#how do you read school bOoks--

[dykeinthedark]

doing this thing i call "reading every class high school lit book i missed out on" partially because as an english minor i feel like a lot of ppl in my english lectures have already read these books in higschool partially because high school english classes suck balls and i think the way they taught kids to read books was lame and dumb as hell and killed love for reading and i think some of these books they make kids read should never be experienced in a classroom setting

#the horror on my face when i talk to someone and they read catcher in the rye at an age below 16.... that should be a punishable offence #actually teaching catcher in the rye should be illegal. u are meant to experience that on ur own. that shit is between u and god. #the reason why i'm a separate peaceposting rn is because i see the homosexuality and analyze it for fun instead of being bored #if i had to read it in school i'd probably enjoy it less. imagine being quizzed on it. imagine having the themes spilled out for you. gross #if i got reading comprehension quizzed on any book i like i think i would kill myself in front of everyone forever #THAT'S JUST NOT HOW IT WORKS. AND WHY DO COLLEGES UNDERSTAND THIS BUT HIGHSCHOOLS DON'T #LIKE A 16-17 YEAR OLD HIGHSCHOOLER DOES NOT NEED TO BE READING QUIZZED LIKE 18-19 YEAR OLDS DON'T OKAY

[lazycranberrydoodles]

ughhhhh so probably the tgcf scene i think the most about is in the final battle when hua cheng is holding xie lian and backwards gripping eming with his other hand i . god. this is referenced off of The Fallen Angel by Alexandre Cabanel (i’m pretty sure everyone has seen it by this point) which is surprisingly pretty topical for tgcf.

#all the stuff about falling from heaven and losing your humanity and whatnot #has anyone done this before #also #idk if anybody is keeping track of the lazycranberrydoodles lore but in high school we read paradise lost #and i blorbofied satan #girl who was rotating the devil from the bible in her head for a month #for the final project i ended up accidentally writing twice the required word count. lmao #what does this say about me? doesnt matter. more importantly what does it say about how satan was written 🤨 #what do YOU think milton intended by making satan the most complex compelling and competent character in the book #also also #YIPPEEEEE NEW PFP #pride month is over .... #lesbian hua cheng is still real in our hearts #tgcf #hua cheng #tian guan ci fu #heaven official's blessing #sketch #doodle #hualian #mxtx #art #digital art #my art

[communistkenobi]

I don’t like when people ask how many books you plan to read/have read this year one because I think that’s a weird relationship to have to books and two because I think even reading a chapter or a portion of something is valuable. this is especially true with non-fiction but even with fiction I think any amount you read, even if you don’t read the entire thing, is not a failure or ‘incomplete’

#I read basically exclusively non fiction and every page I read is beneficial like I’m always learning something #like my relationship to reading is often extractive and utilitarian because of school and research #but that extractive process doesn’t require reading the whole text like 99.9% of the time #I’ve only read a third of Orientalism for example but like I have a good grasp of Said’s core arguments and concepts #and like part of how I finished authoritarian personality (a 1000 page book) was by skipping & skimming sections #like the whole is not always more valuable than its components #and also like ‘I read this book to complete it’ is not an insincere way to engage with a text but I feel like it’s limiting #if that’s your primary approach to reading. Like you read a book just to say you read it #& also more petty but I think that if your argument or thesis only works if people read 100% of your book then you’re doing a poor job #of getting your point across #again obviously it’s valuable to read and process whole complete texts not dismissing that but like #I don’t find a lot of inherent value in reading a book just to complete it u know

[bleh1bleh2]

Bonus:

#did anyone else have an outsider phase in middle school. or was that just me #anyways hunk and pidge figured out how to watch earth movies #or specifically the outsiders. whichever is funnier #i just think that imagining keith as a greaser is so fucking funny #like sure. the clothes would fit his character #but the slicked back greased up hair with keiths mullet????? comedy gold #voltron #also if you couldnt tell i just rewatched the outsiders #that movie is so so so funny to me #there are some Transitions that are so bad theyre good #and the fact that the plot makes no sense unless youve read the book? why did they do that #also they say 'man' over 50 times in that movie #with dally saying over half even though hes barely there #(fun fact from middle school me) #my art

[skunkes]

#prefacing this with I Know Spanish. i cant not know spanish‚ my parents don't speak english #but im the only one of my siblings that didnt get to go to school over there 🇲🇽 (just pre school) #adn the thing is like. my siblings wld talk to me in eng of course #(if they talked to me at all! what do u say to a baby when you're 9 12 and 15 yrs older.) #and my parents wld similarly jst not talk to me? i did not have conversations with them from birth to now lol. #thjere is something about how like. my sisters kids are also learning the languages at the same time #but when they mess up in spanish theyre corrected‚ by my sister (their mom)‚ my other sister‚ my parents #why not Me. why wasnt that extended to Me as a child... #the same reason I have the least amount of baby pictures while my siblings all have one full book each i bet #the same reason why my and my eldest sister are 15 yrs apart LOL #igts so crazy to me. i hate mentioning this bc people assume #im one of those ppl who isnt fluent bc their parents speak english and spanish and never taught them #my parents dont speak english❗❗❗❗ #my nephew thats older than me who is my fave family member and also only speaks spanish #is coming up on sunday idk that i can fully carry convo with him! #pure spanglish bc i didnt grow up having convos in it writing it reading it #thats why im so desperate to read books in spanish now. im so deeply ashamed #igts so crazy. i hate it. #saw a comment on smthng the other day thats like ''idk how u can have parents that only speak spanish and not know it lol'' #well can you take a guess. can u take a guess as to how that would happen via interactions. lack thereof. #idk why but its even more embarrassing this way. genuinely how cld u not know...? #its like i was born to feel isolated from my family in every single way...youngest by so many years #the language thing. the Hates Eating thing. the trans thing. most severe failure to launch #im so embarrassed to be alive....! #and i dont belong anywhere. and i am Alone wherever I am. #abandoned by direct and distant relatives. ancestors.

[tuff-ponyboy]

adding on to the idea that dal's room at buck's would become an urban legend, I think the same would happen for the park where bob was killed at. the swings go crazy every night just after 2 am......the fountain water supposedly turns to blood every year on the anniversary of bob's death.....parents tell their children to be home for curfew or else an old greaser ghost will get you...

#my paranoid crazy ass most definitely would do this shit #do you guys have any urban legends about your town? the high school here has an underground bunker that kids in the 70s would go down to #and do 'santanic rituals' which sounds like some satanic panic shit but it was real! #there was a book made about it....and then another book made about it... #one kid killed himself and his house burned down but a pic of him survived the fire #his friend was on Main Street and got hit in the head by a car and then another had the same thing happen in Vegas #they all had something happen to the left side of their face. like homeboy shot himself on the left side and they all got hit on the left #his grave at my city cemetery is destroyed :( which is so sad but so fucking creepy #so I'm terrified about this my whole life right? like I can't sleep bc he's gonna get me and then i read the book when I'm 19 and it was #the most edgelord ass shit I have ever read. shit pissed me off cuz everyone in town says how terrifying it is but it wasn't at all #anyway if you have read this far and want the book name it is written by the same author who wrote go ask Alice #the outsiders #the outsiders 1983 #dallas winston #johnny cade #bob sheldon #ponyboy curtis #i just be saying shit #the outsiders headcanons #my headcanons #I guess another legend is how this kid got whacked by his mom in the 80s with a hammer and died but that was very much real and tragic #I just say it's a legend cuz I grew up near the house and had to walk past it every day from school! #my mom was across the street when it happened and she saw the body bag and then my aunt asked my grandparents if they were going to kill #her and her sisters! okay wait fjdjdjdj the mom also had a hit list which was full of people in the ward (church..Mormons live here) #I love that fact tbh like it's so fucking tragic but the fact she had beef with church people and wanted them dead.....Yeah

[bewaretheidesofmarchyall]

the last book's ten year anniversary is coming up, so i figured i'd ask:

does anyone remember the fucking Wire Mother books ASJSJS

#unreality #the wire mother #leo groves #please someone else tell me they remember these books #i read them in middle school so i was a few years late to the bandwagon. but surely there has to be someone still thinking about them #they live rent free for me #were they good? listen it was 2010's YA take that how you will #the ending of the Hounds' Toll haunts me though #that's how you do a sequel

[aropride]

i really dont understand studying at all like genuinely i don't know what it is . i know about "taking notes" and "reading the textbook" and that's it . quizlet doesn't do shit for me because i don't know what to. do. with the cards. look at them ? am i supposed to just look at them . No one bothered teaching me actual skills bc i got good grades when i was 8 and now i am so hopelessly lost . why did no one think to teach me this for when stuff got harder than four plus three

#text #ive never understood flashcards . like what to do with them. how is that any more different or helpful than just like... writing a list on #paper of vocab terms or whatever #and like conceptually i know 'learning' is like. not only committing things to memory but also being able to engage with it which #is why teachers loveeeee group discussions and essays. but like. you read the text and then you go to class and Discuss but how do you #Learn what the text is saying like how do you . put it in your brain and udnerstand and remember it . #i think im missing something very simple because everyone else in the world seems to understand this fine #like where does the part where you go oh! i understand this and can explain it in my own words. Happen #how do u force it to happen if its not something ur autistic about #Like the only example i can think of rn of this is when i hyperfixated on hpa axis dysregulation + trauma a couple weeks ago #so i was learning stuff about it for Fun and not for school so no comprehension tests or notes or anything #and basically i'd just put on a webinar while i sorted seaglass or worked on sewing or whaever #and i can explain the concept fine. ur brain controls ur body so if it gets too scared ur body loses its shit basically. #but i dont remember most of the words. i still can barely define neurotransmitter #i can apply this to my own life but i confuse the hippocampus and the frontal lobe and the amygdala etc #and i couldnt point out any of them on a diagram #i dont get it . like i know a lot and simultaneously nothing at all abt it #how am i supposedto be remembering words and numbers AND understanding the concepts AND im supposed to do that between #reading the book and engaging in thoughtful conversation with my peers i dont understand

[theprestigegirly]

controversial post from me but like,,,

when did people start bashing the romance genre again as if reading romance means you’re less intelligent and to be a proper respected reader you have to read classics like???? isn’t it just good that people are still reading at all???? read what you like?????

it’s like you wouldn’t watch a tv show that bored you because it was “technically good” (and if u do like what are you doing with your precious hours it’s a bloody tv show) so why would you bash someone for not reading some long ass sad deep thinking book they don’t wanna read???

like i promise a whole generation is not losing language skills because they want to read a cute romance and not like,,,,, depressing miserable stuff

#if you do enjoy psychological horror then slay! #i like mystery books a lot (which isn’t really the same but still) #like tldr read what you like reading #i feel like you shouldn’t be able to shame genres and say reading them will make you dumb #i basically saw a tiktok about how we as a generation have no ‘media literacy’ from reading fun books #and not deep ones #and it pissed me off #bc it’s pretentious #if you wanna hate on lack of literacy attack the school system not people who read for a hobby #but yeah controversial one from me maybe #AND I AM AN ENGLISH LITERATURE STUDENT ‼️‼️‼️ THATS A BIG ONE

[ineffectualdemon]

I will never forget that in middle school because I have no musical talent I didn't join band or choir and I also had no athletic ability so I wasn't on a sports team so during the period everyone was else was doing one of those things the rest of us no talent kids had to take "Reading class" where we just read books

And that sounds nice except I was a fast reader and I was only allowed to read 2 pages of the book in question a day. I was not allowed to read ahead of the class and I was not allowed to read my book from home or even work on my homework.

But if I looked too bored the teacher would get mad at me for that and for not reading and "I read it already" was met with a look of disgust and being told to read it again.

So for like an hour I would either stare into space or read the same 2 pages over and over and over again

And I couldn't even hide my book from home behind my textbook because she watched me like a hawk

Why?

Because the teacher of that class fucking hated me for god knows what reason

Anyway I hated the Odyssey for years because I was forced to read it at an absolute snails pace in middle school and it took me a long time to separate out the story from that experience

#american public school #education #american education #the 90s #i still dont know what her problem with me was #i was an obnoxiously well behaved kid #all i wanted to do was read my book from home quietly after doing rge required reading she found that offensive #despite the fact i had go keep a daily log of how many minutes I read a day #look its not my fault im tone deaf and clumsy as shit #why are you punishing me for that!

[the-busy-ghost]

Alright uninformed rant time. It kind of bugs me that, when studying the Middle Ages, specifically in western Europe, it doesn’t seem to be a pre-requisite that you have to take some kind of “Basics of Mediaeval Catholic Doctrine in Everyday Practise” class. 

Obviously you can’t cover everything- we don’t necessarily need to understand the ins and outs of obscure theological arguments (just as your average mediaeval churchgoer probably didn’t need to), or the inner workings of the Great Schism(s), nor how apparently simple theological disputes could be influenced by political and social factors, and of course the Official Line From The Vatican has changed over the centuries (which is why I’ve seen even modern Catholics getting mixed up about something that happened eight centuries ago). And naturally there are going to be misconceptions no matter how much you try to clarify things for people, and regional/class/temporal variations on how people’s actual everyday beliefs were influenced by the church’s rules. 

But it would help if historians studying the Middle Ages, especially western Christendom, were all given a broadly similar training in a) what the official doctrine was at various points on certain important issues and b) how this might translate to what the average layman believed. Because it feels like you’re supposed to pick that up as you go along and even where there are books on the subject they’re not always entirely reliable either (for example, people citing books about how things worked specifically in England to apply to the whole of Europe) and you can’t ask a book a question if you’re confused about any particular point. 

I mean I don’t expect to be spoonfed but somehow I don’t think that I’m supposed to accumulate a half-assed religious education from, say, a 15th century nobleman who was probably more interested in translating chivalric romances and rebelling against the Crown than religion; an angry 16th century Protestant; a 12th century nun from some forgotten valley in the Alps; some footnotes spread out over half a dozen modern political histories of Scotland; and an episode of ‘In Our Time’ from 2009. 

But equally if you’re not a specialist in church history or theology, I’m not sure that it’s necessary to probe the murky depths of every minor theological point ever, and once you’ve started where does it end? 

Anyway this entirely uninformed rant brought to you by my encounter with a sixteenth century bishop who was supposedly writing a completely orthodox book to re-evangelise his flock and tempt them away from Protestantism, but who described the baptismal rite in a way that sounds decidedly sketchy, if not heretical. And rather than being able to engage with the text properly and get what I needed from it, I was instead left sitting there like:

And frankly I didn’t have the time to go down the rabbit hole that would inevitably open up if I tried to find out

#This is a problem which is magnified in Britain I think as we also have to deal with the Hangover from Protestantism #As seen even in some folk who were raised Catholic but still imbibed certain ideas about the Middle Ages from culturally Protestant schools #And it isn't helped when we're hit with all these popular history tv documentaries #If I have to see one more person whose speciality is writing sensational paperbacks about Henry VIII's court #Being asked to explain for the British public What The Pope Thought I shall scream #Which is not even getting into some of England's super special common law get out clauses #Though having recently listened to some stuff in French I'm beginning to think misconceptions are not limited to Great Britain #Anyway I did take some realy interesting classes at uni on things like marriage and religious orders and so on #But it was definitely patchy and I definitely do not have a good handle on how it all basically hung together #As evidenced by the fact that I've probably made a tonne of mistakes in this post #Books aren't entirely helpful though because you can't ask them questions and sometimes the author is just plain wrong #I mean I will take book recommendations but they are not entirely helpful; and we also haven't all read the same stuff #So one person's idea of what the basics of being baptised involved are going to radically differ from another's based on what they read #Which if you are primarily a political historian interested in the Hundred Years' War doesn't seem important eonugh to quibble over #But it would help if everyone was given some kind of similar introductory training and then they could probe further if needed/wanted #So that one historian's elementary mistake about baptism doesn't affect generations of specialists in the Hundred Years' War #Because they have enough basic knowledge to know that they can just discount that tiny irrelevant bit #This is why seminars are important folks you get to ASK QUESTIONS AND FIGURE OUT BITS YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND #And as I say there is a bit of a habit in this country of producing books about say religion in mediaeval England #And then you're expected to work out for yourself which bits you can extrapolate and assume were true outwith England #Or France or Scotland or wherever it may be though the English and the French are particularly bad for assuming #that whatever was true for them was obviously true for everyone else so why should they specify that they're only talking about France #Alright rant over #Beginning to come to the conclusion that nobody knows how Christianity works but would like certain historians to stop pretending they do #Edit: I sort of made up the examples of the historical people who gave me my religious education above #But I'm now enamoured with the idea of who actually did give me my weird ideas about mediaeval Catholicism #Who were my historical godparents so to speak #Do I have an idea of mediaeval religion that was jointly shaped by some professor from the 1970s and a 6th century saint? #Does Cardinal Campeggio know he's responsible for some much later human being's catechism? #Fake examples again but I'm going to be thinking about that today

[penwrythe]

Learning how to be comfortable with being uncomfortable is important. I'm genuinely not okay when I hear, see, and research more about the genocide happening in Gaza, the history of Israel's founding, and its terroristic actions. It is important for me to know.

Taking short breaks (usually a couple of hours or so) does help when things get too much. Then, I return and continue engaging with reblogs on Palestine.

I really don't know what else to say, but this genocide must end. All genocides must end and must never happen again. Keep talking about Palestine, Armenia, Congo, and Sudan! Keep protesting! Keep fighting!

What is important now is to be as loud as you can be! Raise ruckus! Make your voice unavoidable! Be as annoying as possible! Do not let your representatives ignore this!

#// vent #// vent in tags #also eat butt biden you piece of shit I hope you don't get elected #no possibility of a ceasefire my ass WHAT THE HELL IS FUCKING STOPPING YOU FROM CALLING A CEASEFIRE #HOSPITALS SCHOOLS AND PLACES OF WORSHIP WERE BOMBED #YOU HAVE THOUSANDS OF PEOPLE PROTESTING AROUND THE WORLD AND FROM THIS COUNTRY DO YOU NOT FUCKING HEAR THEM #Jewish protesters were arrested too; how does their protesting against Israel warrant arrest?? #Some of them were also doxxed and harassed but they protesting is bad somehow okay I have serious questions about this #they do not want this at all; why are we arresting them?? #what are we fucking doing? Denying someone's right to freedom of protest. Freedom of speech. For saying stop killing people. #god forbid the marginalized rise up and raise our voices once we understand what happened to us and what will happen to others #we all stand together we will see a better world; a world we finally be free #but that means the US needs to really take a bit of time to really realize it's own history and learn from it for once #how the hell I got here? What happened to my people? I read the stories of slaves who barely survived the boats on the way here #....annnd I remember that some history books in the South omit that part. What's up with that? #And the Native Genocide here too? The broken promises the US made to steal more land and kill more people #Why this keeps repeating??? #palestine #tw colonialism #genocide

[fictionadventurer]

"It looked like a good day for setting fence posts, and my mother said so while taking the biscuits from the oven. 'Some morning early, when I can get away, I want you to come with me along the edge of the hill in the wood-lot," she continued. "When the shadows of the trees begin to come down the slope, as the sun rises you feel the turning of the earth. You feel the whole globe under your feet rolling into the sunlight. . . . That's something I found one morning when I was driving the calves to pasture. I've been saving it up for you. I wonder if you've seen a more beautiful dawn in any of the places you've been.'

On my fingers I count the dawns I have seen--memorable, just in being dawns. Sleepy-eyed dawn from the Paris markets after a night of dancing; mist dawn against which I was just to late to see the minarets of Constantinople--all the fault of the stupid stewardess who didn't wake me in time; one startling moment of color on the hills around the Dead Sea before they went colorless in merciless heat; sudden dawn like a clap of light over the freezing-cold Syrian desert. Four dawns in twenty years. No, I do not know dawns as my mother does."

-- Rose Wilder Lane, "A Place in the Country" (1925)

#little house #rose wilder lane #laura ingalls wilder #a little house sampler #i dove into the book seriously this morning #intended to read just the first couple of pieces and kept reading 'just one more' until i've got about 2/3 read #most of laura's pieces are familiar from her farm columns #though there's a couple of early versions of little house stories that show a lot of her voice did get through there #rose's are fascinating #i can't quite wrap my head around her #sometimes she'll seem neurotic and restless and judgey and sophisticated and a bit pretentious #and then she writes some of the most beautiful nostalgic pieces #showing so much love of home and family and the simple joys of life #this piece might be my favorite so far because it grapples with those two sides #after four years as a foreign correspondent she's back at home in mansfield #and she has a new appreciation for her parents and the work they do and the life they've built #now that she's had her adventures and is no longer a restless teen looking to get away from rural poverty #even in the other pieces it's fascinating how much love of her family comes through when you know about the difficult relationships #i should share some quotes from the piece about mary when i get the chance #(also i'm very upset that she didn't write down the story of why she and her parents never read the last book in the school library) #(you don't end with a sequel hook and just leave me hanging ms. lane!) #anyway i love the whole essay that this is from and there are other worthwhile quotes #but i like how this one captures the 'noticing beauty while doing farm work' side of laura that i've come to think of as her trademark

[deathsweetblossoms]

Genuinely so sick of the vitriol this fandom throws at SJM. She literally cannot post anything without getting ripped to shreds for stupid reasons in her comments.

I once saw a drama-instigating comment saying a particular group of shippers didn’t deserve the books. You know who actually doesn’t deserve the books? People who trash on the author for *checks notes* not reading fan theories? For not writing exactly what you want?

I’m all for valuable, constructive criticism in reviews or just on a personal level if you didn’t enjoy how something was written (case in point, I hated ruthless vows and expressed that in reviews but not on Rebecca’s INSTAGRAM???), but the extremes this fandom goes to is appalling. I’ve NEVER seen this before in any fandom. It’s actually left me speechless. No wonder she doesn’t interact with fans and barely gives interviews anymore.

#the entitlement and the complete lack of gratitude #do you know how lucky we are to read these books? #or to read in general? #I literally have family members still alive who never learned to read bc they were too poor for the schooling #the fact we can read whatever we want and books are readily available to us #like I’m DISGUSTED with these people

[bb-fennelposting]

no no no this makes perfect sense to me @bonefall

#better bones au #moss meows #how do i make a meme of this #once again i am SO glad i didnt read DOTC past the 2nd book in middle school because like #aside from all the major fucking problems this arc has #younger me fucking loved tall shadow back then. easily my fav character from the arc. #so it kinda kills me now in the present to see how badly the narrative treats her and how it constantly demonize her disproportionately #yeah fuck you for struggling to lead because you're grieving over your brother #the SECOND family member she loses now mind you #fuck you for killing someone in self-defense after you're forcibly tossed into a crowd of cats trying to kill your entire group #man...... im bitter

[soldier-poet-king]

Apparently the Northwest passage song is a uniquely Canadian thing and not everyone grew up haunted by the spectre of failed historical arctic exploration, and so all the tumblr posts about ppl suddenly discovering the terror make more sense

#the duality of fran #i havent seen the show #it just was wild to me that suddenly tumblr was having an arctic exploration phase #and its like. ah. yall didnt do this as kids in school #ive already told the story of how one of the only advanced books in my second grade class was on failed Arctic expeditions #and so lil me was macabre and obsessed with it. read that book so many times #plus in canadian school u learn about all that shit in social studies as a kid #from a largely colonial perspective mind you. but the whole baffins bay northwest passage etc etc #anyway pls go look up stan rogers northwest passage it makes me bawk #sometimes canadian folk music fuckin slaps #(see also. barretts privateers. what s good pub song)