Democratic Sentinel, Volume 7, Number 33, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 14 September 1883 — The Purpose of Reading. [ARTICLE]

The Purpose of Reading.

Every reader should know the purpose for which he reads. Usually this purpose is either rest, amusement, or what may be called improvement. A boy or girl, tired by work in the shop or house, takes up Hawthorne’s “Wonder Book,” —that is reading for rest. Fretted by low marks at school, one becomes absorbed in “Swiss Family Robinson”— that is reading for amusement. Eager to instruct the mind, you read Bancroft’s “History of the United States”— that is reading for improvement. The three purposes are frequently combined. One may find in reading ! Macaulay’s “Essay on Bacon,” rest, | amusement, and improvement. I Of these purposes that of improvei ment of mind and heart is most nnpori tant. In all reading whose immediate I aim is either recreation or pleasure, the I remote aim should be the formation of a noble character. No one should read a book without resolving to be aided by it in every right endeavor. I The purpose for which one reads determines the choice of the book. If you are in doubt what to read, form a j clear idea of the reason of your reading, and the selection of a proper book is i made easy.— Morgantown Prest,