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Originally Posted by Bêthberry
Oh, and Azaelia--it isn't only literature and essays than can ruin kids' reading. Nowadays teachers force kids to keep journals, even if the kids don't wish to put their private feelings on the page for a teacher to read. There's always something out of whack when learning is structured.
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Yes...I do hold certain unpleasant memories about journals of school days gone by...A couple of my teachers actually counted any lines I'd left blank at the end of whatever meaningless rambling I'd written, and took points off for not filling them. Little did they know that I already kept a journal hidden away at home, and also wrote short fiction for fun (none of which will ever see the light of day).
The things they do to get kids to write are just as bad as the things they do to get kids to read.
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Originally Posted by davem
I'm not sure its possible to define 'western culture' precisely enough to be able to say its waning. Certainly its changing, but its as likely as not to be changing in a 'western' way into another phase of 'western' culture. Change is inevitable in any case, & to be welcomed if only because the alternative is stagnation. Besides, if 'Western Culture' does disappear it will be because it wasn't going anywhere, & couldn't adapt.
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Very true... I think it's certainly changing faster than it was 10 years ago, at least in the USA. Changing into what, I'm not quite sure. Who knows what the history books are going to make of the early 2000's...?
On the subject of Tolkien becoming dated that LMP brought up, I also doubt LOTR will ever be dated--Its continued popularity even over half a century after it was written is definite evidence of that. I certainly get different things out of the book each time I read it, depending on what's going on in my immediate surroundings, my own life...and what's going on on a world level. It's always interesting to see what stands out to me on a new read, and how it differs from what I especially noticed the time before.