"Reading, Writing, and the Wrath of My Father"

"The most common pleasure is experienced when the reader encounters that which is comfortable, recognizable, and affirming in the text. The less frequent, more intense sort of pleasure is experienced when the reader meets that which prompts discomfort, a loss of self, or jouissance (bliss)(Silin, p. 264)."..."schools need to make a later place for pleasure, for reading and writing texts that speak to and from the body about things that really matter to teachers and students (Silin, p. 267)."

In the beginning of this article, the author reminisces of times during his teaching and when he was a student where reading has been and has become a totally scripted and methodical thing where students are asked to analyze, reflect, predict, etc. in order to comprehend what is being read aloud or independently. Silin states that this causes a hindrance to students because they are losing what is being read. Not only this, but students are forced to be subjected to characters and plots that are not interesting to them. Like the author states, popular fantasy figures and Disney cartoons was not what he was into. In fact, this is what turned him off to reading for a very long time.
Being turned off to reading proved to be another hindrance in his education. I can connect to this experience because this is somewhat what happened to me during my education. I never had the opportunity to read or listen to the books that interested me and "caused [me] pleasure." If I wasn't being taught to read through strategies instruction, the books that I had to choose from were those that contained plots of fantasy and make-believe. I wanted to learn about the world around me.

As Silin writes in his article, it is important that teachers give students the opportunity to take pleasure in their reading; ""[the] more intense pleasure is experienced when the reader meets that which prompts discomfort, a loss of self, or jouissance (bliss)." I feel that students in today's classroom never really get this opportunity and this is a real shame, because a lot of the dialog between teachers and administrators is about "creating a nation of readers." In order to do this, it is important to get students interested in reading, this can happen by allowing students to have these pleasurable reading experiences.
Allowing these experiences to occur can become a catalyst for further interest and inquiry about a given topic or other related topics. This will lead students to other pieces of literature and possibly even help to develop their literacy skills.