students of all grades

6

Issues

March 11, 2021

PLEASURE READING Back to the books

As technology plays an increasing presence in everyday life, students are slowly dropping the habit of reading for pleasure.

Taking a break from homework, junior Tomek Marczcewski savors his increasingly scarce free time.

But unlike many Marksmen, he’s not playing video games, watching television or surfing through social media.

He’s reading a book.

It wasn’t assigned to him by his English teacher, either. Marczewski chose this book independently to read purely for his own enjoyment.

And in this day and age, that’s an anomaly.

English Department Chair Michael Morris strongly believes in the importance of pleasure reading and pushes his students to read novels aside from those assigned for class.

“I encourage my students to read for pleasure over the extended breaks and certainly over the summer, too,” Morris said. “I emphasize that those should be books that haven’t been assigned and that students don’t feel like they need to annotate necessarily, but that they just want to read. In some ways, the greatest goal we have as English teachers is to make reading for pleasure a part of living.”

As a boy living in a time when people weren’t glued to screens, Morris read for pleasure as a form of entertainment. Many of the books he read have positively influenced his life. One such book is Look Homeward, Angel, a coming-of-age tale by Thomas Wolfe.

“It’s a book that I don’t think I would ever try to or want to teach,” Morris said. “It’s so personal to me. I’ve memorized large passages from the book, and it’s a part of who I am. I would never get rid of my books, but if I did and could only keep one, that would be one that I would be sorely tempted to keep.”

With many distractions such as social media and TikTok that have become increasingly popular with teens, fewer students have been checking out books from the library or physically turning the pages of a novel. Morris, however, views pleasure reading as a better alternative when taking a break.

“Obviously, technology has lots of advantages,” Morris said. “You can read a lot on your devices, but I do think that technology, especially when it’s driven by social media, has an immediacy to it and a sense of stress level attached that you can escape by reading a book.”

To cultivate a habit of reading, director of libraries and information services Tinsley Silcox encourages students to read inside of topics that already interest them.

“One of the things I try to do is talk to students about what their interests are when they are not on their screens,” Silcox said. “If you play a musical instrument, maybe you would want to read a book on composers or composing. If you are really geeked out on computers, read Steve Jobs biography, or if you are really looking for pleasure reading, there are lots of murder mysteries and sci-fi adventures. You have to find the spark in yourself to make you want to read something rather than just playing video games.”

While technology has made students move away from pleasure reading, Silcox realizes that technology has also made books more accessible.

“Technology makes the ability to read anything anytime anywhere a lot easier,” Silcox said. “It’s one thing to go to a library, pick out a book, stick it in your backpack and remember to take it with you, but you always have your phone with you. With most of the current apps and ebooks, you can just pick up your phone and start reading.”

Silcox cites pleasure reading as a way to cope with the everyday stresses of life.

“I think pleasure reading is one of the best things you can do,” Silcox said. “If you are reading a book for pleasure, you are not thinking about the next grade or homework assignment. You are just immersing yourself in something that lets you escape. Books are one of the greatest escapes you can ever have. You can go anywhere. You can go to a different galaxy or back in time, all from a comfortable chair in your room.”

For Marczewski, many of the benefits Morris and Silcox describe, like reading genres he enjoys and the ability to have a break from his daily routine, are what began his passion for pleasure reading.

“My favorite reading genre is epic fantasy,” Marczewski said. “It’s definitely not everyone’s cup of tea. But I really enjoy it because you get these really in-depth, well-thought-out stories. There’s a kind of escapism where you can sit down and get lost in another world for an evening. Some people find that in TV shows, some people find it in video games, and I do too, but reading is just another form of that; one that’s slightly underappreciated because it takes a bit more effort to get into.”

Marczewski does not enjoy books assigned in English class nearly as much as the ones he reads on his own. He believes annotating and reading older literature dissuades many of his classmates from picking up a book outside of class.

“Most students associate reading with school reading, which is understandable considering they don’t really have any other kind of reading to compare it to,” Marczewski said. “Being forced to read something that you don’t want to is a great way to ensure that a lot of people never become avid readers in their free time because they just have a negative association with reading.”

Morris acknowledges many students may not be as willing to read on their own but still hopes they take up pleasure reading.

“We certainly hope students enjoy the books they read in English class, but we’re more concerned with students appreciating the books they read for their artistry, writing and insight,” Morris said. “Annotations are really helpful if we’re discussing a text in class. It’s unfortunate that students automatically associate reading a book with homework. I get the reluctance students have since they think it’s academic, but students can read books on many topics that interest them. It’s why I recommend pleasure reading.”

Like playing video games or watching television, Marczewski believes pleasure reading is just another form of recreation; one he hopes students will be more open to in the future.

“I’ve accepted that many people will not pick up reading,” Marczewski said. “I hope they don’t conflate reading in English class with pleasure reading. Pleasure reading is a pastime. It’s fun, and that’s all that pleasure reading is about. There’s a book out there for everyone, and I encourage people to give it a try.”

AN UNUSUAL SIGHT Fewer and fewer Marksmen are seen pleasure reading in the library — it’s become a space of silent study instead of novel exploration.

Tomek Marczewski junior

Michael Morris English instructor

STORY Shreyan Daulat, Keshav Krishna PHOTO Owen Simon

Aadi Khasgiwala Sophomore

Jason Lange Assistant Head of Middle School

In my opinion:

“It’s really sad to see this hobby become more rare as technology takes over. “I read to increase my knowledge and listen to successful people who have already done things I want to accomplish.”

“It’s a great way to unwind when life gets stressful, and to build reading stamina. “I always read from a physical book, never on screen. That’s part of the pleasure – reducing my screen time.

Harrison Ingram Senior

Joe Milliet Math instructor by Grant Jackson

The Junior Class hosted a chess tournament that featured a large bracket and a live-streamed final performance during an assembly Jan. 29th.

The Junior Class chess tournament, organized by juniors Alex Geng, Thomas Philip and Enoch Ellis, created an “enjoyable” experience during a rather “rough” week of remote learning, according to Geng.

“My friend Thomas Philip and I wanted to organize something for the grade because we knew we were going remote for a whole week,” Geng said. “Since a lot of people were playing chess, we decided creating a chess tournament would help bring the grade closer together and allow us to have some fun at home.”

Finalists, junior Adam Lai and junior Max Chuang, made their way through a bracket of competitors. After defeating the rest of their opponents, finalists competed in the championship match that was streamed on a Teams assembly broadcasted to the Upper School. During the assembly, they played a round of online chess via the website Chess.com.

Lai, who had been introduced to chess at the age of six by his father, enjoyed playing chess during the assembly after quitting chess competitions multiple years ago.

“After I played at a club for a couple years, I ended up quitting until last summer,” Adam said. “My passion was rekindled by the exploding popularity of chess on Twitch and YouTube.”

After winning the tournament, Adam reflected on the game.

“Performing at assembly was a bit nerveracking especially with the technical difficulties,” Adam said. “But overall, it was a pretty good experience along with the rest of the tournament.”

Lai’s opponent, Chuang, was introduced to chess in First Grade Chess Club. Learning from Grand Master Babkuli Annakov, Chuang found himself hooked on the game of chess.

After his performance, Max reflects on his gameplay.

“I don’t think it was my best performance,” Chuang said. “Because there was no prize, I did not really prepare.”

Despite expressing his feelings about his own performance during the live streamed event, Chuang enjoyed performing in the assembly very much.

“It was fun bonding with my friends over chess,” Chuang said. “I would definitely participate in future school chess tournaments.”