How Teachers Make Children Hate Reading

John Holts essay, “How Teachers Make Children Hate Reading”, proposes the notion that teachers are inevitably demoralizing the minds of children, thus forcing them to generate a fervent aversion towards reading. To start, Holt touches base on how teachers frequently test their students on the specifics of the assigned reading and whether or not they are able to comprehend certain components from it. For several reasons, Holt disagrees with this commonly used method, mostly due to the fact that teachers are focusing so hard on minor details, they themselves are even forgetting what makes reading really important. It almost seems as though putting a book under a microscope and picking out the smallest details is more crucial than just simply enjoying the reading. In addition, Holt describes how the idea of looking up and memorizing definitions of vocabulary not yet recognized to the students is ineffective. He discovered all the vocabulary quizzes and worksheets asking for definitions were quite a vain method of teaching. Every student’s mortifying nightmare was being forced to read aloud to the class; It was a “ constant source of possible failure and public humiliation.” Eventually this nightmare created a mental wall made of fear of mistakes, humiliation and pain. The primary message in this piece can be seen as children are being cheated from the simple joys of reading. In his many years of teaching experience, Holt was influenced in many ways. The immediate occasion found in this passage of writing is none other than Holt’s sister. He portrays a time when his sister offered the idea that it is not necessary to be aware of every single part of a novel and that memorizing definitions was frankly a waste of time. She was absolutely convinced that school had ruined her son’s passion for reading. At first, Holt was reluctant and disagreed with her, but after about two years elapsed since this discussion, he came to the consensus that she was right. This realization impacted his life entirely as he became fully aware of the fact that students were not benefiting from these exercises at all whatsoever. Once he understood that fear had now became an immense part of reading, he knew he had to take action. This occasion of sudden insight was pure motivation to get his message across using what he knows best: literature. The audience being directed at in numerous pieces of Holt’s writings are all identical. One example of the directed audience would be other mind-poisoning teachers that might come to their senses after reading Holt’s piece. At first, he himself disagreed with the ideas mentioned, but after a brief insightful journey he recognized that he was wrong after all. Holt attempts to get his audience to imagine the epiphany he received and help other English teachers to realize that memorization for vocabulary tests and worksheets may not necessarily be the best way to learn. Another audience member that was targeted would be the parents of students everywhere. He tries to explain and urge that parents to try to abandon and avoid this ongoing process to their best ability. Seen in one of his final paragraphs, Holt makes a call to action to these parents. This call to action demands that parents have the full capability to make a difference and that they should do as such. One of the last targets of audience would be the children themselves. Holt tries as hard as he can to enlighten these adolescents by explaining how they should not give up on reading thanks to the doings of a teacher. Students should read in order to obtain new knowledge, but also to venture into a new world where you can go to feel free. Overall, the main audience generally revolves around the school system and people affected by it. Holt is positively convinced that the school system is corrupt due to the severe lack of freedom in the way teachers instruct their classes. After he grasped the idea about reading whatever book they choose in their free time, he attained a great deal of previously unknown knowledge about his students. The purpose of him writing these opinionated essays is to show society that reading can be pleasurable when it is not being constantly forced upon students. Seeing students improve their reading and learning abilities without persistent vocabulary and reading analysis tests is one of Holt’s main objectives as well. There is a distinct difference between “wanting to read” and “be able to read” and he believed he could make it so that they are both in unison. The author of this passage was John Holt, who an elementary school English educator for most of his life. His experience as a teacher have opened his eyes to what he truly believes in and will continue to be an advocate for. From the information given, it is quite evident that Holt is well educated. This observation could be inferred by his use of word choice and also his grammatically correct and elegant sentence structure. Another inference that can be made about Holt is that he is rather headstrong and stands up for what he believes in. For example, it took him two years to realize and accept the fact that his sister was correct, and ever since he has never ceased to proclaim his beliefs. Throughout the piece, Holt changes in the aspect of his tone. Towards the beginning, Holt was a firm, strict teacher who, as he claimed, was not exactly lenient. Throughout the entire essay, Holt remains to keep his tone insightful and knowledgeable on everything. Eventually however, his tone begins to adjust and he becomes a radical thinker who wants to see a change, rather than the ordinary school teacher who prefers to stick to what has always been.