How true a book should be.

            The question is, how true should a non-fiction book be? Well, this is a question rather broad, for non-fiction varies, from a magazine about politics sold in a kiosk on a corner of Main Street, NY, to a memoir written by a Holocaust surviving hero who saved the devastated prisoners from their doom. But applying to books, should there even be a question of how true should non-fiction be, when the genre itself is clearly saying “Not made up!” It seems as if the writers of the new century have gone so bold, as if to call themselves writers of memoirs, whilst bending the truth, not caring for their readers’ feelings. And if you call me too critical, I may as well recommend you reading A Million Little Pieces and not be concerned about the “5% made up” as the author, James Frey, states. Yes of course the author must create a breath taking piece, and many say that a writing piece without imagination is like house without a door, but that doesn’t mean that you should make a dragon out of a kitten, it isn’t necessary to make things up in order to intrigue your readers. An element of exaggeration is not a crime in Non-Fiction stories, if that is of your concern, but what I mean is that the genre of Non-Fiction was never to be altered by imagination, for if it is, what separates it from its sister genre Fiction? Nothing.

Should School decide on what books we read?

            Personally, I do think that there should be balance between the books that the school district assigns and what kids want to read themselves. In nowadays society, the schools pressure teens to read more classic, “old school” books. But knowing teens, expecting them to actually like the books they are forced to read is about the same as expecting the sun to rise on the west. Most teenagers want to read something very common and popular, what I would call “bandwagon reading”, thus the school being what it is, wants to suppress that idea and widen the children’s view. The question is, is that right to do? Saying yes would be cruel, but saying no isn’t right either. Going deeper on what was said before, the school should balance what the kids read, with adding some independent reading to the curriculum but letting the school to pick the classics that are different from students usual choice of literature.

The ideal school would never pressure its kids into blindly following what they should read. I personally think that the US schools should apply a new technique to persuade kids to appreciate classics and widen their reading boundaries. Schools should give independent reading assignments in a particular genre from time to time, independent books being one out of four books per course. Also the three out of four books assigned by the school should be given in a new manner. Each student will be given an assignment to choose to read one out of three books during their summer before freshman year. The choice would be out of more common genres, most likely, the child will choose to read a book they are more familiar with in genre to what he/she have already read. The school then is expected to consider their reading curriculum for every student individually, assigning books in a genre that is different from what the summer reading choice was. Thus the school will lead its students in the right direction, allowing students to have their choice of read from time to time, but still teaching them to appreciate other genres and classics.

"The Hunger Games" video