Humanities Reader for High School Volume 3

Author: Peng Changzheng
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2004-10-01
Features: The Reader Humanistic Reader is a series designed to focus on the spiritual growth of middle school students, modeled after the world-famous American Reader, with a greater emphasis on humanity, reason, and intellect. It represents another leap forward for the Reader magazine. The entire series encompasses everything middle school students directly observe, feel, agree with, disagree with, think about, question, struggle with, and hope for, bringing them into its scope. This means guiding them to think about the things they are facing and will face from the perspective of universal human values, thereby obtaining spiritual nourishment. The content is arranged from phenomena that middle school students can perceive, delving into the issues they care about, such as family love, friendship, love, teacher-student relationships, society, life, life, ethics, history, culture, education, morality, war, peace, science, environmental protection, "the three rural issues," reform, democracy, the rule of law, self, country, human rights, freedom, and more. The depth of exploration is tailored to the level that middle school students can achieve. Based on the age and academic stage of middle school students, each unit focuses on a single theme, presenting a new spiritual perspective and opening up a new spiritual world. For example, in the first semester of the first grade of junior high school (Grade 7, First Semester), aimed at students who have just entered middle school, units such as Unforgettable Teacher's Gratitude, Childhood, Passing Through That Sky, Wings of Imagination, and Shining Hearts are included, suitable for the spiritual experiences of readers at this stage. In the second semester of the third year of senior high school (Grade 12, Second Semester), aimed at students who are about to graduate from middle school, the book ends with units such as Farewell to Middle School, Window to the World, My University, and Holding a Bouquet on the Way, which are both touching and inspiring. The literary styles are diverse, like a garden of flowers in full bloom, rich and varied: prose, poetry, lyrics, news, commentaries, political essays, fables, miscellaneous writings, speeches, manifestos, and novels, almost everything you can imagine. The emotional depth, meaning, and language all blend together, shining in harmony, rich, profound, and moving. The selected texts are inclusive, with a variety of styles—some elegant and refined, some profound and solemn, some magnificent and beautiful, some simple and straightforward, some dynamic and powerful, some subtle and gentle, some flowing like springs, and some fierce like oceans, and so on. They are breathtakingly beautiful, each with its own unique charm.
Because this series is rich, profound, moving, and deeply resonant, it was quickly embraced by Focus Interview after its first printing, attracting significant attention from readers. Daily calls from all over the country increased, and business inquiries from serious enterprises grew rapidly.
The fertile ground for literary talent—The Educational Role of The Reader Humanistic Reader
When people think of literary talent, they often feel a sense of mystery. But in reality, good literary talent means knowing a lot, knowing deeply, and expressing accurately and vividly. China has long struggled with poor results in language education, with students' reading and writing abilities not meeting expectations. One important reason is that traditional language textbooks are rigid in thought, leaving students without new spiritual nourishment. Their perception, insight, and understanding lack fresh perspectives, leading to limited knowledge, shallow understanding, inaccurate expression, and lack of vividness—poor literary skills. This is a serious flaw in China's traditional language education, and overcoming these flaws is one of the key selection principles of The Reader Humanistic Reader: to broaden students' knowledge and deepen their understanding, thereby inspiring them to express and using this inspiration to enhance their thinking, ultimately achieving accurate and vivid expression.
In terms of "broadening students' knowledge," the entire series covers a vast range of topics, almost. It includes everything middle school students directly observe, feel, agree with, disagree with, think about, question, struggle with, and hope for: family love, friendship, love, teacher-student relationships, society, life, life, ethics, history, culture, education, morality, war, peace, science, environmental protection, "the three rural issues," reform, democracy, the rule of law, self, country, human rights, freedom, and more. The depth of exploration is tailored to the level that middle school students can achieve. It fully addresses the current thinking of middle school students, evokes reflections on their lives, broadens their cultural horizons, inspires their desire to express, and provides a cultural, spiritual, and moral foundation for cultivating literary talent.
In terms of "deepening understanding," the entire series is compiled based on universal human values. Thomas Jefferson, one of the founding fathers of the United States, once said: "We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness." This statement reflects the core spirit of the Declaration of Independence and also the basic spirit of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. It expresses the ultimate values of humanity, which are also the values of this series. Although different countries and ethnic groups have different histories, cultures, and national conditions, as humans, they share the same ultimate values. Thinking about the above content through this lens leads to new insights, breaks free from outdated concepts, and penetrates the essence of things, thereby providing food for literary talent—the rational foundation.
At the same time, this series is also very beneficial for students to think about how to express themselves better. The entire series includes a variety of literary styles—prose, poetry, lyrics, news, commentaries, political essays, fables, miscellaneous writings, speeches, and manifestos—without limiting the units to a single style. Each unit focuses on a central theme, which can be expressed through multiple styles. This not only helps students familiarize themselves with the characteristics of different literary styles but also allows them to understand multiple ways of expressing a single idea. This is the educational role of The Reader Humanistic Reader: to cultivate students' literary talent!
A book desired by the times—A Review of The Reader Humanistic Reader
On September 8th, a set of books was placed on the desk in the Focus Interview studio of CCTV. Through the close-up lens, viewers could clearly see that the books were The Reader Humanistic Reader, a 12-volume series. The off-screen voice of the host said: "This is a good book!" The reason this series was featured in Focus Interview was first and foremost due to the promotion of the Reader magazine, but it also received special attention because it is a book much needed in today's society, a book desired by the times!
This series includes everything middle school students directly observe, feel, agree with, disagree with, think about, question, struggle with, and hope for, allowing them to think about the things they are facing and will face from the perspective of universal human values, thereby obtaining spiritual nourishment. Therefore, the content of the entire series is arranged from phenomena that middle school students can perceive, delving into the issues they care about, such as family love, friendship, love, teacher-student relationships, society, life, life, ethics, history, culture, education, morality, war, peace, science, environmental protection, "the three rural issues," reform, democracy, the rule of law, self, country, human rights, freedom, and more. The depth of exploration is tailored to the level that middle school students can achieve. Thus, in this era of social transformation, this book can help people who are suffering, confused, and anxious to establish a humanistic spirit that promotes progress, making it a rare and valuable book for the moral and ethical education of adolescents.
The series is divided into junior high and senior high volumes, totaling 12 books. It is another "spiritual soup" offered to middle school students by a serious enterprise in collaboration with the Reader magazine. Modern people need modern spiritual nourishment. Modern middle school students need humanistic thinking for their growth. The book includes everything middle school students directly observe, feel, agree with, disagree with, think about, struggle with, and hope for, allowing them to think about the things they are facing and will face through their own values, thereby absorbing spiritual nourishment. It helps establish modern concepts in middle school students, broadens their cultural horizons, and enriches their aesthetic tastes.
This book can be summarized with many keywords, such as dignity, credibility, tranquility, morality, great love, great pain, indifference, nobility, sorrow, and so on. Behind each keyword, there may be countless proofs, hiding various stories and emotions. In reality, each individual life and life experience is unique and irreplaceable, just like every drop of water and every leaf. Yet when they come together, they perfectly point toward the essence and hopes of humanity.