#literacy crisis

[darlingofdots]

It seems that a lot of people genuinely do not have an awareness of prose/writing style as a feature by itself and only know how to engage with a text on a content level, so let's talk about it! I personally care about prose and composition so much that it's probably my number 1 reason for not reading any given book, so realising that lots of folks don't actually pay attention to it was a bit of a revelation for me.

Let's look at this sentence: Red blood fell on the snow. I think we can all agree that that's a pretty shit sentence. It describes what happens, but it's so boring! But I can replace two words and make it way more interesting: Crimson blood spattered on the snow. Content-wise, nothing has changed, but the effect is different because I've used more expressive and evocative words to describe the same thing. One factor here is that "red" is a very commonplace word that we don't think about that much, but "crimson" is not only much more unusual but also (at least to me) sounds somehow more red because I usually encounter it when it's used to specifically describe something really, strikingly red. Likewise, "spattered" is not only much more specific than "fell" because it includes both "many drops of liquid" and "messy" but also has an almost onomatopoeic quality when you say it out loud. And I could have used "dripped" instead and given you a completely different image!

Even before we get into aspects like rhythm, seemingly simple word choice has a huge impact on how we read and experience any given text. Of course we process the content of a story, the what, but don't discount how important the how is! In narratology, the study of narratives, we call this the discourse level, the way that a story is transmitted. The discourse level also includes things like the narrative mode and the temporal structure, but even if we're just thinking about word choice, we can also expand these concepts to different kinds of texts like new stories and social media posts. Why are journalists or influencers or trolls using these specific words? What message are they trying to impart? Are they saying "died" when they really mean "was murdered"? Are they using buzzwords to catch your interest? Are they avoiding certain words so they can't be sued for false advertising? This, too, is literacy!

[metro-corner]

So I work with kids, little ones and teenagers alike, so I feel an authority to say that the kids are certifiably dumb. And I don’t mean this to insult, but to call to action because the level of incompetence that these children display in class is astounding. I work with 7-9 year olds that can’t read 4-letter words. I sub teenagers who are so apathetic or angry that they refuse to write a single paragraph in an hour long period, and that’s if they even show up.

I’ve seen that its not the teachers. There’s only oh so much you can do to help in a school setting. People really need to look out for the children in their lives because the level of illiteracy and failure to engage with these kids is devastating. And we should all be embarrassed that we’ve allowed it to happen.

[hislittleraincloud]

…you see that children? Delusion. https://x.com/wenclair007lfc/status/1878578377176838281?s=46&t=sjzE9yJDPIIrx07d8gwl7g

That's the reject who said that the dark mysterious male character was fulfilled by Rowan.

Anyway

Right, say all that shit and use the .gif of Enid whining just before Wednesday insults her (any time she hears an annoying pop song that makes her ears bleed, she'll think of her) yet again.

Also, "Mac" is a tool and needs to lay off the shrooms

This just shows that the literacy crisis has thickened towards history as well. Trying too hard to be erudite and it shows.

Stop sending me the regular Twatters' shit unless it's new AND exciting.

[goodgrammaritan]

There was an episode of Arthur where Buster was struggling to do a book report and finish any books, so they gave him a 10-page children's book and he got so bored he couldn't even finish that, but then he found Robin Hood and loved it. He didn't need anything dumbed down, he just needed something that interested him. So way to go Arthur.

Ok, real quick, speaking as a librarian, you absolutely cannot despair about the adult literacy crisis and shame adults for reading fiction books you do not personally care for or think are "challenging" at the same time. It doesn't work with kids, and it doesn't work with adults.

Here's how to increase someone's reading level:

1) Let them read whatever they choose without shame or judgment. Maybe get them talking about it using open-ended, non-leading questions to encourage critical thinking and comprehension.

2) Let them get bored after a while and seek out different books.

3) Repeat.

[visenyaism]

do you have any ideas about why so many students are struggling with literacy now? I know that illiteracy and reading comprehension have been issues for years and most americans read at like a 5th grade reading level but I’m curious why it seems to be worse now (pandemic? no child left behind?)

It is everything. There’s not one answer. I could talk about this forever so instead I set a five minute timer on my phone and wrote a list of as many of the many things that are causing this on a systemic level that I could think of:

It’s parents not reading with their kids (a privilege, but some parents have that privilege to be able to do this and don’t.)

It’s youtube from birth and never being bored.

It’s phasing out phonics for sight words (memorizing without understanding sounds or meaning) in elementary schools in the early aughts.

It’s defunding public libraries that do all the community and youth outreach.

It’s NCLB and mandating standardized tests which center reading short passages as opposed to longform texts so students don’t build up the endurance or comprehension skills.

It’s NCLB preventing schools from holding students back if they lack the literacy skills to move onto the next grade because they can’t be left behind so they’re passed on.

It’s the chronic underfunding of ESL and Special Ed programs for students who need extra literacy support.

It’s the cultural devaluing of the humanities in favor of stem and business because those make more money which leads to a lot of students to completely disregard reading and writing.��

It’s the learning loss from covid.

It’s covid trauma manifesting in a lot of students as learned helplessness, or an inability to “figure things out” or push through adversity to complete challenging tasks independently, especially reading difficult texts.

It’s covid normalizing cheating and copying.

It’s increasing phone use.

It’s damage to attention span exacerbated by increased phone use that leaves you without an ability to sit and be bored ever without 2-3 forms of constant stimulation.

It’s shortform video becoming the predominant form of social media content as opposed to anything text-based.

It’s starting to also be generative AI.

It’s the book bans.

what did I miss.

[michigantopnews]

Michigan Student Literacy Crisis Deepens as Test Scores Plummet

A new report reveals that 75% of Michigan’s fourth graders cannot read at grade level. The findings highlight an education crisis, fueling criticism of recent policy changes.

Michigan’s latest student test scores show a worsening literacy crisis. Education policies and political decisions face scrutiny amid growing concerns. Michigan’s Student Literacy Crisis Worsens as Scores Plummet LANSING, Mich. — Michigan’s education system is facing renewed scrutiny after the 2024 Nation’s Report Card revealed a staggering decline in student literacy rates. According to the…

[muminshoom]

Did some people have their eyes gouged out like Oedipus while watching Nosferatu (2024) to have this bad of an understanding of the movie

[hawnks]

If you have not read a book yet this year you still have 26 days left to help bring up the average

[hislittleraincloud]

What I don't understand is how people can read this

and still hit that Ask button to complain about the pairings that make people uncomfortable.

[lxdybi]

‘we have always been here’

bisexuals 🤝 trans people

[lavenderleahy]

hey I wrote a blog post about this

learning that apparently several hundred people have been pronouncing 'miette' as 'mighty' has actively worsened my day

[yelenasbraid]

i need to delete tiktok for a few days this is ridiculous

and i am NOT putting this in the tag because we’re going to CLEANSE that hoe

but still these theories are getting out of hand

[visenyaism]

3 episodes into arcane s2 and i gotta say. We have GOT to do something about this soundtrack

[luckybyler]

OH MY GOD YES.

It’s great that you guys read YA literature as adults, I do too. Children’s books too, for that matter. What’s not acceptable is reading ONLY YA literature as an adult.

“But mah ADHD/TikTok brain” - there is adult literature for TikTok brains. It’s called short stories. Most, if not all, biggest authors (classic and modern) have a collection of short stories that you can start with. Hemingway, Allan Poe, García Márquez, Borges, Wilde, etc. all of them have bite-sized stories so you can try before you buy. Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein is actually a novella (shorter than a novel). Jules Verne, Agatha Christie, literally every book your favourite adult tv shows or movies are based on, etc.

You don’t have to read War and Peace right away. But if you’re old enough to be on Tumblr, you’re old enough that you should start reading more grown-up stuff alongside your YA literature.

turning up to your first day of english lit class at uni and saying your favourite book is percy jackson is the same thing as turning up to your first day of high school and saying your favourite book is the very hungry caterpillar. by the way

[infinitelyweary]

When your favorite tv critic finally covers iwtv in depth and over the course of 40min barely talks about louis/jacob at all

[meat-pvppet]

i scroll through mouthwashing twitter or tiktok and i realize that it shouldve been gatekept more

specifically about some of the people on the mouthwashing confessions twitter acc cuz dude. what.

not to be bitch but i think some of you should explode forever /lh

but yeah no the fandomification of mouthwashing has been atrocious chat can none of you appreciate the art and story of something and discuss things without consuming it like content slop in a trough to slurp up holy shit

these recent years online have been THE WORST years to be creating art outside of just AI bullshit cuz some of you cant help but woobify this and babygirlify that and "oh i cant hate jimmy cuz hes probably experienced trauma :[" when that is a literally RAPIST and ABUSER and "curly deserved what happened to him for being complacent in anyas abuse" when he was BRUTALLY BURNT AND MUTILATED AND HAD HIS AUTONOMY STRIPPED FROM HIM and on the complete flip side of that last thing "curly did his best and he did nothing wrong forever!!!" when he was complacent in anyas abuse and let it be perpetuated cuz it was his friend and "anya should have told swansea or daisuke!" when they wouldnt have done anything either and "anyas a pick-me" do you have no sympathy for rape victims or are you just a misogynist im being so so so real right now

every fandom has a side to it thats rancid but holy FUCK guys