our city. While the PMA should
also be fighting to expand its free hours, we can look at these specialized places that are already free and see
immediately the kinds of unexpected experiences that take place when we don't ask visitors to pay.
Source undisclosed for pedagogical reasons

A. Identify the aspects below.

1. Topic: _________________
2. Field of study: _____________________
3. Intended reader: ______________________
4. Source: ____________________
5. Purpose of the writer: ________________________
6. Type of discourse: __________________

B. Complete the chart.

Point of view of the writer:

Arguments

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 C. Say if the following sentences are T (True) of F (False).

1. The Met started a debate about museums’ admission policy . ( )

__________________________________________________________________________

2. The Chemical Heritage Foundation and the Institute for Contemporary Art are examples of
important museums in the US. ( )
__________________________________________________________________________

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