Intelligent Reading

It is said repeatedly indeed it is becoming a cliché of our time that sixth-formers are less skilful at writing reasoned and serviceable English than they should be; that the skill is an essential one, not only for passing examinations; and that boys and girls would be better at writing if only they were better at reading. Television and the telephone are usually blamed for this: watching, hearing, and speaking, valuable in themselves, steal time from the harder means of communication closely- argued page of print and recalcitrant pen. It is also said that, in a world of headlines and snap judgments, the serious ideas that are the basis of all good writing are unfamiliar to young minds; thus, even when there is fluency, it is all too often wasted on platitudes and wordy padding. 'Nothing to say, and no idea of how to say it' is the verdict of many examiners doubt it always has been. as no

All this is true. Those of us who try to teach English to sixth-formers have long known that it is not an easy task - even before universities began to tell us how inadequately we do it, and to set special papers to prove their point. Three or four periods a week are not a large allowance for training boys to read intelligently and to write lucidly and accurately; indeed most of us spend a lifetime learning these skills for ourselves. Yet something can be done: and many a sixth-form teacher feels that it could be done more effectively if only he could lay hands on the right book to help him in his task. Intelligent Reading is two schoolmasters' idea of the kind of book they themselves would like, to supplement what they say in class, or write on the blackboard, or utter as comment while they return essays individually.