Writing for an Academic Discussion Will paper books become less prevalent? - revised -

Will the prevalence of traditional paper books diminish as we progress through the forthcoming decades?

 

 

☆Let’s Think

1.        When you buy a new book, do you buy a paper copy or digitized one like Kindle books? Why?

2.        Has the number of bookshops in your town diminished over the past 10 years?

3.        Why do some people like paper books？

 

 

☆Hints for Points

Agree

1.        Computers make information search more efficient.

2.        Thousands of books are stored in an electronic reader.

3.        Many functions of online reading allow quicker understanding and better learning.

4.        Most book stores are gone and people look at their phones while commuting and during a break.

5.        Most people cannot stand reading long passages anymore because they are used to reading short texts of social media posts.

 

Disagree

1.        Even if the data is gone online, information is available if it is kept in print. In other words, books are necessary as the hard copies of digital data.

2.        The substantial existence of paper books keeps people finding and cherishing them. Children start reading when a book in their parents’ bookshelf attracts their attention. Printed books will remain forever even if the first owner of them is gone or discards them unless they are destroyed and will be read by a next book lover who happens to get intrigued by them.

3.        They are handier than electronic books as they need neither a special device nor electricity. Also, they are easier on the eyes than LED screens.

4.        Traditional paper books provide more reliable information.

5.        They often help deeper understanding of the subject.

 

 

☆Sample Responses

Yes

I think the number of paper books will diminish as we already see it happening. People don’t buy paper books anymore for several reasons. First, digitized books are usually cheaper than paper books. Second, their availability is much better than paper books for a physical reason. They are often available before the paper versions, and even when both are available, it takes technically no time to download a copy while it takes days and weeks to have a paper copy sent by mail. Third, people have stopped reading books. They seek sources of information online like Google search, which gives you AI-generated answers, and social media, where comments of those who read are available. Of course, this is a challenge to the intelligence level of all humanities and it is a problem to solve, but it is just the fact. The essence of books is information, and rapidly advancing information technology makes paper books obsolete as a medium for the mass. Even though book-reading must be encouraged for better brain development and performances, traditional paper books are not used by most people any more. (186 words)

 

No

It may be counterintuitive, but information technology cannot digitize all the functions of paper books. When digital books became available, I thought I would read all books, including books for studies, online and buy only my favorite novels as a token of my love for the author. However, the reality was to the contrary. The reason is the difference of usability between these two forms of books. It is rather difficult to hop around from page to page according to my thought on an electronic device while a paper copy allows me to find any page in less than a second just by flipping through the pages. As a result, I need to buy paper versions of books for studies for complicated reading activities like rereading and bookmarking, while I read novels with my phone during my commuting hours as reading them is seldom necessitates me to go back and forth many pages. And this is my experience as an ordinary reader who has left school long ago. Students and professional readers like researchers and writers may need paper copies to underline, write in, cut up, and file. Digitized books may have the same kind of functions, but they cannot give us exactly the same experience as we get from using paper books. True reading necessitates a substantial existence, a real book, to get the job done. Therefore, the need for paper books will not diminish.  (236 words)

 

 

Your Sample Response

Introduction (Outline)

Supporting Details 

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