Intention
Raise awareness about the importance of reading books
In “The Importance of Reading Books”, Paul Fairfield tries to persuade his listeners about the positive effects of reading.
Fairfield uses pathos to show that reading books has helped him become the person he is. The anecdote about his teenage years (ll. 1-13) is used with the intention of showing the audience that previous generations have benefited from reading (ll. 12-13). This idea is also suggested by the podcast’s title.
This intention can also be seen towards the end of the podcast when Fairfield talks about the future. Here, he says that reading books is a habit that should not be lost: “As one set of mental habits is gained, another is lost and educators and the rest of us need to think about not only what we are learning, but what we are unlearning.” (ll. 73-75). Fairfield suggests that educators need to convince the younger generations of the importance of reading books and that educators should also be aware of the disadvantages of relying only on technology (see below).
