As I begin this post, I have the soothing voice of Will Ferrell in my mind...'I'm Ron Burgundy?'. I say this, because I am unsure of what to make of this 'reading crisis' which plagues the current population of students. It seems to be a constant issue in the media, this literacy 'crisis', which, as an English teacher, causes me great grief. I don't believe that we are in the midst of a crisis. I do not believe that students are reading less; simply that reading habits and practices have changed. Instead of reading novels, students are reading online. They have the capacity and, judging by the popularity and detail of fan fiction, the desire. Change has not come in the decline of literary consumption. Change has come in the way students read. Crisis? No thanks.
Below are some general links that may interest a few/many/no one at all. Please enjoy/disregard/explore.
For all the Harry Potter fans: http://www.fanfiction.net/book/Harry_Potter
Shakespeare Tweets? http://www.time.com/time/business/article/0,8599,1981826,00.html
And just to get the English teachers thinking: http://lauramcampbell.blogspot.com/2011/07/ncf-tuesday-shakespeares-gettin-high.html (she's no Hyperbole and a Half, but she does ok).
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