#163: Is the ability to read and write more import

[Erin]

#163: Is the ability to read and write more important today than in the past? Why or why not? Use specific reasons and examples to support your answer.

[DreamsComeTrue]

This is my first-written-and-posted essay here. Could you please give me your invaluable comments. Yours are appreciated. [bounce]

 

Knowing how to read and how to write is one of the most basic skills to be successful in life. Obviously its importance is greater today than in the past for three following reasons.

 

Firstly, a person who is illiterate hardly gets a job today. As everyone knows, in the years of 2000s the total amount of knowledge of the human increases every five years. Only a person being able to read and write can handle professional jobs like flying modern super-planes or operating complex computer networks. If the pilot does not know the alphabet, how come he could read the manual and keep updated to the so-fast-development of aviation technology.

 

Secondly, knowing how to read and write certainly makes a person’s life more comfort. He can get a lot of information through various kinds of mass media. If he is a techno-savvy, he will find his interest in Computer World Magazine; if he is a marketer, one of his most-often-read periodicals certainly is Marketing Journal. Moreover, thanks to the rapid change of the Internet, he can surf the World Wide Web with thousands of music, sports sites. In addition, for me the most enjoyable moment of my life is when I teach my children, guiding them how to learn letter by letter, telling their favorite stories. How come I do all of these if I do not know a single letter!

 

Last but not least, the ability to read and write is not only more important to individual today but also more meaningful to his country’s power. Human Development Index (HDI) is one of the most-used indexes to gauge countries’ development. A country with the high level of illiteracy definitely will have low HDI, and as a result will be considered less developed. Furthermore, that country surely has not many talented scientists, educators, and consequently be weaker than others.

 

To sum up, today the literacy is more highly regarded than in the old days. However even in the years of the twenty-first century there are millions of children being unable to go to school. Due to this fact, governments should spend more money and efforts to phase out illiteracy as soon as possible.

 

[napoleon]

First of all, I like your essay. It has a good organization and this is the first thing I look in a essay. However I have some observations:

- I think the introduction is too short and unconvincing

- I like the 2th and 3th para. They are well developed

- the 4th para seems to me very unconvincing. The HDI is not of colossal importance and I will give India as an example. It has a pretty high illiteracy level, but it is maybe the most influential country in science for its human resources.

- I like the conclusion

 

Overall, I will give you a 5.5, though TOEFL will probably give a 6.0

 

Keep up the good work

[ari]

Ability to read and write can be said to be one of the greatest discoveries of humankind. Having been discovered in the ancient eras, it has traveled a long journey from our being able to write and read on barks of trees to books to the computer screen. Yet, the importance of this ability, unique to the humans, has not decreased. It is, and always was, since its discovery, an important intellectual ability. In the next two paragraphs I will elaborate on my point of view, stating the reasons for its importance in the past and in the present.

 

In the past, reading and writing was necessary to communicate – may it be the communication of a message from one place to another or transfer of knowledge from a generation to another. The present developments in all fields- arts as well as science, would not be possible were it not for the previous generation to transfer knowledge accurately to the next.

 

This is the age of hi-tech communication systems. One may say that in the present we have more advanced means of communication-the telephone rather than the telegraph, the television rather than the newspaper and thus ability to read and write is not important. However, my argument would be, we also have the internet- the quickest and the most efficient way to communicate- which would be useless to a person who cannot read or write.

 

Besides, writing and reading is not mere a tool for communication. It has developed into an art on its own accord. The writers have evolved during this time- from Shakespearean drama to Harry Potter’s adventures. Similar has been the evolution of readers-their tastes may have changed, yet reading is as passionate a hobby today as it was in the past.

 

To conclude, I would say, that importance of the ability to read and write is virtually timeless. It has changed forms, but remains one of the most important intellectual exercises performed.

 

 

 

 

[DreamsComeTrue]

First of all, I like your essay. It has a good organization and this is the first thing I look in a essay. However I have some observations:

- I think the introduction is too short and unconvincing

- I like the 2th and 3th para. They are well developed

- the 4th para seems to me very unconvincing. The HDI is not of colossal importance and I will give India as an example. It has a pretty high illiteracy level, but it is maybe the most influential country in science for its human resources.

- I like the conclusion

To tell you the truth my writing is so bad. I must practice hard the following days until Oct 18. Your comment does help me. Thanks so much. [banana]

 

Ability to read and write can be said to be one of the greatest discoveries of humankind. Having been discovered in the ancient eras, it has traveled a long journey from our being able to write and read on barks of trees to books to the computer screen. Yet, the importance of this ability, unique to the humans, has not decreased. It is, and always was, since its discovery, an important intellectual ability. In the next two paragraphs I will elaborate on my point of view, stating the reasons for its importance in the past and in the present.

 

In the past, reading and writing was necessary to communicate – may it be the communication of a message from one place to another or transfer of knowledge from a generation to another. The present developments in all fields- arts as well as science, would not be possible were it not for the previous generation to transfer knowledge accurately to the next.

 

This is the age of hi-tech communication systems. One may say that in the present we have more advanced means of communication-the telephone rather than the telegraph, the television rather than the newspaper and thus ability to read and write is not important. However, my argument would be, we also have the internet- the quickest and the most efficient way to communicate- which would be useless to a person who cannot read or write.

 

Besides, writing and reading is not mere a tool for communication. It has developed into an art on its own accord. The writers have evolved during this time- from Shakespearean drama to Harry Potter’s adventures. Similar has been the evolution of readers-their tastes may have changed, yet reading is as passionate a hobby today as it was in the past.

 

To conclude, I would say, that importance of the ability to read and write is virtually timeless. It has changed forms, but remains one of the most important intellectual exercises performed.

 

Hi ari, I'm afraid to say that most of your writing is off the track. For this topic, we must state whether the ability to read and write now is more important than in the past, not to prove that it is important both at the present and in the past. And unfortunately this is one of the most serious mistakes.

[TM Staff]

Originally posted by DreamsComeTrue

 

This is my first-written-and-posted essay here. Could you please give me your invaluable comments. Yours are appreciated. [bounce]

 

Knowing how to read and how to write is one of the most basic skills to be successful in life. Obviously its importance is greater today than in the past for three following reasons.

 

Firstly, a person who is illiterate hardly gets a job today. As everyone knows, in the years of 2000s the total amount of knowledge of the human increases every five years. Only a person being able to read and write can handle professional jobs like flying modern super-planes or operating complex computer networks. If the pilot does not know the alphabet, how come he could read the manual and keep updated to the so-fast-development of aviation technology.

 

Secondly, knowing how to read and write certainly makes a person’s life more comfort. He can get a lot of information through various kinds of mass media. If he is a techno-savvy, he will find his interest in Computer World Magazine; if he is a marketer, one of his most-often-read periodicals certainly is Marketing Journal. Moreover, thanks to the rapid change of the Internet, he can surf the World Wide Web with thousands of music, sports sites. In addition, for me the most enjoyable moment of my life is when I teach my children, guiding them how to learn letter by letter, telling their favorite stories. How come I do all of these if I do not know a single letter!

 

Last but not least, the ability to read and write is not only more important to individual today but also more meaningful to his country’s power. Human Development Index (HDI) is one of the most-used indexes to gauge countries’ development. A country with the high level of illiteracy definitely will have low HDI, and as a result will be considered less developed. Furthermore, that country surely has not many talented scientists, educators, and consequently be weaker than others.

 

To sum up, today the literacy is more highly regarded than in the old days. However even in the years of the twenty-first century there are millions of children being unable to go to school. Due to this fact, governments should spend more money and efforts to phase out illiteracy as soon as possible.

 

Hi, DreamsComeTrue.

 

At first glance your essay looks pretty organinzed. However, I think you need to go back and rework your introduction. You need to include your main points in the introduction. Rather than just saying "for the following three reasons," you should list these reasons.

 

The body of your essay looks pretty good. It is set up in such a way that it is clear to read and easy to find your main points. I would just work on fine-tuning your examples for further support.

 

In the conclusion, once again, you need to restate your main points. This is a way of tying it all together and letting your readers know what the emphasis of your essay is.

 

I hope these suggestions will be of help to you.

 

Best of luck,

 

TM Staff

[DreamsComeTrue]

Hi TM Staff [heartbeat]

 

Your advice and comments are a big help to me. All TMians know that you are the second most important and experienced magician here, and you have not much time. Therefore, I'm very happy and grateful when you edited my writing.

 

In fact, I did search all of your comments for others in this essay section and they are super-good to me, too. :p

 

I will remember and apply what you said in my next task.

 

Thanks a zillion. [dance][banana][dance][banana][dance][banana]

[matek]

This is my essay.

 

As the society developes, people have to communicate with each other more and more and only the oral communication turned out not to be efficient enough. It is true to say that the abbilily to read and write is more importan today than in the past.

In the past, when the society was quite simple, in a village for examle there were only few people, who could read and write, and those people played an important role, they did official works for others. But when the society became more complicated that few people could not do the bigger and bigger amount of work.

Besides, with the fast development of science, one without reading, and writing abilily cannot understand what is happenning in the world, and even cannot live in the morden wolrd. For example when one buy a electrical device, but canot read the instruction. It is impossible for him to use that device. Reading became the basic skill of every one.

To conclude, It is envident that in the morden world people cannot live well without the ability of reading and writing. So it is understandable when we consider the rate of people who can read and write as an important factor of the development of a country, or a society.

 

 

[matek]

I know that my assay is too short, But I tried to fit it into 30 minitues.

Give me advise how to improve my speed of writing.

[ditoman]

Topic #163:

 

Is the ability to read and write more important today than in the past? Why

or why not? Use specific reasons and examples to support your answer.

 

People sometimes talk about the listening, reading, writing, and speaking as

methods of gaining information. As a doctoral student, although I think that

reading and writing become more important than in the past with the flood of

required information, the topic asking the overall trend, I have no choice

but to answer "No". In other words, I don't think that read and write are

more important today than in the past due to the occurence of media and the

trends of youth.

 

More than anything else, the occurence of media like TV, radio causes many

information to change its delivering method into listening and speaking.

It is true that many people prefer listening and speaking compared to the

past. I saw the statics about the time of writing and reading everyday. The

time has decreased suddenly with them. In this manner, many media has changed

the method of gaining information and both reading and writing are considered

as less important things.

 

The next thing i'd like to mention here is that the trends of the youth

produce much influences on this. The youth today have a strong tendency to

prefer easy and comfort things. These trends drive them to hate reading,

writing, and thinking. Of many examples shown this, it is obviously shown

through a factory that have few the youth and many seniors. In this respect,

they hate complex and difficult problems like reading and writing.

 

In conclusion, although I personally prefer reading and writing, the topic

asks me about the overall trends of my society and I cannot help but

answering that both reading and writing today are less important than in

the past because of the development of media as well as the youth trends.