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Writing: It Is Essential

I am tired of proofreading for my friends.

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Writing: It Is Essential
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Teachers always used to complain that technology is destroying a student's ability to write properly. As a child, addicted to my phone, I used to believe that was absolute rubbish. As I get older and all my friends and family ask me to proofread what they write, I see that those teachers were not wrong.

Writing is one of the most fundamental aspects of our society. Word of mouth is so unreliable. Things get lost in translation. Remember playing the telephone game? It is upsetting how little everyone can remember based on word of mouth. Our attention spans are so minute.

Another trend I am seeing is that we have to dumb down our vocabulary in order to make it readable to the public. I actually read in my "Becoming a Public Relations Writer" textbook. There was a section that said "No one uses words like thus and therefore." I was outraged. I was reading the section in the car while my boyfriend was driving.

"I use thus and therefore all the time! I text those words to people!" I exclaimed.

"I know you do babe, I know you do." he replied, tired of hearing me read sections of my textbook aloud like he would actually care about verb tenses in PR writing.

Also upon writing this I discovered that 'thus' is underlined, like I am spelling 'this' wrong.

So why is our society being dumbed down. Shouldn't the reading level be getting higher? The trouble is, people can't write at an advanced level because no one can read at that level because no one like to read anymore.

I am also an English major, so I love to read. I ask people what their favorite book is, not what they binge watch on Netflix, though I am also guilty of that. It is upsetting that college aged students reply that they hate reading. Binge-watching shows is easier than reading a good book, I completely understand that. But there needs to be a balance.

Though there are students with the ability to be impeccable writers, journalists can't use their talents because everyone wants to get their news in a single paragraph, if not just a picture.

So to all of you college students out there who say they hate reading, I implore you. Go out and read a book. Pause your Netflix show for the afternoon and refer to this list.

In my opinion this is the beginners list. These are books that college girls will probably love. Then maybe try upgrading. Go out and find "THe Snows of Kilimanjaro" by Ernest Hemingway. It is a short story easily accessible online. It is the story that made me fall in love with reading again, made me add on another major in creative writing and made Hemingway my favorite author of all time. Which most people think is weird for a 21-year-old girl, but just read it you'll understand.

In fact, here is the link.

I read it on this exact PDF four years ago in the middle of my English composition class.

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This article has not been reviewed by Odyssey HQ and solely reflects the ideas and opinions of the creator.
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