In a Ted Talk by Jacqueline Woodson in April 2019, she tells the importance of reading slowly and cherishing a book. She reminds us to remember the weeks, years, or even decades an author spends on a book, and how people should respect the author by cherishing their book. Furthermore, there are also academic benefits to reading a book slowly. Last year, I learned the importance of slow reading.
Last year, in my English class, we were given the book Whirligig by Paul Fleischman to read together as a class. Before we began reading, I decided to first read the book by myself to first get to know what the book was about and what to expect in class. The first time I read the book, I finished in about an hour, and I decided that I did not like the book. Frankly, I did not like the book since I did not understand the general plot of the story and many details surrounding the plot. Many important parts of the story did not connect together and I did not understand why we would be reading that book together as a class.
In class, as we took our time reading and processed every word and detail, my understanding of the book entirely changed. I realized that I only found the book uninteresting and boring because I read too quickly and did not understand all of the plot and details. Furthermore, after rereading the story with my class and taking our time to analyze the story, I saw the true beauty of the story containing various symbols and details. From this experience, I learned to truly cherish books by reading them slowly not only to respect the author, but also for the personal benefit of understanding a book.
Now, when I read a book, I try to take it more slowly by reminding myself of my experience with Whirligig. When I do not understand a detail or feel a bit confused, I simply reread a section, and most of the time, the logic becomes clear. I know that I have learned many things connecting to Jacqueline Woodson’s Ted Talk through my own experiences, and I hope that others can also learn the same lesson one way or another.