Reading Growth: Reading Creatively (1968)

Here are two readers. They look very much alike. This one's a good reader. But this one's a better reader. Even though this reader is skilled in understanding word meanings and in getting the big ideas as well as in adjusting his reading speeds he's not as good a reader as this reader. Then why is this reader the better reader of the two? The answer, of course, is in the title of our film. Reading growth. Reading creatively. What this means is that this reader uses his reading skills in a special way. He's a creative reader. This reader isn't. Of course, what you want to find out now is what's the difference between a good reader and a creative reader. It's a small but very important difference. Let's begin with a very simple example. Say the boys are reading something about Benjamin Franklin and learning many facts, such as this one. He invented bifocal glasses. Now our good reader will simply add this information to his collection of other facts and ideas about Franklin. But before our creative reader stores this fact away, he does a very important thing. He questions the fact. You see, he reacts critically to what he reads. Invented? He might ask himself. He knows from other reading he's done that people in China were wearing glasses when Marco Polo visited there in the late 1200s. He knows that glasses were very common in European cities in the late Middle Ages. So, instead of the word invented, he might think to himself, "Shouldn't the writer have used perfected?" For as he remembers from still other reading he's done, the Wright brothers, who are often said to have invented the airplane, really only perfected it. And Marconi, who is often thought of as having invented the wireless telegraph, or radio as we call it, really only perfected it. So, after temporarily questioning this fact, the creative reader takes another important step. He checks the fact in a reference book. In this case, he learns from an encyclopedia that what he had read was apparently correct. Bifocal glasses were indeed invented by Benjamin Franklin. Perhaps now you can see that for one thing, a creative reader is a critical, questioning reader who checks the important ideas he is reading. Franklin and the bifocals were just one example. Now, let's see a creative reader at work in other ways. We'll start with a reading assignment. The general subject is the American Revolution. >> Both our readers have been learning a great number of facts and ideas about the war for independence, as you would expect. >> Give me liberty or GIVE ME DEATH. >> THE BRITISH ARE COMING. THE BRITISH ARE COMING. >> Here once the embattled farmers stood and fired the shot heard round the world. When in the course of human events it becomes necessary So, both readers learn facts. The good reader simply remembers them. The creative reader uses them. How? Well, to grow as a person, for instance. But first you have to know that our creative reader's mother is making something new for dinner tonight. She believes in creative eating. Our creative reader doesn't usually like to try new foods. Now, part of your growth as a person has to do with your attitude toward things that are new. And I know you're wondering what a new food has to do with creative reading and the American War for Independence. Well, our creative reader has just read about the song Yankee Doodle. He's learned that the British wrote new words to an old tune to make fun of the Americans. Here's one verse. Yankee Doodle went to town riding on a pony, stuck a feather in his hat and called it macaroni. You see, the Americans didn't look much like soldiers to the British. They looked different. They didn't have the neat uniforms and the soldierly discipline of the British. So, the British didn't think the Americans would be very good soldiers. But, the British learned to their regret that things that are different from what you're used to may be better than you expect. The Americans were very good in battle, even though they did seem to be only Yankee Doodle Dandies to the British. Now, the creative reader is reacting thoughtfully. He's thinking American soldiers better than the British expected. New food maybe it'll be better than he expects. You see, his attitude is changing. And when he finds out the name of the food his mother is preparing, won't he be surprised? Even in little ways like this one, creative reading can help you grow as a person. Watch a creative reader at work again. Here, Paul Revere is being discussed in a textbook. Our creative reader has read about him before. Probably you have, too. Listen, my children, and you shall hear of the midnight ride of Paul Revere. That's from a famous poem by Longfellow. But, as our creative reader recalls the poem, something seems odd to him. The textbook says that William Dawes rode with him. He thinks about the title of Longfellow's famous poem. It isn't called Paul Revere's ride and William Dawes, also. Why? Our creative reader is still asking questions about what he's reading, but he is now also comparing more than one source on the same topic. In comparing, he's aware that the different authors' purposes are different. He thinks of Longfellow and his reason for writing the poem. Although Longfellow based the poem on a real event, his purpose was to entertain, not to relate facts. On the other hand, the modern author of the textbook meant to inform his reader. Faithfulness to facts was important to him. The purpose of the poem is to entertain. The purpose of the text is to inform. But since there's still a question in our creative reader's mind, he will check the facts in another source, an encyclopedia. Yes, both men are named. The text is probably right, not the poem. But a signal was sent from the Old North Church, just as the poem says in these lines. But mostly he watched with eager search the belfry tower of the Old North Church. And lo, as he looks on the belfry's height, a glimmer, and then a gleam of light. Now, wait a minute. That line, now wait a minute, isn't in the poem. It's in the mind of our creative reader. He's remembering something interesting he read in the encyclopedia. Although the poem says Paul Revere watched for the signal, the encyclopedia says that the signal was not sent to Paul Revere, but from him. That's quite different. Our creative reader has seen how Longfellow changed the facts to make a more exciting story. That may be good narrative writing, though not good history. By comparing different sources, by creative reading, our creative reader has gained new information. He also has a better understanding of the difference in purpose and style between a poem and a textbook. Our good reader has gotten the information from his text and stopped there. Our creative reader has been reacting critically and thoughtfully to Paul Revere's ride. And now he's beginning to think the same way about revolutions in general. There have been lots of them since the American Revolution. There's even a story about a recent revolution in the newspaper. If our good reader reads the story, he might not relate it to his school work, as our creative reader will certainly do. He's going to compare what he knows about the American Revolution with what he reads about this revolution. "Who are its leaders?" he'll ask. "What do these men want compared with what the leaders of our American Revolution wanted? What were the reasons why our revolution was successful? Will this revolution succeed? If it doesn't, as ours did, you can see that our creative reader may understand why." Now our creative reader is going to use his skills in reading about quite a different kind of revolution. At least this ad says it's a revolution. And the writer of the ad has other things to say about some new drink called Pink. Do you have to agree with everything he says? Not if you're a creative reader, because then you talk back to a writer. Nothing like Pink? What's the proof? The best? Who says? On the other hand, the creative reader may agree with an author's argument. The point of this little example is just to show you that creative reading can be used on all kinds of reading materials. That creative reading is simply a matter of reacting thoughtfully to what you read. Of comparing. Of asking critical questions. The creative reader talks back to an author. He compares different sources on the same subject. He uses what he learns to enrich his life. Even in small ways. You see? Two ways of reading. The good reader is not far from being a creative reader. He's just a step away. Becoming a creative reader isn't easy. But the reward is worth the effort. You'll find that putting your own ideas to work is reading in its best sense. It's creative reading.