My Response to Harold Bloom

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My Harold Bloom Response Reading Harold Bloom’s How To Read and Why essay one would believe the main idea is to read mostly to connect with the literature. This happens when the reader understands the scenario occurring and can picture it happening within their own life. “What comes near to ourself, what we can put to use”(Bloom 1). An audience can always connect with something they can relate to. When one reads just for the sake of reading, they don’t have interest and won’t be thinking about how the literature might actually connect with their own life and interests. Usually if a person doesn’t connect or have interest in the literature, they don’t realize how they can relate their own life to the piece and get useful knowledge. Bloom also emphasizes how important reading for personal interest is. “Ultimately we read…in order to strengthen the self, and to learn its authentic interests” (Bloom 2). Reading solely affects the reader. When the audience reads the literature, not everyone receives the same connection towards it. One reader might connect in a more compassionate way to the reading while another might connect more sympathetically. Bloom mentions that everyone reads to connect to their benefit. “The pleasures of reading indeed are selfish rather than social”(Bloom 2). Readers always relate to the literature in any way they can regardless of which characteristic or scenario currently happening. Regardless of the piece or type of literature, the audience reads mainly to connect and compare it to their own life. Once Harold Bloom reads Why Read Great Books by Mortimer Adler, he would use the following quote to conclude his essay: “But, although social and economic arrangements vary with time and place, man remains man”(Adler 1). He would conclude with this quote because it tells that regardless of who reads the literature or book, one’s opinion will
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