Happy Williams

Everything Williams explains in this book seems to go against what I have learned. In school, my teachers always told me if you read more, then you will become a better writer. Williams states, “Many extremely well-read people are poor writers” (166). I’m getting kind of annoyed with Williams, because he is telling me to unlearn what I have already learned. Were my teachers really that uninformed, or is Williams not entirely sure what he is talking about? Grammar used to be an important part of language to learn, but Williams has to go against that, too.

Williams says, “The Internet has indeed proven to be one of the more effective tools in integrating reading and writing” (170). I would have to agree with Williams for the most part; however, not everyone knows how to use the Internet. What about people who don’t know how to check their email? What about individuals who don’t even have a computer? Clearly, the Internet is not beneficial in integrating reading and writing for them. Also, most people use the Internet to chat with their friends and play games. Research is more easily accessible, but most individuals do not hop on the Internet to read scholarly journals.

Williams explains how teachers should not correct students when they mispronounce words, because they won’t understand the meaning of the sentence. This is true, because the student will focus solely on the word they mispronounced, rather then the meaning of the sentence. However, how are students supposed to expand their vocabulary and pronounce words correctly, if they are never corrected? Overall, meaning is crucial when reading, but so comprehending individual words. Reading is a process and understanding single words comes before understanding groups of words. I understand how speed is important, or information will already have escaped the short-term memory; however, everyone starts off slow. Speed is something that comes with practice. The more students read the better they will get. If students can slowly pronounce all of the words in a sentence, then their speed is bound to pick up. Once their speed picks up, then their understanding will, as well. Basically, Williams has accurate information, but he has to remember that reading is a slow process.

I liked the idea of giving models to students for them to learn how to write well. However, are students really learning, or are they just copying the model? I guess they are learning, but they are not really thinking for themselves, as much.

Overall, I’m tired of reading Williams, because he has an annoying way of telling the reader that they know nothing. I am learning from this book, but I feel like there is a negativity that goes along with it, and I wish he could be a little more encouraging.