[Reading-hall-of-fame] The Reading of Magic

[tsticht at znet.com]

September 15, 2009


The Reading of Magic


Tom Sticht
International Consultant in Adult Education


In 1946, my family moved into a new house in which there was a large walk-in
closet. On one of the shelves I came across a small, brownish book entitled
For Magicians Only by Robert Parrish published in 1944. This set me off on
several years of reading, practicing, and performing as an amateur
magician.


Over half a century later, thinking about all the reading and studying of
magic books that I did, I have come to think that that sort of reading is
important in promoting literacy skills which were valuable then and are
still valued today.


Visualization and Imagination


Magic books as a whole generally follow a plan in which the first thing that
the reader is asked to do is to imagine the Effect. Here the author explains
what the trick looks like from the point of view of the audience. The reader
has to imagine the trick as it is being performed and visualize what the
audience’s reaction might be. This sort of practice in visualization and
imagination is valued as a strategy for improving reading comprehension in
a number of programs, including those for helping those struggling with
dyslexia or other learning disabilities.


Reading to Follow Directions/ Multiple Literacies


After the Effect has been explained, the reader of a magic book then goes to
the explanation of how the trick works and a step-by-step explanation of how
to do the trick. This promotes very accurate reading and careful thinking
about what is being read to get the trick to work correctly.  It may also
involve developing “multiple literacies” when accompanying illustrations
are provided showing how to hold your hands, where to place your fingers,
etc. in learning a sleight-of-hand manipulation.


Metacognitive Processes



The reading of magic books promotes a lot of thinking about thinking. For
instance, one of the keys to success in performing magic tricks is to be
able to control the attention of the audience using what is called
“misdirection.” Here the student reading magic books is tutored in various
ways to get the audience to focus attention one place while the magician is
doing something in a covert manner. In this case, the magician has to think
not only about his own thinking, but also that of the audience. This 
“thinking about thinking” is often referred to in the field of reading
instruction as metacognition.


“Multitasking” With Oracy, Literacy, and Behavior


A key part of any magician’s performance is controlling an audience’s
attentional, perceptual, and conceptual processes by getting the audience
to construct a particular thought sequence based on their prior knowledge
of the world. This the magician does by means of his “patter”, which is the
speech (oracy) made in setting up expectations for the trick and the talk
that goes along with the performance of the trick. This promotes skills in
taking the viewpoint of the audience in framing one’s spoken language, the
enhancement of comprehension by reading by incorporating written language
from the magic books into the spoken language, and memory control by
“multitasking” with speaking and listening to guide audience attention
while also thinking about and  performing covert actions to produce a
magical effect.


Persistence and Practice


One of the cautions given to the new reader of magic books is the importance
of practicing a lot before attempting to perform a given trick for an
audience. That same advise is appropriate, too, for anyone aiming to
develop high levels of reading ability. You need to persist in doing a
large amount of reading in some area of interest.


In this regard, in her seminal study of the lives of 60 dyslexic men and
women who had made highly successful lives as well educated adults, Rosalie
Fink reported that one of the most important factors in the success of these
adults was their persistence in taking on arduous reading tasks.  She says, 
“Driven by curiosity and a passion for knowledge, they read avidly (although
slowly) to find out more about their topic of interest, engaging in what
Jeanne Chall called “reading to learn”. (p. 2)


The lesson is that persistence and practice, practice, practice is the trick
to the development of expertise in any field, including the reading of magic
to develop the magic of reading.


Reference


Fink, R. Successful Careers: The Secrets of Adults with Dyslexia. 
(retrieved online August, 2009 at the web site of the Career Planning and
Adult Development Network).


Tom Sticht
tsticht at aznet.net