A Cultural Icon: The Book
Matthew Felsted. April 29th, 2011.
American heritage classically endorses a long time favorite icon of literacy, the book. It represents the knowledge and intellectual frontiers that our society preserves and propagates. It is an icon of education. It is a symbol of a qualified author, one who was certified by a publisher, reaching through time to pass on a valuable tome of purpose. Free education arguably set early America apart from other societies and advanced American cultural. Literacy is intangible and it is classically associated with books. It is cultivated through the many lessons of American education. As of today, America remains dominant in number of books published per year.
The contents of American books are not thoughtless ramblings but have only been published because they contain some valuable thought process on which to concentrate on. The ideal of a nonfiction book is the long term record of a perfected message. When writing a non-fiction book, an author normally spends thousands of hours planning, researching, writing, revising, and polishing their product to allow the reader to absorb all of the knowledge in a very efficient way.
The ability to read and write is a gift that enables and is enabled by freedom. In early cultures such as ancient Greece, ancient Rome, and the beginnings of our own country, people without freedom were not allowed to learn how to read and write. Early America set a program for public schools where pupils would learn reading, writing and arithmetic, for all free children (Lynch). The qualification was that the students had to be free as Lynch writes, “’all the free children’ excludes slaves, roughly 40 percent of Virginia’s population. This fact had gone largely unnoticed among historians of literacy, who had grown accustomed to writing about the ‘near-universal literacy’.” This was a great injustice to early man. The denial of this basic human right was corrected with the Civil War thanks to an American favorite, Abraham Lincoln. A magazine circulated in the 1800’s named The Columbian Phenix and Boston Review stated “no country on the face of the earth can boast of a larger proportion of inhabitants, versed in the rudiments of science, or fewer, who are not able to read and write their names, than the United States of America” (Lynch).
This land is your land, America the Beautiful, Sweet land of liberty, conjures up an image of school children singing with a teacher. It carries the image of parents scolding their young children how much they should love the chance to attend grade school and the literal value of the books they had. It brings the image of pioneers and settlers trekking across the plains bright with hope. This is all in the hope of bettering themselves and rising above their class.
In ancient culture the ability to read and write was a rare and highly valued skill. Today, it would be considered highly unusual to meet someone that lacks the ability. America is approaching 100% literacy, currently at 99%. One day there will be a definite cure for blindness and other problems that hold back the last 1%. The day is coming where we can say every man and woman has read a book.
The percentage of American’s holding a bachelor’s degree is 23.35% (Wolfram Alpha). The amount of time it requires to obtain a bachelor’s degree varies but normally takes at least 16 years. That is 12 years of grade school, and 4 years of college. From an early age, teachers persuade their pupils that they shouldn’t hate school work but that it was a right and privilege.
America is founded on liberty. Liberty is a long standing American cultural ideal. Therefore books represent a strong American cultural ideal, liberty. Freedom of speech and the freedom from censorship are symbolized with books. Books are a central component of modern education. Education empowers the learner with testable ability and merit. Books are symbolic of liberty. Freedom and rights cannot be taken away. The founders of this nation had in mind the printing press. This inspired the First Amendment right. Thomas Jefferson had in mind that literacy and a free printing press was required. As he wrote in a letter, “Where the press is free, and every man able to read, all is safe.” (Lynch 1)
According to Education in Utah, Utah served as an early model for the rest of the United States with their early school system. The transcontinental railroad 1869 brought their influence back East. According to the article, their early model became the ‘nucleus’ of the federally mandated district schools.
A local tradition in Utah occurs at the University of Utah. At the University, the participants write a book called the U book. Over 50 campus traditions are recorded in this book. It is used to pass on the traditions held in activities ranging from athletics to homecoming (Unews Utah University).
I have a tradition of going to the bookstore to file up and down sections of interest to seize a book. I then open the book and read whatever pages it is opened to. Once I loose interest I place the book back on the shelf and continue, fermenting thoughts and running through the topic in my mind.
The library is usually a good place to go to study. After reading or writing for a while I find breaks help. At this point I walk down the many rows of books and grasp a book of interest. I start reading from whatever page it opens up to. If I find it interesting I will bring it back to a table to read from the beginning.
Reading and writing are a gift that comes with liberty. Early American traditions helped these values to become near universal. Reading and literacy is an American tradition that will continue on through the ages.
Works Cited (Consulted)
1. Lynch, Jack. “Every Man Able to Read”. CW Journal. Virginia, 2011. Web. Retrieved 26 Apr. 2011. http://www.history.org/foundation/journal/winter11/literacy.cfm
2. Buchanan, Frederick S. “Education in Utah”. media.utah.edu, Utah, 1992. Web. Retrieved 26 Apr. 2011. http://www.media.utah.edu/UHE/e/EDUCATION.html
3. George and Barbara Perkins. The American Tradition in Literature, 12th Edition, 2009. Retrieved April 27th, 2011. http://www.georgeperkins.net/the_american_tradition_in_literature_42775.htm
4. *New U Book Fosters Participation and Tradition. *August 25, 2008. Retrieved April 2011.
http://www.unews.utah.edu/p/?r=082508-1
5. Wolfram|Alpha knowledgebase, 2011. Web. Retrieved 27th, Apr. 2011.
http://www.wolframalpha.com/input/?i=Literacy+rate+in+America
American heritage classically endorses a long time favorite icon of literacy, the book. It represents the knowledge and intellectual frontiers that our society preserves and propagates. It is an icon of education. It is a symbol of a qualified author, one who was certified by a publisher, reaching through time to pass on a valuable tome of purpose. Free education arguably set early America apart from other societies and advanced American cultural. Literacy is intangible and it is classically associated with books. It is cultivated through the many lessons of American education. As of today, America remains dominant in number of books published per year.
The contents of American books are not thoughtless ramblings but have only been published because they contain some valuable thought process on which to concentrate on. The ideal of a nonfiction book is the long term record of a perfected message. When writing a non-fiction book, an author normally spends thousands of hours planning, researching, writing, revising, and polishing their product to allow the reader to absorb all of the knowledge in a very efficient way.
The ability to read and write is a gift that enables and is enabled by freedom. In early cultures such as ancient Greece, ancient Rome, and the beginnings of our own country, people without freedom were not allowed to learn how to read and write. Early America set a program for public schools where pupils would learn reading, writing and arithmetic, for all free children (Lynch). The qualification was that the students had to be free as Lynch writes, “’all the free children’ excludes slaves, roughly 40 percent of Virginia’s population. This fact had gone largely unnoticed among historians of literacy, who had grown accustomed to writing about the ‘near-universal literacy’.” This was a great injustice to early man. The denial of this basic human right was corrected with the Civil War thanks to an American favorite, Abraham Lincoln. A magazine circulated in the 1800’s named The Columbian Phenix and Boston Review stated “no country on the face of the earth can boast of a larger proportion of inhabitants, versed in the rudiments of science, or fewer, who are not able to read and write their names, than the United States of America” (Lynch).
This land is your land, America the Beautiful, Sweet land of liberty, conjures up an image of school children singing with a teacher. It carries the image of parents scolding their young children how much they should love the chance to attend grade school and the literal value of the books they had. It brings the image of pioneers and settlers trekking across the plains bright with hope. This is all in the hope of bettering themselves and rising above their class.
In ancient culture the ability to read and write was a rare and highly valued skill. Today, it would be considered highly unusual to meet someone that lacks the ability. America is approaching 100% literacy, currently at 99%. One day there will be a definite cure for blindness and other problems that hold back the last 1%. The day is coming where we can say every man and woman has read a book.
The percentage of American’s holding a bachelor’s degree is 23.35% (Wolfram Alpha). The amount of time it requires to obtain a bachelor’s degree varies but normally takes at least 16 years. That is 12 years of grade school, and 4 years of college. From an early age, teachers persuade their pupils that they shouldn’t hate school work but that it was a right and privilege.
America is founded on liberty. Liberty is a long standing American cultural ideal. Therefore books represent a strong American cultural ideal, liberty. Freedom of speech and the freedom from censorship are symbolized with books. Books are a central component of modern education. Education empowers the learner with testable ability and merit. Books are symbolic of liberty. Freedom and rights cannot be taken away. The founders of this nation had in mind the printing press. This inspired the First Amendment right. Thomas Jefferson had in mind that literacy and a free printing press was required. As he wrote in a letter, “Where the press is free, and every man able to read, all is safe.” (Lynch 1)
According to Education in Utah, Utah served as an early model for the rest of the United States with their early school system. The transcontinental railroad 1869 brought their influence back East. According to the article, their early model became the ‘nucleus’ of the federally mandated district schools.
A local tradition in Utah occurs at the University of Utah. At the University, the participants write a book called the U book. Over 50 campus traditions are recorded in this book. It is used to pass on the traditions held in activities ranging from athletics to homecoming (Unews Utah University).
I have a tradition of going to the bookstore to file up and down sections of interest to seize a book. I then open the book and read whatever pages it is opened to. Once I loose interest I place the book back on the shelf and continue, fermenting thoughts and running through the topic in my mind.
The library is usually a good place to go to study. After reading or writing for a while I find breaks help. At this point I walk down the many rows of books and grasp a book of interest. I start reading from whatever page it opens up to. If I find it interesting I will bring it back to a table to read from the beginning.
Reading and writing are a gift that comes with liberty. Early American traditions helped these values to become near universal. Reading and literacy is an American tradition that will continue on through the ages.
Works Cited (Consulted)
1. Lynch, Jack. “Every Man Able to Read”. CW Journal. Virginia, 2011. Web. Retrieved 26 Apr. 2011. http://www.history.org/foundation/journal/winter11/literacy.cfm
2. Buchanan, Frederick S. “Education in Utah”. media.utah.edu, Utah, 1992. Web. Retrieved 26 Apr. 2011. http://www.media.utah.edu/UHE/e/EDUCATION.html
3. George and Barbara Perkins. The American Tradition in Literature, 12th Edition, 2009. Retrieved April 27th, 2011. http://www.georgeperkins.net/the_american_tradition_in_literature_42775.htm
4. *New U Book Fosters Participation and Tradition. *August 25, 2008. Retrieved April 2011.
http://www.unews.utah.edu/p/?r=082508-1
5. Wolfram|Alpha knowledgebase, 2011. Web. Retrieved 27th, Apr. 2011.
http://www.wolframalpha.com/input/?i=Literacy+rate+in+America