Why read?

This feature chronicles the adventures, rewards, and minor transgressions of a chronic reader of literature.

Virtually everyone who is able to read reads. You are reading even as you read this sentence. Reading comes naturally to the human race. Exercise your ability to read now. Read about reading at this page.

about this feature

The nature of what people read varies all over the map, from street signs to newspapers to data on computer displays to literature to scholarly journals. Why do people read? And equally important, why should people read?

why do people read? Why should people read?

The Muse Of Literature invites you to explore this question and sundry related issues about this fascinating but seldom explored subject:

• Why do some people read avidly and others not at all?
• Why do people read?
• What do people read?
• Why do some people read certain kinds of writing and not others?
• What can affect a person's ability to read?
• What happens if you don't read?

The scope of The Muse's investigation into why people do and should read is by no means restricted to the reading of literary works; it's about all kinds of reading. So why begin with literature? The Muse believes that literature is a good place to conduct this kind of an inquiry given this web site's focus on the arts.

Why Read—see the Muse's Essay

Why Read? is not just an area for inquiry; it's the title of an essay written for The Muse Of Language Arts by an ETAF staff member. It charts the personal adventures, rewards, and minor transgressions of a chronic reader of the written word who is also a professional writer.

Having spent a lifetime perusing all things literary and experiencing literature's joys and sorrows, an essay on why people should read by this particular author marks a propitious place to start an exploration of this subject. Serious readers (and casual readers thinking of becoming serious about reading) will want to read this essay and compare notes with this author's account of the glories and pitfalls of reading.

• Read an ETAF staff member's introspective and retrospective reminiscences of a lifetime of reading. See why all people should read and why one reader is ardent on the subject. Read the essay titled, Why Read? click here.

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Why read—Visitor essays

To help you uncover some of the reasons why people do and should read, The Muse Of Language Arts has extended a permanent invitation to visitors to Electricka's web site to publish their own original essays on the subject why read.

• Read original visitor essays on the subject why read. You'll find them at The Muse Of Language Arts feature called Publish Your Essay: click here.

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publish your own essay on the subject why read

Have you already written an essay on why read? Want to write an original essay on why read especially for publication at Electricka's web site? Either way, The Muse Of Language Arts invites you to publish your essay on the subject why read at Electricka's web site for other visitors to see.

Why read? There are a zillion reasons. Want to offer visitors some of your own? Feel free to compare or contrast your viewpoint and experiences with those of the ETAF essayist, or take your essay in new directions. Show others the rewards and penalties of of being a reader. Explore and expound on some of the zillion other topics about reading that apply to you or others, as you see them.

—tip— If you are writing your own essay... If you're writing a new essay for publication at Electricka's web site, The Muse suggests that you begin by reading the essay written on this subject by our ETAF staff member. Then branch out by reading essays on why read written by other visitors.

When your essay is published, you and other visitors will be able to find and read your essay in the Publish Your Essay feature. Its title and subject will appear. The name of its author will appear there too, if you choose, and you'll get the credit you deserve.

• Find out how to publish your essay on the subject why read at The Muse Of Literature's page titled Publish Your Essay. Visit the feature called Publish Your Essay now: click here.

Why Write?

Reading and writing go hand-in-hand. If you like to read, it wouldn't surprise at all to learn that you also like to write.

To help you uncover some of the reasons that people do and should write, The Muse Of Language Arts has extended a permanent invitation to visitors to Electricka's web site to publish their own original essays on this subject.

When you're there, you'll also have the chance to let others know what you think about why people should write. You'll find out how to write your own essay on the subject and publish it at Electricka's web site for other visitors to see.

• Explore what others think about writing and why people should write; read original visitor essays on the subject why write. You'll find them at The Muse Of Language Arts feature called Publish Your Essay: click here.

expository prose works written by Electricka's visitors

All the works displayed at the feature titled Publish Your Essay have been written by visitors to Electricka's web site.

Many or these works are not essays and many are about subjects other than why read or why write, but it's likely that you also will enjoy reading these other works that you'll find there.

• Read non-fiction expository prose works written by Electricka's visitors. Visit The Muse Of Language Arts feature called Publish Your Essay now: click here.

—note— about publish Your essay Works like Why Read? or Why Write? are examples of a particular type of non-fiction expository prose writing called the essay. But essays are not the only kinds of expository prose writing; there are many other types. Don't be mislead by the title of the feature called Publish Your Essay. At Publish Your Essay, you can read or publish virtually any kind of non-fiction expository prose work regardless of its type or subject. Explore the subject of expository prose writing at the page called Welcome To The World Of Expository Writing: click here.

ETAF Recommends

How to Read and Why, by Harold Bloom, is a must-read book from an eminent professor and one of the deepest literary thinkers of our time. It's stimulating and easy to down.

Why Read? Edmundson, a professor at the University of Viriginia, answers that reading literature nurtures our intelligence, our imagination, and our very soul. He places literature at the very heart of a liberal-arts education, which he fears is becoming an endangered tradition.