Democratic Sentinel, Volume 11, Number 35, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 30 September 1887 — The Purpose of Reading. [ARTICLE]

The Purpose of Reading.

Every reader should know ths parpose for which he reads. Usually thia purpose is either rest, amusement, or what may be called improvement. A boy oi 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 in reading for amusement. Eager to instruct the mind, you read Bancroft’s “ History of the United States**— khat is reading for improvement The three purposes are frequently combined. One may find in reading Macaulay’s “Essay on Bacon,” rest, amusement, and improvement Of these purposes that of improvement of mind and heart is most important. In all reading whose immediate aim is either recreation or pleasure, the remote aim should be the formation of a noble character. No one should read a book without resolving to be aided by it every right endeavor. ' The purpose for which one reads dethe choice of the book. If yOt art ihdcnbt what to read, form a plear idsa of the reason of your reading, Khd thp selection of a proper book is ttAfc Preu.