"There are two overarching purposes for reading: When readers read for enjoyment or pleasure, they assume an aesthetic stance, and when they read to locate and remember information, they use an efferent stance...when students read stories efferently rather than aesthetically, they don't develop a love of reading and are less likely to become lifelong readers." (p. 12)
For me, this was one of the most interesting parts of the reading. It explains why students, and every person, are able to quote movie lines, or recall lines from their favorite books, but they are not able to remember what they had to memorize for their class last semester. For as long as we are students or as long as we teach we will be required to read or assign required texts. As educators it is our job to try and make these texts interesting for our students. We want them to read aesthetically and get all they can our of a book.
What are some ways we can encourage aesthetic reading so we encourage students to become life-long readers?
I think that when discussing books in class, we as teachers, should focus on the story of the book more than on the nit-picky details like character development, similes, new vocab words and the like. I think we should get students discussing their feelings while reading, what parts the liked and why, and what characters they can relate with. I think doing this helps students enjoy the book more. I'm not saying forget about the technical things we want learned from reading the book, I just think less emphasis should be put on it.
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