A Comparative Study of the Re a Ding Interests of Junior

Home , Black Arrow (serial), Chad Hanna, Ella Cinders, Freckles and His Friends, Hold Back the Night, Ken Allen

A COMPARATIVE STUDY OF THE RE A DING

INTERESTS OF JUNIOR AND SENIOR

STUDENTS IN TEN TEXAS

HIGH SCHOOLS

APPROVED:

jor Professor

Dean of the School of Education

Deux of the Graduate School A COMPARATIVE STUDY OF THE READING

INTERESTS OF JUNIOR AND SENIOR

STUDENTS IN TEN TEXAS

HIGH SCHOOLS

THESIS

Presented to the Graduate Council of the

North Texas State College in Partial

Fulfillment of the Requirements

For the Degree of

MASTER OF SCIENCE

Aubrey Thera Mitchell, B. S.

Denton, Texas

May, 1955 TABLE OF CONTENTS

Page,

LIST OF TABLES v

Chapter

I. INTRODUCTION 1

The Problem Related Studies Purpose of the Study Sources of Data Limitations Method of Procedure Reading Interests, Based upon Literature Organization of the Study

II. READING INTERESTS OF JUNIOR AND SENIOR STUDENTS OF THE NOCONA HIGH SCHOOL COMPARED WITH THOSE OF JUNIOR AND SENIOR STUDENTS IN NINE OTHER TEXAS HIGH SCHOOLS 22

Time Spent in Outside Reading Favorite Types of Reading Membership in Book Clubs Favorite Books ©f Fiction Favorite Fiction Writers Favorite Non-fiction Books Favorite Non-fiction Writers Reading of Pocket-book Editions Reading of Book Digests Favorite Newspaper Writers Magazine Articles Read Recently Number of Books Read in a Two-month Period Favorite Books Read Within a Two-month Period Availability of Encyclopedias in the Homes of Students

m Chapter Page

Types of Encyclopedias Available in the Homes of the Students Students' Desire to Read More Reasons lor Not Doing More Reading Voluntary Reading of Magazines Favorite Magazines Favorite Newspapers Frequency with Which Certain Parts of Newspapers Were Read by Students Favorite Comic Strips Magazines Named by Students as Those to Which They Would Subscribe If They Could Take Only One Magazine Magazines Recommended for School libraries

IU. SUMMARY, CONCLUSIONS, AND RECOMMEN- DATIONS .251

Summary Conclusions Re commendations

APPENDIX 259

BIBLIOGRAPHY 262

iv LIST OF TABLES

Table Page

I. Number ef Junior and Senior Students from the Respective Texas High Schools Who Partici- pated in the Study...... 24

II. Time Spent in Outside Reading Per Week by Junior and Senior Boys and Girls in Ten Texas High Schools ...... 27

III. Favorite Kinds of Reading Reported by Junior and Senior Boys and Girls in Ten Texas High Schools ...... 34

IV. Membership in Book Clubs Reported by Junior and Senior Boys and Girls in Ten Texas High Schools ...... 39

V. Favorite Fiction Books Reported by Junior and Senior Boys and Girls in Ten Texas High Schools ...... 43

VI. Favorite Fiction Writers of Junior and Senior Boys and Girls in Ten Texas High Schools . . 60

VII. Favorite Non-fiction Books of Junior and Senior Boys and Girls in Ten Texas High Schools . . 72

VIII. Favorite Hon-fiction Writers of Junior and Senior Boys and Girls in Ten Texas High Schools . 87

IX. Reading of Pocket-book Editions of Books as Reported by Junior and Senior Boys and Girls in Ten Texas High Schools . . . . .95

X. Reading of Book Digests as Reported by Junior and Senior Boys and Girls in Ten Texas High Schools ...... 100 Table Page

XI, Favorite Newspaper Writers Reported by Junior and Senior Boys and Girls ia Ten Texas High Schools . . . . . , .105

XII. Magazine Articles Read Recently by Junior and Senior Boys and Girls ia Ten Texas High Schools ...... 114

XIII. Number of Books Read ia a Two-month Period by Junior and Senior Boys and Girls in Tern Texas High Schools . . . . . 132

XIV. Favorite Books Read within a Two-month Period by Junior and Senior Boys and Girls in Ten Texas High Schools ...... 133

XV. Availability ol Encyclopedias in the Homes of Junior and Senior Boys and Girls in Ten Texas High Schools ...... 15?

XVI. Types of Encyclopedias Available in the Homes of Junior and Senior Boys and Girls in Ten Texas High Schools . . . . . 162

XVII. Answers to the Question, "Would You Like to Read More?" As Reported by Junior and Senior Boys and Girls in Ten Texas High Schools . . 170

XVIII. Reasons for Not Doing More Reading as Reported by Junior and Senior Boys and Girls in Ten Texas High Schools ...... 175

XIX. Magazines Which Students Have Been Required to Read in School Which They Now Read Volun- tarily, as Reported by Junior and Senior Boys and Girls in Ten Texas High Schools . . 181

XX. Favorite Magazines Reported by Junior and Senior Boys and Girls in Ten Texas High Schools . 188

X XI. Favorite Newspapers Reported by Junior and Senior Boys and Girls in Tea Texas High Schools . 200

vi Table Page

XXII. Frequency with Which Certain Sections of Newspapers Were Read by Junior and Senior Bays and Girls in Ten Texas High Schools .... 206

XXIII. Favorite Comic Strips Reported by Junior and Senior Boys and Girls in Ten Texas High Schools . 218

XXIV . Magazines Selected by Junior and Senior Boys and Girls in Ten Texas High Schools as the Ones They Would Choose If They Could Subscribe to Only One Magazine . . . . . 229

XXV. Magazines Which School libraries Did Not Take Which Were Recommended as library Additions by Junior and Senior Boys and Girls in Ten Texas High Schools ...... 241

vu CHAPTER 1

INTRODUCTION

T he Problem

The problem undertaken in this study was that of making an effort to determine, in so far as was possible, the reading interests of the students enrolled in the high school at Nocona, Texas, during the

1954-1955 school session. A secondary phase of the problem was to compare these reading interests with those of students enrolled in nine other typical high schools of comparable size in other sections of Texas, as determined by means of a questionnaire survey.

Related Studies

In a study of related literature, it was discovered that only a few studies have been conducted by students at North Texas State Col- lege in relation to reading interests, only one of which deals with the interests of high school students. Thus, they are only remotely related to the problem of the present study, but perhaps it would be worth-while to note some of the principal findings developed in these surveys.

The only study which has been conducted at North Texas State

College in relation to the reading interests of high school students was that by Young. * She, in a survey of the reading interests of students enrolled in the Newsome Dougherty Memorial High School, Gainesville,

Texas, during the school year 1944-1955, collected data from the cir- culation records of the library of the school, classified according to the Dewey Decimal System, and by means of a questionnaire submitted to the entire student body.

£ighty-three per cent of the students enrolled in the student body stated that they enjoyed reading. Eighty-six per cent of the girls and 78 per cent of the boys indicated that they often did reading voluntarily, in addition to required reading in connection with their class work or assignments. There was a tendency for the more advanced students to enjoy reading more than did those of lower academic classifications.

Most of the students indicated that, for recreational reading, they selected books because of special interest in the subject matter dealt with, and secondarily because of the author. Stories of adventure ranked first with the boys, whereas romantic fiction was most popular with the girls.

Among magazines that tMfe students read regularly, both boys and girls gave first rating to Life and second to The Reader's Digest.

^Martha Ruth Young, "Reading Interests of Students of Hew- some Dougherty Memorial High School, Gainesville, Texas, in the School Year 1944-1945," Unpublished Master's Thesis, School of Edu- cation, North Texas State College, August, 1946. Little interest was shown by members of either sex in articles and books about hobbies. A majority of the students preferred to read articles and short stories rather than novels, because of the length of time required to read the latter.

About three fourths of the students read, or at least looked at, a newspaper each day. The comic section was the most popular feature of the newspapers among these students. Short stories were read by the students snore than any other part of magazines.

Recreation and relaxation were the principal reasons for reading as mentioned by this group of high school students.

In a study of the reading interests of students enrolled in North

Texas State College in the first semester of the session of 1942-1943,

Knox analyzed book withdrawals by all students, classified according to the ten major subject areas included in the Dewey Decimal System 2 of library classification. No effort was made to determine which books were withdrawn for recreational reading and which were taken from the library as required or recommended reading for class work.

Related research consulted by Knox indicated, however, that for recreational reading college students tend to select fiction in books and comics and humor in periodicals. For more serious reading, they

2 Liois Bennett Knox, "Reading Interests of Students of North Texas State Teachers College in the First Semester of the Year 1942- 1943," Unpublished master's thesis, School of Education, North Texas State College, June, 1944. gravitate toward history, biography, human relationships, and national and world affairs.

Knox noted, alter an analysis of all book withdrawals for the semester included in her study, that fiction was far in advance of all other types of literature in terms ©f the number of books withdrawn.

This fact probably implies a high degree of recreational reading on the part of the students. English and American literature were highly popular, but withdrawals in other national literatures were somewhat insignificant by comparison.

Education, history, general literature, fiction, fine arts, and useful arts were the outstanding fields of interest indicated by the students' use of books in the various divisions of the Dewey Decimal Sys- tem. Books classified as philology, religion, and general works were seldom withdrawn.

The students demonstrated a wide interest in periodicals of all types, both for recreational reading and required study, and for browsing.

Knox found that advanced students tended to use the library less

frequently and to withdraw fewer books than did the students enrolled in the lower academic divisions of the college. The reason for this finding was not determined, nor is it known whether this is a common

trend or whether it was merely a condition existing at the particular time of Knox's study, in this particular college, among this particular group of students.

Another study which is, in some respects, related to the present investigation is that conducted in the junior high school of Crockett,

3 Texas, in 1952. This study actually dealt with the provision of easy reading materials for retarded children, but possibly some of the findings have a bearing upon the present investigation of the reading interests of high school students.

In the study at Crockett, Anthony found that students normally enjoy reading materials that are easy, regardless of their reading level.

When pupils are required to read materials that are too difficult for them, such materials are uninteresting and can contribute little to their learning experiences. Reading materials with low interest value can be made into interesting materials for junior high school pupils, however, by the skillful establishment of an interesting background or by a challenging application to the current problems and interests of the readers.

In Anthony's study, the parents of the pupils, for the most part, appeared to be unaware of the need for wholesome reading materials in the home for their children. In the main it can be said that any

3 Eunice Roach Anthony, "The Use of Easy Reading Materials with Junior High School Pupils, M unpublished master's thesis, School of Education, Morth Texas State College, August, 1952. improvement in reading ability brings about broader interests in reading.

Marshall, in a study of some effects of a reading-readiness program on first-grade children, concluded that, if other conditions and factors remain similar or constant, the reading interests and abilities of pupils tend to broaden and increase with age and experience 4 of the learner. Also, Marshall's study indicated that intelligence quo- tient appears to have a positive bearing upon reading interests and abilities, since the child with high mentality usually is much more interested in reading on a greater number of subjects than is the child of average or low mentality. Mental retardation produces a distinct negative influence upon readiness to read, the development of ability to read, and the interests manifested in reading. The sub-normal child often has no real ability in reading, and may be a poor reader throughout his life; also, he usually does not like to read and never develops any special reading interests, because of the difficulty he experiences in reading and in comprehending what he attempts to read.

In a study conducted by Bothwell, related to the reading-readiness program in the elementary schools of Collin County, Texas, it was concluded by the investigator that reading readiness includes much

4 D. Leca S. Marshall, "Some Effects of a Reading-readiness Program on First-grai.de Children," unpublished master's thesis, School of Education, North Texas State College, August, 1951. 5 more than having the ability to learn numbers, letters, and words.

The beginning child should possess good mental health from the stand- point of emotional stability, and freedom from anxiety and maladjust- ment to new environmental conditions. The parent-teacher relation- ship is an important factor in the adjustment of the child from the home environment to the school adventure.

Bothwell's study also indicated that experience activities of various kinds provide for individual differences, add interest to the

school program, and help the child to make satisfactory adjustments to the schoolroom situation and to the school in general. At the same

time, diagnostic testing programs aid teachers in determining individ-

ual differences and in planning class activities and experiences that will meet a wide variety of differences and thus contribute to the

learning of each pupils in keeping with his abilities, interests, and

needs.

Rollins made a descriptive survey of the reading-readiness

program of the first grades in the public schools of Wichita Falls,

Texas. ^ The individual first-grade children were studied through

S Tommie Jean Dobie Bothwell, "A Study of the Heading-readiness Program in the Elementary Schools of Collin County to Determine the Extent to Which It Is Planned to Meet Present Educational Theory, " unpublished master's thesis, School of Education, North Texas State College, August, 1950. ^Norma Edith Rollins, "A Descriptive Survey of the Reading - readiness Program of the First Grades in Wichita Falls, Texas, Dur- ing 1940-1941, " unpublished Master's thesis, School of Education, North Texas State College, August, 1941. 8 observation, conferences with pupils and parents, readiness tests, reports and records, knowledge of home background, and conferences with teachers. An effort was made to enlist the interest and co-operation of the parents throughout all of the Parent-Teacher Associations, and also by means of encouraging parents's visits to the schools, having conferences with parents, and conducting home visits. Physio- logical readiness to read was developed through providing for individual needs, daily health routines, recreational activities, manipulative materials and equipment, and observations and discussions.

The reading-readiness program developed for the first grades of Wichita Falls was based on the concept of education as child growth, with provisions for the intellectual, social-emotional, and physical factors. However, the large number of pupils failing to meet national norms on achievement tests indicated that individual needs and interests were not adequately provided for. Activities were planned to conform to the criteria established in the study for a reading-readiness program; but the evidence indicated that the interest and co- operation of the home, and an intimate knowledge of the abilities, interests, personality, and needs of each child were met less adequately than were the other criteria considered in the study. Purpose of the Study

The purpose of this study, as previously implied, was to make a survey ©f the reading interests ©I the student body of the high school in Nocona, Texas* and to compare these reading interests with those of high school students in a few other typical and comparable school systems of Texas. It was hoped that this comparison would indicate whether the reading interests of the students in Nocona were in line with those of other high schools in other sections of the state, or whether there might be wide differences in reading interests in different localities within Texas.

Sources of Data

Sources of data were both documentary and personal. The documentary sources consisted of books and articles dealing with the subject of reading interests in general, with special emphasis upon the reading interests of high school students.

The personal or human sources of data included the students enrolled in the high school of Nocona, Texas, who supplied information by means of questionnaires and observation; and students enrolled in nine other comparable high schools in other sections of Texas who likewise supplied information by means of questionnaires sent to these schools by the writer. 10

JLitn itations

This study was limited to a survey of the reading interests of students enrolled in the Nocisna. High School in the 1954-1955 session, and to those of the student bodies of nine other comparable Texas high schools* selected more or less at random by the writer. Comparisons were made of the reading interests of the different groups of students to determine whether or not those of the Nocona students were similar to or different from those of high school students in other sections of

Texas.

Originally, it was intended to include all classifications of high school students—freshmen, sophomores, juniors, and seniors—but, for reasons that will be explained in Chapter 11, the collected and compiled data were of such a nature that only the junior and senior students were included in the study in its final and present form.

Method of Procedure

The method of procedure utilised in this study was simple and direct. After wide reading was done in the field of the reading interests of high school students, a questionnaire was formulated, whose purpose was to be that of obtaining the desired information from the students concerning their reading interests.

7 A copy of the questionnaire appears in the appendix. 11

While in the process of collecting this information, the writer proceeded to write the section of the study dealing with the reading interests of high school students as indicated by related literature.

Then, when the returns from the questionnaires had been received, they were organized and tabulated, in preparation for the writing of the discussion of the data, which was then completed. Finally, came the drawing of conclusions apparently warranted by the study, relating to the reading interests of high school students—both of Mocona and of other comparable high schools in Texas.

Reading Interests, Based upon Literature

There is considerable concern on the part of parents and teachers to the effect that radio, television, motion pictures, the automobile, the increasing demands made upon young people by their social affairs, and many other factors will cause children and young people to neglect the pleasures of the commonplace, unglamorous printed page.

Apparently, though, such is not the case. Frank has asked the question, "Are children in this television age reading at all?" and, after considerable study and research, has proceeded to answer it by assert- ing that they certainly do read. In spite of all the demands and allurements that take the time of youth, they still read, and are reading even more prolifically than in the past. As an excellent motion-picture version of a book will attract many new readers to that book, so radio, 12 television, the movies, and the other attractions mentioned above appear to serve as incentives for reading. * Thus it may be that the many other interests of young people in these days, besides the printed page, are serving to supplement reading experiences and, in turn, to send youthful readers back to the printed page is search of additional information, adventure, and pleasure.

Students of the subject have found that, ordinarily, by the age of fifteen, the reading interests of both boys and girls are more or less definitely formed. As revealed by various studies, boys often express preferences for newspapers and current events, for accounts of sports, and for materials dealing with vocational activities. JLike girls, boys read a great deal of fiction, much of which is sensational or portrays impossible situations. Other types of literature popular with girls are poetry, biography, and humor. Since few girls' magazines are published, young women usually read adult magazines, with women's 2 magazines being most popular, followed by all-fiction magazines. It has been said that "the reading interests of high school boys and girls reflect sharply the marked differences in time in the emotional matura- tion of the sexes. While girls read eagerly of love and boy and girl

*Josette Frank, Your Child's Reading Today, pp. 17-19.

2 William S. Gray and Ruth Munroe, The Reading Interests and Habits of Adults, p. 110. 13 relationships, beys usually will not be caught dead reading ro- i.3 mances. "

Boys want adventure, sports, and science fiction, while girls tend to ask for family, school, career, and love stories. All librarians know that the girls will read the boys' books, but nothing can make the boys at this age take an interest in the girls' stories. This, too, is the age when so many outside interests begin to pile up in the child's day, and he finds it difficult to save time for books. He will probably read much less, but it is not necessary for him to stop reading altogether. Many of his new interests can be greatly enhanced by books: nature lore, mechanical skills, arts and crafts, theater and drama, cooking, sewing, dancing, to mention only a few. 4

It is impossible, of course, to set up a rigid pattern of reading interests and declare arbitrarily that all boys and all girls will ad- here to that pattern. Such a plan can only reflect trends in reading interests, and may not fit the situation with particular individuals at all. In reading, as in everything else, individual differences of various types are highly significant in determining what the individual boy

or girl will choose for reading when he has some free time. It has been found that members of a class or school are influenced to vary-

ing degrees by a number of factors which determine the amount of enjoyment they derive from literary selections, and the books and stories they will decide to read for pleasure. These and other factors may

Margaret Walraven, "Trends in Children's Books—Young People, " Texas Library Journal, XXVI (September, 1950), 114. 4 Margaret JS. Martignoni, "Bringing Books and Children Together in the Library," Wilson Library Bulletin, XXV11I (October, 1953), 180. 14 also have a strong bearing upon the sense of enjoyment, or absence of it, with relation t© the literary selections which are assigned for class or individual study. Among these determining factors are the following:

1. Sex.

2. Age or degree of maturity.

3. Intelligence.

4. Special interests, such as adventure, humor, romance, and so on.

5. Classroom situations.

6. Teaching methods used. 5 7. Community influences and standards.

Too often these factors are not recognized by teachers and librarians, who are sometimes prone to assume that all boys and girls of a given age should enjoy the same literary diet. This, of course, is a ridicu- lous assumption, when one considers that individuals are character, issed by their own interests, needs, abilities, and conditioning environment, and, therefore, cannot be expected to fit any preconceived pattern, in reading or in anything else. For voluntary reading, the child should be largely free to make his own selections of what he will

5 George W. Nervell, The Reading Interests of Young People, p. 14. IS read, with intelligent guidance on the part of teachers, librarians, and parents, in an effort to see that he makes wholesome and worth-while choices. It is interesting to note the choices that individuals make, and to try to reach some conclusion as to why they choose as they do.

In most cases, of course, there will be a tendency for most of the individuals in a like group to read the same hooks or stories, for these will be freely discussed among themselves, and interest will be aroused; but, on the other hand, there will be some deviations from this trend—to the extent that it will be impossible to say that the group is noticeably conforming to a definite pattern with relation to voluntary reading tastes. Apart from the incentive that "everyone is reading that, " there is also the question of individual interests, needs, and abilities, which influence to some degree the choice of reading matter.

In the past, as Carlsen has pointed out, reading interests have almost always been classified in accordance with something found in the book, such as mystery, adventure, family life, and animals. In general, investigators in the field of reading interests have asked,

"What are the areas of content that interest young people in books ?"

Now, after numerous investigations into the matter of reading choices of young people, educators and investigators are in a position where they may well inquire: "What is there in young people that makes them 16

6 choose certain kinds of content at this particular period of their lives?"

Thus the approach may he changed from the content of the book to the nature of the individual as a source of enlightenment as to why boys and girls select for voluntary reading the books and stories which they choose. This is the same essential transfer of purpose which has oc- curred throughout the entire field of education in recent years: for- merly the emphasis was upon the teaching of a subject matter—-now it is upon the teaching of the child. Thus, in the matter of reading interests, the stress is no longer upon what there is in the book which causes the boy or girl to decide to read it, but, rather, what is there in the boy or girl which causes him to select for his free reading the books that he does select? This is a question, of course, which is difficult tc answer; and the answer will vary with individuals.

There are, however, certain basic needs and characteristics which are more or less common to all individuals. For instance, there is the almost universal desire on the part of young people for action, excitement, adventure, and fun. This desire, in its various manifestations, is a basic need. It shows up in young people's choices of movies, of radio and television programs, of comic books, and in their leisure-time reading. That fact should be recognized. With many boys and girls, the trouble has been that they have not found these

6 G. R. Carlsen, "Behind Reading Interests, " English Journal, XL.III (January, 1954), 7. 17 basic ingredients is the books which they have run across. So, they have looked elsewhere for action and excitement—sometimes in highly 7 questionable places and from unwholesome sources.

What do children seem to want from books? Some of the ingredients for which they search in their reading have already been mentioned—action, excitement, adventure, fun, romance. It is the belief of many authorities in the field that almost any child can be interested in books if the key to his general interests can be found. If it can be discovered that what he most likes is to picture himself in situations which call upon him for daring adventure and bravery, he usually can be readily led to read many books which deal with adventure in many different situations. Thus, though he may not possess any real initial interest in reading, through reading these stories, whether true or fictional, he can put himself vicariously into the position of the hero and thus have his desires satisfied, his needs met.

It is unwise to say, however, that almost any child can be made into a steady and omnivorous reader, or that he can be expected to be a reader at any particular age. There are many elements involved here, including the now universally accepted fact that each child develops at his own particular rate of speed and comprehension. But even the very young child can become interested in books long before he learns

^Paul Witty, Helping Children Read Better, pp. 31-32. 18 to read, and this interest can be fostered and kept lively throughout all of his various stages of development, including the times when he seems to be unable to sit still long enough to read a single page of print. All the child needs, ordinarily, is printed matter that matches his current interests and needs, and those interests and needs may vary from one child to another or from one age to another in the same child, B to include just about everything in the universe.

One of the principal reasons why children today are doing i more reading than ever before, in spite of many other attractions and interests and demands upon their time, is that some of the modern media of communication actually bring the whole world into their homes.

Thus, their interests are aroused, and they may be encouraged and stimulated to do certain types of reading which they otherwise would never have thought of doing. The following rather lengthy quotation from

Frank presents a vivid account of how boys and girls are stimulated to read by the modern devices of communication which broaden their en- vironments to include the whole world: Books, newspapers, magazines, television, and radio bring the world into their homes. They are aware of things that in an earlier day were not even thought of until they were in college. Today, long before their age and training make them ready for higher education, the arts and sciences are there for the taking, in pictures and stories. Political campaigns are suddenly intelligible to

^Martignoni, op. cit., p. 179. 19

ten-year-olds. With, the turn of a dial or the riffling ©f a picture magazine they may have glimpses of far-reach- ing international problems or scientific researches, and of the men aad worn en who are grappling with them. Per- haps they never would have known what an East Indian looked like, but now the United Nations delegate from India appears on their television screen and speaks to them in excellent English. The baseball hero comes to talk to them. So does the President of the United States. The people in our news are real to our boys and girls.. Children today are great readers of newspapers and current periodicals. They may ©pen the family newspaper to the comics page first, but they read the news, too. Aad even the comics give them a wide glimpse of the world, not only present, but past and also future. The atomic bomb appeared in a comic strip before it was ever dropped on Hiroshima. It is no accident that the fantasies of science fiction anticipate scientific fact. Our children today play on the shores of inter-stellar space; they will be quite at home in a world in which peo~ pie journey to Mars. What we have, then, is not a challenge to reading. It is, rather, a stimulus toward it. In this day in which pictures and voices animate the printed word, we have an opportunity to develop better-educated, better-informed, increasingly cultured citizens, and more of them than was ever possible in times past. There is a new public for books, and this public includes children. ^

Perhaps, in concluding this brief general discussion of the reading interests of high school boys and girls, it will be worth-while to note a few general facts concerning the reading preferences and interests of these young people. These facts may be summarized in the following manner:

1. The most striking fact about children's preferences in reading is that they vary widely at each age and grade level.

9 Frank, op. cit., pp. 19-20. 20

2. Children read, more fiction than anything else, and enjoy it more,

3. Children and young people do not read informational books widely, although more of this type of literature is being read now than in previous years.

4. Almost all children prefer prose to poetry; in fact, many young people have a pronounced aversion to poetry. This is true, especially, of adolescent boys.

5. Up to the age of eight or nine years there appear to be few differences in the reading interests of boys and girls. Between the ages of ten and thirteen years, however, notable differences appear in the reading interests of the two sexes.

6. The period from twelve to fifteen years is a critical one in the development of reading habits and interests. It is a period of rapid physical development, and of new and varied interests of many types. It is natural that children in this age range should delve into any type of reading that will satisfy their dominant interests and curiosities. Thus there is a real danger that their choices of reading matter may be unwholesome and detrimental.

7. Notable differences in the reading interests of children of different levels of mental ability have been reported by several investigations. 21

8. The amount and character of the material read varies to a considerable degree with achievement in reading, as measured by reading tests or by other scientific means.

Organization of the Study

This report of the present study has been organised into the three chapters outlined as follows:

Chapter 1 presents an introduction to the study, including the problem and purpose of the study, related research, sources of data, limitations of the study, method of procedure, a brief survey of literature in the field of reading interests of young people, and the organization of the study.

Chapter II is based upon the findings derived from the questionnaire submitted to the students of the Nocona High School and of nine other comparable Texas high schools, and contains tabulations of data and discussions of findings.

Chapter III presents a summary of the study, together with conclusions and recommendations which appeared to be warranted by the findings of the study.

*®Gray and Munroe, og. cit., pp. 105-107. CHAPTER II

READING INTERESTS OF JUNIOR AND SENIOR

STUDENTS OF THE NOCONA HIGH SCHOOL

COMPARED WITH THOSE OF JUNIOR AND

SENIOR STUDENTS IN NINE OTHER

TEXAS HIGH SCHOOLS

The purpose of this chapter is to present, in a series of twenty- five tables, the detailed data received from the questionnaires which were distributed in ten Texas high schools for the purpose of collecting information concerning the reading interests of the students.

Originally, the study sought to utilize these data from freshman, sophomore, junior, and senior students in the selected schools, but when the responses were received, it was discovered that three schools had not supplied information for the freshman and sophomore groups. At the same time, the questionnaires which were received from these groups in other schools were so incomplete and fragmentary that it was decided to limit the tabulated data to junior and senior students. Even with these higher classification groups, much of the information was fragmentary and incomplete, though less so than was that supplied by freshmen and sophomores.

22 23

As stated previously, the general purpose of this study was to compare the reading interests of the students in the Nocona High

School, Nocona, Texas, with those of students in nine other Texas high schools of comparable size. It was believed that, by following this procedure, more valid comparisons could be made than if data were collected from Nocona alone, or from Nocona and only a few other high schools. When the sources of data are increased in number, the likelihood of obtaining a better understanding of the reading interests of students is enhanced. This fact is brought out in the following ex- cerpt from Norvell's work on the reading interests of young people:

. . . Assuming an equal number of pupils in each instance, when data relating to children's reading preferences are gathered from a single school, the resulting interest scores will be closer to the true scores for children in general if the data are gathered from several teachers's classea rather than from one. Conditions otherwise being equal, scores for children's reading preferences also will be closer to the true scores for children in general when gathered from several schools rather than from one school only. Further, gener- ally we must expect data on children's reading preferences secured in a single school or by a single teacher to be skewed by the special influences of the community, the school, and the teacher, regardless of the number of pupil reports assembled.

The returned questionnaires did not indicate what percentages of the junior and senior students in the various schools are represented by the data presented in this chapter, although three librarians indicated

1 George W. Nor veil, The Reading Interests of Young People, p. 18. 24 that the questionnaires had been administered at a time when large

numbers of the students were occupied in other school activities and were not available for the testing. Most of the librarians, however,

to whom the questionnaires were sent for distribution, merely returned

them without comment.

The writer was not guided by any particular criterion in selecting

the schools to be asked to participate in the study. In some instances,

she selected the schools because she was personally acquainted with

the librarians and felt that she could enlist their co-operation. The

schools participating in the study, together with the number of junior

and senior students in each school who supplied data, are listed in

Table I.

TABLE I

NUMBER OF JUNIOR AND SENIOR STUDENTS FROM THE RESPECTIVE TEXAS HIGH SCHOOLS WHO PARTICIPATED IN THE STUDY

School Number of Students

Nocona High School . 86 Electra High School . 125 Memphis High School 63 Mineral Wells High School 133 Northwest High School, Justin 83 Post High School 43 St. Jo High School . 36 Tulia High School 114 Webster High School 97 Whitesboro High School 51

Total 836 25

Thus, a total of 836 junior and senior students in the ten Texas

high schools supplied information for this study.

In the tables that follow, the data for the tent schools are presented

in the same order as that given in Table I, with Nocona appearing first

and the other schools following in alphabetical sequence.

Time Spent in Outside Reading

Table II presents information on the approximate number of

hours spent each week in outside reading by the junior and senior boys

and girls included in the study. No effort was made on the question-

naire to define "outside reading. " Although the writer had in mind

that this term referred to the reading that was done for pleasure and

recreation in the students1 leisure time, there is no assurance that all

of the students interpreted the term in this manner. In view of the fact

that a number of students reported doing as much as thirty or forty hours of outside reading each week indicated to the writer that they may have been including all of their studying outside of school as well as their recreational reading. This, however, could not be determined.

In virtually all of the schools, the largest concentration of students appeared in the categories of from one to six hours of outside reading per week. This was true of Nocona as well as of the other schools. There appeared to be a slight tendency for the junior students 26 to do more outside reading than the seniors. At the same time, the girls in both classification groups did more outside reading than did the boys.

Somewhat surprisingly, in some of the schools there were students who did not report any outside reading at all; in fact, they de- clared that they did none. In Electra High School, lour junior boys and one senior boy and one senior girl stated that they did no outside reading whatsoever. In the same schools, four junior boys did less than one hour per week.

One junior boy in the Tulia High School did no outside reading at all; and one junior boy, four senior boys, and one senior girl in the

Whitesboro High School indicated that they did no outside reading.

To counteract this lack oi reading on the part of the students, all of the schools except Memphis High School had two or more students who did outside reading at the rate of an average of fifteen hours or more each week. In Nocona, one boy stated that he spent from twenty to twenty-five hours each week in outside reading. He was a senior student. In Electra, ten students indicated that they did fifteen hours or more of outside reading each week, ranging from sixteen to forty- eight hours, with the most frequent number being from twenty to twenty - five hours. In Mineral Wells, a senior boy and a senior girl read, respectively, an average of eighteen and twenty-four hours each week.

In the Northwest High School, Justin, eleven students reported doing 27 from eighteen to thirty hours ol outside reading each week. In Post, a senior girl reported doing an average of twenty-four hours of outside reading each week, la the St. Jo High School, one of the two students reading more than fifteen hours each week—the boy—said that he read from twenty to thirty hours each week; whereas the girl reported reading twenty-five hours each week. In Tulift, each of two senior girls reported averaging twenty hours of outside reading each week.

In Whitesboro, there were eleven students who read fifteen or more hours each week, but none of them indicated their length of reading time beyond the fifteen-hour mark.

TABUE II

TIME SPENT IN OUTSIDE READING PER WEEK BY JUNIOR AND SENIOR BOYS AND GIRJLS IN TEN TEXAS HIGH SCHOOLS

Junior Senior Question

Boys Girls Boys Girls

Nocona High School

Approximately how many hours of outside reading do you do each week? None Less than I 2 1 1 1-2 6 7 3 4 3-4 4 6 4 1 28

TABLiE II—Continued

Junior Senior Question Boys Girls Boys Girls

5-6 8 5 ' 7 4 7-8 4 3 1 9-10 4 4 11-12 1 13-14 15 or more 1 1

Electra H igh School

Approximately- how many hoars of outside reading do you do each week? None 4 1 1 Less than 1 4 1-2 16 8 1 2 3-4 7 9 7 6 5-6 2 11 2 4 7-8 7 9 9-10 2 3 11-12 1 2 2 13-14 1 1 15 or more 2 6 1 1 29

TABLE II—Continued

Junior Senior Question Boys Girls Boys Girls

Memphis High School

Approximately how many hours of outside reading do you do each week ? None .Less than 1 1-2 3 2 7 8 3-4 5 8 8 3 5-6 5 3 3 7-8 3 1 9-10 3 1 11-12 1 13-14 15 or more

Mineral Wells High School

Approximately how many hours of outside reading do you do each week? None Less than 1 1-2 13 4 3 5 3-4 14 7 7 5 5-6 11 8 3 6 7-8 4 6 3 3 9-10 8 4 1 11-12 3 1 1 1 13-14 i 2 15 or more 1 2 1 1 30

TABLE II—Continued

Junior Senior Question

Boys Girls Boys Girls

Northwest High School , Justin

Approximately how many hours of outside reading do you do each week? None Less than 1 1 1 1-2 8 3 6 3-4 7 6 6 5 5-6 3 2 4 2 7-8 2 2 4 9-10 1 3 11-12 1 1 1 13-14 1 1 1 15 or more 1 5 5

Post High School

Approximately how many hours oi outside reading do you do each week? None Less than 1 1-2 7 1 3-4 3 2 2 5-6 3 1 1 5 7-8 2 6 9-10 1 1 3 11-12 1 1 13-14 1 1 15 or more 1 31

TABLE II—Continued

Junior Senior Question Boys Girls Boys Girls

St. Jo High School

Approximately how many hours of outside reading do you do each week? None .Less than 1 1-2 1 1 3-4 3 2 3 5-6 2 3 3 7-8 2 2 1 1 9-10 2 1 11-12 1 1 1 13-14 1 15 or more 1 2

Tulia High School

Approximate ly how many hours of outside reading do you do each week? None 1 Less than 1 1 1-2 6 1 7 3 3-4 5 13 5 8 5-6 3 9 13 4 7-8 3 2 7 5 9-10 2 3 2 2 11-12 1 1 1 13-14 1 15 or more 1 2 32

TABLE II—Continued

Junior Senior Question

Boys Girls Boys Girls

Webster High School

Approximately how many hours of outside reading do you do each week? None 1 4 1 Less than 1 3 2 1-2 2 2 3 5 3-4 2 5 5 3 5-6 4 3 5 7-8 2 4 5 4 9-10 2 7 11-12 2 1 2 13-14 2 15 ot more

White sboro High School

Approximately how many hours of outside reading do you do each week? None Less than 1 1 1-2 1 3 3-4 2 I 2 5-6 1 6 7-8 2 3 1 9-10 2 4 4 11-12 1 2 3 13-14 1 15 or more 1 5 2 3 33

Favorite Types of Reading

Table 1X1 indicates the favorite types of reading reported by those students who answered this item in the questionnaire. There were many who did not indicate any favorite type of reading material. The four types of literature included in the questionnaire to be checked were novels, short stories, humor, and current events.

An examination of the data reveals that, in the main, novels tended to be the most popular form of literature among the students of all schools included in the study. There are a few individual exceptions to this trend in the sex groups, since girls tended to like novels more than did boys; but when the total number of students from an individual school are considered, novels rank first in all instances — sometimes far in advance of the three other types of reading material listed.

Among the girls of all schools, short stories were much more popular than humor, but among the boys the two were very close in popularity, in some instances with short stories being in the lead and sometimes with humor being more popular. In all schools, in both sex groups, and in both classification groups, current events were the least popular type of reading listed. The reading of current events was somewhat more popular among boys than among girls in all schools. 34

In the main, then, it can be said that students preferred to read novels, then short stories, then humor, and finally, current events.

TABLE III

FAVORITE KINDS OF READING REPORTED BY JUNIOR AND SENIOR BOYS AND GIRLS IN TEN TEXAS HIGH SCHOOLS

Junior Senior Question Boys Girls Boys Girls

Nocona Hi gh Sch ool

What is your favorite type of reading ? Novels 14 16 4 7 Short stories 7 9 6 4 Humor 7 8 2 3 Current events 9 I 3

Ele ctra Nigh School

What is your favorite kind of reading ? Novels 6 33 6 15 Short stories 13 11 3 11 Humor 15 9 3 1 Current events 4 5 3 3 35

TABLE III—Continued

Junior Senior Question Boys Girls Boys Girls

Memphis High School

What is your favorite kind of reading ? Novels 3 8 4 1 Short stories 5 7 10 8 Humor 3 2 2 3 Current events 3 1 5

Mineral Wells High Sc ho ol

What is your favorite kind of reading? Novels 16 18 10 18 Short stories 14 9 1 4 Humor 15 2 2 2 Current events 11 2 4 3

Northwest High School, Justin

What is your favorite kind of reading ? Novels 4 12 7 11 Short stories 6 5 3 5 Humor 7 4 2 5 Current events 4 1 8 2 36

TABLE III—Continued

Junior Senior Question

Boys Girls Boys Girls

Post High School

What is your favorite kind of reading ? Novels 13 4 3 18 Short stories 2 1 Humor 4 1 1 2 Gurrent events

St. Jo High School

What is your favorite kind of reading ? Novels 5 9 5 1 Short stories 1 3 1 Humor 3 1 Current events 3 3

Tulia High School

What is your favorite kind of reading ? Novels 9 23 16 21 Short stories 8 1 11 1 Humor 4 4 5 2 Current events 4 1 8 1 37

TABLE III—Continued

Junior Senior Question

Boys Girls Boys Girls

Webster High School

What is your favorite kind of reading ? Novels 11 19 9 16 Short stories 7 10 11 2 Humor 6 7 5 5 Current events 3 6 2 1

Whitesboro High School

What is your favorite kind of reading ? Novels 1 7 6 11 Short stories 3 6 3 Humor 2 3 2 Current events 2 6

Membership in Book Clubs

Table IV presents data obtained from the questionnaires as to the students' membership in book clubs. It is apparent from a glance at the tabulations that only a comparatively small number of students were members in these clubs. Three schools—Electra, Northwest

High School, and St. Jo—had only one member of a book club in each 38 school, whereas all of the other schools had from two members (Mem- phis) t© twenty-seven members (Tulia). The situation in the Tulia

High School is not a comparable number, however, since all but five of the twenty-seven students indicated membership in the Tulia City library Club. Apparently, this is a local club which facilitates the use of the public library by students of the public schools, and is not in any sense a commercial book club through which purchases of books are made. The questionnaire was at fault at this point in not specifying the type of book club that was meant by the question.

Discounting the large book club membership in the Tulia High

School for the reason indicated above, the data indicate that the Web- ster High School had the largest membership in book clubs of any of the schools—a total of fifteen, distributed as follows: three junior boys, four junior girls, three senior boys, and five senior girls.

Mineral Wells High School was second with ten members of book clubs

—five junior boys, two senior boys, and three senior girls. Nocona

High School was third in book club membership, with a total of eight students—four junior boys, three junior girls, and one senior boy.

The book clubs in which membership was most frequently held were the Book-of-the-Month Club, the Literary Guild ©f America, and the Doubleday Dollar Book Club.

The data in Table IV indicate that, as a source of reading materials for recreational reading, membership in commercial book 39

clubs is of little importance as a source of reading matter among this

group of junior and senior students in ten Texas high schools.

TABLE IV

MEMBERSHIP IN BOOK CLUBS REPORTED BY JUNIOR AND SENIOR BOYS AND GIRLS IN TEN TEXAS HIGH SCHOOLS

Junior Senior Question

Boys Girls Boys Girls

Nocona High School

Are you a member of a book club ? Yes 4 3 1 No 26 23 15 13

Electra High School

Are you a member of a book club? Yes 1 No 36 47 13 28

Memphis High Sch lOOl

Are you a member of a book club? Yes 2 No 15 15 19 11 40

TABLE IV—Continued

Junior Senior Question Boys Girls Boys Girls

Mineral Wells High School

Are you a member ol a book club? Yes 5 2 3 No 49 32 18 20

Northwest High School, Justin

Are you a member of a book club? Yes 1 No 20 19 21 21

Post High School

Are you a member ol a book club? Yes 3 No 17 6 3 17

St. Jo High School

Are you a member of a book club? Yes 1 No 10 10 10 2 41

TABLE IV—Continued

Junior Senior Question Boys Girls Boys Girls

T ulia High Sc hool

Are you a member of a book club? Yes 6 13 3 5 No 14 17 34 20

Webster High School

Are you a member of a book club? Yes 3 4 3 5 No 18 25 19 16

Whitesboro High School I

Are you a member of a book club? Yes 4 No 4 11 20 12 42

Favorite Books of Fiction

Table V indicates the students" favorite books of fiction. Many of the students, both juniors and seniors, did not list any favorite fic-

tion.

One apparent tendency noticeable at once in the table is that, for

the most part, the books read by juniors were not the ones read by

seniors. Each class had its own favorites, with some overlapping, of

course. Also, each sex had its favorites, and there were relatively few books that were favorites of both boys and girls in either the junior

or senior class.

The books preferred by the girls tended to be those dealing with

romance or with girls of an age comparable to that of the students in-

cluded in this study. Boys, on the other hand, tended to prefer books

of adventure and those concerning animals and "hot rods. "

The wide choice of favorite fiction books indicates that virtually

every student had his own favorite book or books. This does not

necessarily mean that favorites were chosen from a wide and selec-

tive list of readings, but the favorites named may, in many instances,

have been the most recent book read by the students. As will be

brought out in a later tabulation, most of the students had read com-

paratively few books within the two months preceding the time when

they filled out the questionnaire. For this reason, they were unable to 43 select their favorite titles from a wide range of reading. This fact accounts, in part, for the large number of different titles listed as favorites, most of them being listed by only one or two students.

Among so many titles listed as favorites it is extremely difficult to make generalizations. It becomes apparent, however, that the most frequently recurring titles in the lists are Gone with the Wind,

The Black Stallion, The Call of the Wild, White Fang, Tom Sawyer,

Huckleberry Finn, Paintbox Summer, and the novels of Lloyd C.

Douglas, especially The Robe, Magnificent Obsession, Forgive Us Our

Trespasses, Invitation to Life, White Banners, Green Light, and The

Big Fisherman* II iMMiiriw m niiwftwwiiiiwwwwwiiwiiwiwr'

TABLE V

FAVORITE FICTION BOOKS REPORTED BY JUNIOR AND SENIOR BOYS AND GIRLS IN TEN TEXAS HIGH SCHOOLS

Junior Senior Question Boys Girls Boys Girls

Nocona Hi .gh School -

What is your favorite fiction book? Gridiron Courage 1 Big Red 1 The Lost Eleven 2 The Rainbow Trail 2 They Loved to Laugh 2 '44

TABLE V—Continued

Junior Senior Question

Boys Girls Boys Girls

Debbie Jones I 1, the Jury- 3 Yea, Wildcats f 1 River of the Wolves 1 The Last of the Mohicans 1 Kidnapped 1 Nevada 1 Civil War Stories i 1 Sight Cousins I On the Slaked Plains 1 Spell of the White Sturgeon 1 Dusty 1 Secret Sea 1 Street Rod 4 4 Gone with the Wind 2 1 The Last General 1 Magnificent Obsession 1 Jane Eyre 1 Poetry of Longfellow 1 White Fang 1 Through These Fires 1 1 Going on Sixteen 1 The Sun Is My Undoing 1 All-American 1 Fighting Fire 1 Lassie, Come Home 1 Alice of Old Vincennes 1 Rebecca 1 The Iron Mistress 1 Hot Rod 1 One Lonely Night 1 Little Women 2 1 The Song of Ruth 1 White Feather 1 45

TABLE V—Continued

Junior Senior Question

Boys Girls Boys Girls

Scorpion 1 The Black Stallion 2 Kiss Me Deadly I God's Country 2 Sunshine and Shadow 1 The Four Feathers 1 Green Grass of Wyoming 1 The Hunted Woman 1 Alaskan Tales I Back Board Magic 1 Tom Sawyer 2 The Rolling Tears 2 Second Season Jinx 1 The Robe 1

Electra High School

What is your favorite fiction book? I, the Jury 2 Gown of Glory 1 The Scarlet Letter 2 1 Magnificent Obsession 3 7 Forgive Us Our Trespasses 2 A Cap for Mary Ellis 1 The Bishop's Mantle 1 The Big Fisherman 1 Tara's Healing 2 A Book for Girls 1 The Rolling Years 6 Day Must Dawn 1 1 The Mystery of Lost Valley 1 Dr. Jekyl and Mr. Hyde 1 46

TABLE V—Continued

Junior Senior Question Boys Girls Boys Girls

The Call of the Wild 1 Elmer Gantry 1 The Fighting Five 1 Milestone 1 Main Street 1 Gone with the Wind 3 5 Indian Fur 3 Sandy 1 Sancho 1 White Fang 2 1 Two-Three Pitch 1 The Robe 2 1 The Ha wits of Drowning Creek 1 She's My Girl 1 Beany and the Beckoning Rod 1 Spring Comes Riding 1 April Gold 1 Class Ring 1 1 Thunder Road 1 The Beloved Stranger 1 20, 000 .Leagues under the Sea 1 Hold That Line! 1 Huckleberry Finn 1 1 Shane 1 1 Practically Seventeen 2 Seventeen 1 1 Destination—Moon 1 Girl of the JLimberlost 2 The Return of the Native 1 Jane Eyre 1 The Human Comedy 2 Tom Sawyer 1 Wait for March 1 The Good Earth 1 47

TABLE V—Continued

Junior Senior Question Boys Girls Boys Girls

Vanity Fair 1 The High and the Mighty 1 The Odyssey 1 Space Cadet 1 A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court 1 David Copperfield 1 Wolf King 1 1 Green Light 1 Little Women 1 The Yellow Room 1 Green Dolphin Street 1

Memphis High School

What is your favorite fiction book ?

The Prophet 1 'The President's Lady 1 Jubilee Trail 1 Human Character 1 Rainbow at Dusk 1 Almost All of Them 1 Lost Horizon 1 Going Steady 1 Smoky 1 Gone with the Wind 1 3 The Beerslayer 1 Hope of Earth 2 Giants in the Earth 1 Northwest Passage 1 Peony 1 Adventure Stories 1 40

TABLE V—Continued

Junior Senior Question Boys Girls Boys Girls

Hold Back the Night 1 Captain from Castille 1 The Yotrn^ Forester 1 The Robe 1 20, 000 Leagues under the Sea 1 Tom Sawyer 1 1 A Girl Called Hank 1 George Washington Carver 1 Magnificent Obsession 1 Green Grass of Wyoming 1

Mineral Wells High School

What is your favorite fiction book ?

The Good Earth 1 Main Street 1 The Hobe 3 3 4 Desiree 1 Call of the Wild 1 1 The Shining Trail 1 Spring Came on Forever 1 Show Boat 1 Rarnona 2 1 The Black Arrow 1 Magnificent Obsession 2 1 By Valour and Arms 1 The Purple Tide 1 Seventeen 1 The Citadel 1 Green Light 1 49

TABLE V—Continued

Junior Senior Question Boys Girls Boys Girls

The Black Rose 1 By Strange Paths 1 Seventeenth Summer 1 1 Arrows mith 1 The Virginian 1 Mrs. Mike . 3 1 Football Coach 1 Anna Karenina 2 Invitation to live 1 1 Giant 1 In His Steps 1 Give Me One Summer 1 Cimarron 1 Men ol Iron 1 Home Place 1 The Silver Chalice 1 1 Quest in the Desert 1 Kiss Me, Daddy 1 Lassie, Come Home 1 Night of Decision 1 Gone with the Wind 2 Down the Big River 1 r- The Day Must Dawn 3 The Kid from Tomkinsville 1 Roommates 1 Tom Sawyer 2 The Captain from Caetille 1 The Count of Monte Cristo 1 Flame 1 The House of the Seven Gables 1 Sixteen 1 Rebecca 1 I, the Jury 1 Six Weeks in March 1 50

TABLE V—Continued

• Junior Senior Question Boys Girls Boys Girls

The Caine Mutiny- 3 Gown of Glory 1 White Fang 2 Forest Ranger 1 Lumberjack 1 The Yearling 1 Inside Tackle 1 Sorak of the Malay- Jungle 1 Black Stallion 1 20, 000 Leagues under the Sea 1 Wild Dog 1 Boy with a Pack 1 ' Skipper, the Guide Dog 1 The Black Buccaneer 1 The Long Wait 3 The Big Fisherman 1 The High and the Mighty I Disputed Passage 1 Star-Spangled Summer 1 Prince of Foxes 1 The Scarlet Letter 1 Les Miserables 1 Wake of the Bed Witch 1

Northwest High School, Justin

What is your favorite fiction hook?

Class Ring 1 1 The Women in White 1 Hot Rod 4 1 The Call of the Wild 2 51

TABLE V —Continued

Junior Senior Question Boys Girls Boys Girls

Gone with the Wind 2 4 4 Girl of the Limberlost 1 Thunderhead 1 Just Jennifer 1 Huckleberry Finn 2 1 Midnight 1 Janice Meredith 1 A Girl to Come Home to i 1 Ramona I Green Dolphin Street I The Black Opal i Seventeen I Little Women 2 1 Through Forest and Stream 1 A Tale of Two Cities 1 1 Leave Her to Heaven 1 1 Drums along the Mohawk 1 Magnificent Obsession 4 Tom Sawyer 3 Twin Sombreros 1 Shepherd of the Hills 1 Robinson Crusoe 1 Hidden Flower 1 Scaramouche 1 Seventeenth Summer 1 Forest Patrol 1 Blackboard Magic 1 Mutiny on the Bounty 1 The Lucky Men 1 Ministry of Fear 1 Betty Zane 1 The Kid from Tomkinsville 1 Wild Herd 1 52

TABLE V—Continued

Junior Senior Question

Boys Girls Boys Girls

From Here to Eternity 1 Big Red 1 A Lantern in Her Hand 1

Post Hi gh Sch ool

What is your favorite fiction book ?

So Big 1 Hot Rod 4 The Caine Mutiny 1 1 Gond with the Wind 1 5 Rose Bowl All-American 1 Guardian Heart 1 2 The Silver Chalice 1 Draper Gray 1 Street Rod 1 Uncle Tom's Cabin 1 The Black Stallion Returns 1 The Black Rose 1 Girl of the Limberlost 1 This Above All 1 Superintendent of Nurses 1 Mrs. Mike 1 All This and Heaven, Too 1 The Prince and the Pauper 1 The Road Back 1 Rebecca 1 And Both Were Young 1 Red Morning 1 Now That April's Here 1 Dawn's Early Light 1 53

TABLE V—Continued

Junior Senior Question Boys Girls Boys Girls

St. Jo High School

What is your favorite fiction book?

Rebecca 1 Arizona Star 1 The Big Eye 3 •J£ Mice and Men 1 Invitation to Live 1 Pinky 1 The Yearling 1 Wuthering Heights 1 1 The Silver Chalice 1 More Than Conqueror 2 April Gold 1 Gone with the Wind 3 1 2 My Cousin, Rachel 1 The Westerner 1 Mister Roberts 1 The Mysterious Rider 1 The Last; Trail 1 The U. P. Trail 1 Wild Horse Mesa 1 Under the Tonto Rim 1 Wild Fire I

Tulia High School

What is your favorite fiction book?

The Silver Flute 1 The Robe 8 10 10 54

TABUS V—Continued

Junior Senior Question

Boys Girls Boys Girls

A Lantern in Her Hand 4 Magnificent Obsession 1 4 2 1 The Count of Monte Cristo 1 3 Red Badge of Courage 1 Quo Yadis 1 2 2 Lion1 s Paw I Kamooa 4 The Bent Twig 1 Ocean Geld 2 1 The Brother 1 1 3 The Silver Chalice 1 Wuthering Heights 2 Red Rock 2 1 Island Stallion 1 The Big Fisherman 1 1 3 1 Arabian Nights I Invitation to Live 1 The Yearling 1 Black Ivory 1 A Tale of Two Cities 1 1 Black Stallion 1 1 Tom Sawyer 1 Abner Jarvis 1 My Friend Flicka 1 Green Grass of Wyoming 1 Thunderhead 1 Return of the Native 1 1 Crime and Punishment 1 Green Mansions 1 Gone with the Wind 1 1 Jane JEyre 1 Deep Summer I Saracenesca 1 55

TABLE V—Continued

Junior Senior Question Boys Girls Boys Girls

Swiss Family Robinson 1 Oliver Twist 1 The Three Musketeers 1 In His Steps 1 Les Mis arables 1 6 Treasure Island 1 The Old Man and the Sea Keystone Kelly 1 Yellow Hair 1 The Keys of the Kingdom 1 Little Women 1

Webster High, School

What is your favorite fiction book?

Red Heritage 1 The Caine Mutiny 1 4 1 Green Light 1 A Tale of Two Cities 1 A Warrior of the Dawn 1 Northern Summer 1 My Cousin, Rachel 1 Jamaica Inn 1 Jane Eyre 1 The Spider King 1 Meggy Macintosh 1 Desiree 1 The Mystery at Point Laughing Water 1 Frenchman's Creek 1 The Silver Chalice 1 56

TABLE V—Continued

Junior Senior Question Boys Girls Boys Girls

Gone with the Wind 2 5 2 Enemy Brothers 1 The Fire Brand 1 Robinson Crusoe 1 Treasure Island 1 Rebecca 1 Thunderhead 1 Debbie Jones 1 Snow Dag 1 The Robe 1 The Old Man and the Sea 1 The Pilot 1 The Spartan 1 Cedar Boy- 1 Foxes of Harrow 1 3 Boy with a Pack 1 The Black Stallion 1 Until the Dawn 1 Strange Proposal 1 In Tune with Wedding Bells 1 Trails of the West 2 Since You Went Away 1 They Loved to Laugh 1 The Brave Bulls 1 Behold Your Queen 1 Saratoga Trunk 1 Strawberry Girl 1 Tree of Freedom 1 Stars in My Crown 2 The Totem of Black Hawk 2 Seventeenth Summer 1 Joe Panther 1 57

TABLE V—Continued

Junior Senior Question

Boys Girls Boys Girls

The Iran Mistress 1 The Yearling 1 Call of the Wild 1

Whitesboro High S c h o o 1

What is your favorite fiction book?

Seventeenth Summer 2 Mary Donovan 1 Beloved Bondage 1 A Girl Can Dream 1 Love, Laurie 1 Deep Short 1 The Covered Wagon 1 Great Expectations 1 Tom Sawyer 1 5 Black Ebony 1 Caddie Woodlawn 1 Senior Year 1 Vagabonds All 1 The Kid from Tomkinsville 1 1 The Cain© Mut iny 1 Huckleberry Finn The Lone Cowboy 1 Abilene or Bust 1 Rebecca 3 When a Man's a Man 1 Gone with the Wind 1 4 The High Calling 1 Going Steady 1 Drums Along the Mohawk 1 58

TABLE V—Continued

Junior Senior Question

Boys Girls Boys Girls

Arrowsmith 1 John Paul Jones 1 No Survivors 1 Wuthering Heights 1 Naked Spur 1 Class Ring 1 The &obe 1 In the Years of Our Lord 1 The Green Years 1 Immortal Wife 1 The Keystone Kids I Frenchman's Creek 2 The Case of the Perjured Parrot 1 1

Favorite Fiction Writers

The favorite fiction writers named by the junior and senior stu-

dents included in this study were as diverse and varied as were the fa-

vorite fiction books. Table VI presents data relating to favorite fic-

tion writers named by the students. Again, many boys and girls failed

to name a favorite.

Again, there was a tendency for the favorites of the junior class to be different from those of the senior class, and for those of the boys 59 to be different from those of the girls, although, of course, there

were frequent over lappings.

Among the favorite authors appearing most frequently in the list-

ings were Zane Grey, Mark Twain, Betty Cavanna, Rosamond du

Jardin, Walter Farley, Jack London, Mickey Spillane, Lloyd G.

Douglas, Janet Lambert, O. Henry, Margaret Mitchell, and Grace

Livingston Hill. Students' favorite authors and favorite books did not

always coincide or match. Lack of breadth in reading the works of

many authors probably accounted for the long lists of favorite authors,

many of whom were named by only one student.

Students were not always clear as to who are fiction writers.

For instance, J. Frank Dobie, the historian and student of folklore of

the Southwest, was listed as a favorite "fiction" writer by two students

in the Memphis High School, and by one student in the St. Jo High

School. ftoy Chapman Andrews, the famous zoological curator and

writer about animals, appears as a "fiction" writer in the list sub-

mitted by the Mineral Wells High School. 60

TABLE VI

FAVORITE FICTION WRITERS OF JUNIOR AND SENIOR BOYS AND GIRLS IN TEN TEXAS HIGH SCHOOLS

' Junior Senior Question Boys Girls Boys Girls

Nocona High School

Who is your favorite fiction writer ?

Frank Slaughter 1 Louisa Mae Alcott Z 1 Mickey Spillane 3 2 John R. Tunis 6 Jack London 1 2 Paul I. Wellman I Daphne du Maurier 1 Maurice Thompson 1 O. Henry 1 Zane Grey 7 1 Kathryn Worth 1 Louis Bromfield 1 .Edgar Allan Poe 1 Grace Livingston Hill 1 1 Margaret Mitchell 1 1 Erie Stanley Gardner 1 Henry Gregory Felsen 1 2 Betty Cavarma 1 The Bronte Sisters 1 Lloyd C. Douglas 1 1 Franklin Dixon 1 Robb White 1 Jim Kjelgaard 1 Fred P. Kelly 1 Robert Louis Stevenson 1 Jaxsees Fenimore Cooper 1 61

TABLE VI—Continued

Junior Senior Question Boys Girls Boys Girls

Felix Holt 1 Stephen W. Meader 1 1 Rosamond du Jardin 5 Mark Twain 1 1 Agnes s Turnbull 3 James Oliver Curwood 3 Howard Brior I Walter Farley 2

E1 e c t r a High School

Who is your favorite fiction writer ?

Nathaniel Hawthorne 2 Rosamond du Jardin 2 1 Aasic Asimov 1 Lloyd C. Douglas 9 1 10 Max Brand 1 Mickey Spillane 4 Glen Balch 2 Jules Verne 1 Leslie Charteris 1 Janet Lambert 9 2 Betty Lovelace 1 Agnes Turnbull 6 1 Betty Cavanna 1 Jack London 2 1 Will James 1 Clarence Day 1 Margaret Mitchell 1 Pearl S. Buck 2 1 62

TABLE VI—-Continued

Junior Senior Question Boys Girls Boys Girls

Sinclair Lewis 2 2 O. Henry 1 Robert Louis Stevenson 1 Gladys Malvern 1 Loula. Grace Erdman 1 Agatha Christie 1 Gene Stratton Porter 1 Frank Yerby 1 Mark Twain 4 2 William M. Thackeray 1 William Saroyan 1 Maureen Daly 1 Charlotte Bronte 2 Thomas Hardy 1 Emily Bronte 1

Memphis High School

Who is your favorite fiction writer ?

Kahlil Gibran 1 Irving Stone 1 J. Frank Dobie 2 Emilie Loring 1 Ernest Hemingway 1 1 Margaret Mitchell 1 Lloyd C. Douglas 1 2 Kenneth Roberts 1 PearlS. Buck 1 James Thurber 1 Edna Ferber 1 63

TABLE VI—Continued

Junior Senior Question Beys Girls Boys Girls

James Fenitxiore Cooper 1 Zane Grey 1 1 Jules Verne 1 Mark Twain 1 O. Henry- 1 Amelia Elizabeth W&lden 1 William McJLeod Raine 1 Jack London 1

Mineral Wells High School

Who is your favorite fiction writer ?

Mickey Spill&ne 6 1 Ernest Hemingway 1 William Shakespeare 1 Maureen Daly 2 1 Janet Lambert 2 Betty Cavanna 4 Nathaniel Hawthorne 1 1 Samuel Shellabarger 1 Lloyd C. Douglas 6 2 9 O. Henry 3 Jim Kjelgaard 2 Jack London 4 2 Luke Short 1 Stephen W. Meader 5 Za&e Grey 1 2 Will James 1 Mark Twain 2 C. S. Forester 1 64

TABLE VI— Continued

Junior Senior Question Boys Girls Boys Girls

James Street 1 1 Herman Wouk 1 Pearl S, Buck 1 1 Helen Hunt Jackson 2 Agnes Turnbull 1 1 Thomas B. Cos tain 1 I 2 Daphne du Maurier I Joe Archibald 1 Dorothy Grant 1 Roy Chapman Andrews 1 Howard Pyle 1 Edna Ferber 5 Sir Walter Scott 1 Leo Tolstoy- 1 Edgar AJlaa Poe 2 Sinclair Lewis 2 John R. Tunis 1 Robert Louis Stevenson 1 Bess Streeter Aldrich 1 Walter Farley 1

Northwest High S chool, Justin

Who is your favorite fiction writer ?

Walter Farley 1 Charles Dickens 2 1 Jack London 2 Mark Twain 3 1 5 1 Mary Johnson 1 Zane Grey 1 3 1 Helen Hunt Jackson 1 65

TABLE VI—Continued

Junior Senior Question Boys Girls Boys Girls

Henry Gregory Felsen 3 1 Rosamond du Jardin 2 1 Edgar Allan Poe 1 2 Grace Livingston Hill 2 3 Betty Cavanna 1 John R. Turns 1 1 Janet Lambert 1 2 Albert Payson Terhune 1 Gene Str&tton Porter 1 William H. Hudson 1 Bess Streeter Aldrich 1 Robert Louis Stevenson 1 Will James 1 Margaret Mitchell 1 1 Emilie boring 1 Lloyd C. Douglas 4 Pearl S. Buck 1 Daniel Defoe 1 Louisa Mae Alcott 1

Post High School

Who is your favorite fiction writer ?

George W. Felson 3 Zane Grey 2 1 1 Thomas B. Co stain 1 Elisabeth Yates 1 3 Margaret Mitchell 1 2 Herman Wouk 1 Edna Ferber 1 66

TABLE VI—Continued

Junior Senior Question Boys Girls Boys Girls

Erie Stanley Gardner 1 Erie Knight .2 Betty C&vanna 4 Eric Marie Remarque 1 PearlS, Buck 1 Grace Livingston Hill 1

St. Jo High School

Who is your favorite fiction writer ?

Anne Emery 1 Daphne du Maurier 4 Grace Livingston Hill 4 Mark Twain 1 2 Luke Short 1 Lloyd C. Douglas 1 John Steinbeck 1 J. Frank Dobie 1 Faith Baldwin 1 Margaret Mitchell 1 Zane Grey 3 2 Walt Kelly 1 67

TABJUE VI—Continued

Junior Senior Question Boys Girls Boys Girls

Tulia High School

Who is your favorite fiction writer ?

Mark Twain 2 L»l©yd C. Douglas 1 16 18 20 Zane Grey 1 1 Will James 1 Edgar Allan Foe 1 Jack .London 1 Walter Farley 2 Robert H. Mitchner I Emily Bronte 2 Thomas Nelson Page 2 Com. Edward Ells berg 1 Bess Streeter Aldrich 3 Dorothy Clarke Wilson 1 1 Helen Hunt Jackson 4 Dorothy Canfield Fisher 1 Rudyard Kipling I Charles Dickens 1 1 Stephen Crane I 1 Alexandre Dumas 1 3 Bret Harte 1 Jackson Scholtz 2 Victor Hugo 2 1 Ernest Hemingway 2 2 Robert Louis Stevenson 1 Orson Welles 1 Marion Crawford 1 Edna Ferber 1 2 68

TABLE YI— Continued

Junior Senior Question

Boys Girls Boys Girls

William H. Hudson 1 Margaret Mitchell 1 Fyodor Dostoevsky 1

Webster High School

Who is your favorite fiction writer ?

James Fenimore Cooper 1 1 Stephen M. Meader I 1 Jack London 1 John Steinbeck I Betty Cavanna 1 Margaret Mitchell 2 Nathaniel Hawthorne 1 Everett McNeil 1 Walter Farley 1 1 1 Guy de Maupassant 1 Daphne du Maurier 2 4 Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings 1 Frank Yerby 2 3 Daniel Boone 1 Lloyd C. Douglas 2 Z 2 Grace Livingston Hill z Howard Pease 1 Will James 1 1 1 Ellery Queen 1 Caroline Dale Snedecker 2 Pearl S. Buck 1 Ernest Hemingway 1 Herman Wouk 1 2 69

TABLE ¥1—Continued

Junior Senior Qtiestion Boys Girls Boys Girls

Robert Louis Stevenson 1 Sir Waiter Scott I Emily Hahn I Daniel Defoe 1 Ana Marie Selinko 1 A. Jf. Croatia 1

Whitesboro High School

Who is your favorite fiction writer ?

Avery Gardner I Daphne du Maurier 8 Mark Twain 1 10 Washington Irving 1 Thomas B. Costain 1 Lioyd C. Douglas 1 Rosamond du Jardin 1 Luke Short 1 Zane Grey 2 C. S. Forester 1 Betty Cavanna 4 3 Sinclair Lewis 1 Walt Kelly 1 Edgar Allan Poe 1 Will James 1 O. Henry 1 4 1 Jackson Scholtz 2 Charles Dickens 1 Eric Knight 1 70

Favorite Non - f ic ti on Books

Table VII indicates that the same gene red facts hold true for the students' favorite non-fiction hooks as were noted for their favorite books of fiction. These are that the junior and senior classes tended to have different favorite books, and that girls and boys tended to have their own favorite books. But, of course, there was some overlapping between juniors and seniors and between boys and girls. Biography and adventure tended to be the favorite types of non-fiction books for both boys and girls. Much of the adventure included in these lists of favorite non-fiction books was centered in events of the Second World

War.

Many of the students did not indicate favorite non-fiction books.

This was especially true of the students of the Memphis High School, whose list of favorite titles reported was very brief and restricted.

The wide variety of favorites does not necessarily imply wide differences in individual tastes and preferences in non-fiction literature, but may be ascribed, as in the case of fiction, to limited reading in this field. The fact that most of the books were listed by only one student for each tends to support this theory.

When one examines the lists of favorite non-fiction works contained in Table VII, he at once notices that the students of most of the schools were somewhat confused as to what constitutes a non-fiction 71 book. All of the schools except Memphis and Post submitted lists which contained one or more books of fiction which had been chosen as favorite "aon-fiction" works. Typical of these listings are the following:

Nocona High School—Practically Seventeen; Silversides; In His

Steps; Paintbox Summer; I, the Jury; and Popular Mechanics (a magazine).

Electra High School—Hell on Ice; Magic Casements; The Robe;

Huckleberry Finn; and The Man Who Game to Dinner.

Mineral Wells High School—Skippy's Family; Green Light; Gone with the Wind; Moby Dick; and The Girl in White.

Northwest High School, Justin— Huckleberry Finn.

St. Jo High School—The Daughter of Jairus and The Silver

Chalice.

Tulia High School—Theodosia; Magnificent Obsession; The Red

Badge of Courage; Life Magazine; The Old Man and the Sea; and

Flush.

Webster High School-— The Prince and the Pauper; The Courageous

Heart; National Geographic Magazine; and Gone with the Wind.

Whitesbor© High School-—The Good Earth and A Tale of Two

Cities. 72

Not only were some of the students prone to classify certain novels as non-fiction works, but they also included a few magazines as non-fiction books, as noted above. Perhaps the realism with which the novels were written, and their graphic portrayal of human life, made it difficult for the students to recognize the fact that they were, in reality, fictional accounts.

TABLE VII

FAVORITE NON-FICTION BOOKS OF JUNIOR AND SENIOR BOYS AND GIRLS IN TEN TEXAS HIGH SCHOOLS

Junior Senior Question

Boys Girls Boys Girls

Nocona High School

What is your favorite non-fiction book?

Doak Walker, Three Times All-American 2 1 Cheaper by the Dosen 5 1 Practically Seventeen 1 Famous Football Players 1 The Bob Ma this Story 1 Cowhand 1 Of Whales and Men 1 Book of Marvels 1 Kit Carson 2 Silver sides 3 In His Steps 1 73

TABLE VII—Continued

Junior Senior Question Boys Girls Boys Girls

Stories of Grand Opera 1 Jim Thorpe 1 Bible 1 1 2 I Married Adventure 1 Little Britches 1 We Took to the Woods 1 The Strikeout Story 1 Abe Lincoln Grows Up 1 Paintbox Summer 1 Roosevelt in Retrospect 1 The Enchanting Jenny Lind 1 These Men Shall Never Die 1 Visibility Unlimited 1 The President1 s Lady I Will Rogers 2 Pecos Bill 1 I, the Jury 1 The First Woman Doctor Z We Thought We Heard the Angels Sing 1 Guerilla Wife Z Stanley and Livingstone 1 Down Under 1 Six Feet Six 2 Angel Unaware 1 Popular Mechanics 1 74

TABLE ¥11—Continued

Junior Senior Question Boys Girls Boys Girls

Electra High School

What is your favorite non-fiction book?

Men under the Sea 1 The Story of George Gershwin 1 1 Belles on Their Toes 2 Miracle at Carrville 1 Abigail Adams 1 Hell on lee 1 General Douglas MacArthur I Doak Walker, Three Times All» American 1 1 Magic Casements 1 The President's Lady 1 2 I've Come a Long Way 1 Trap Line North 1 The Story of Will Rogers 2 Kit Carson 1 George Washington Carver 3 1 Return to the River 1 Victory in My Hands 1 1 Joe Foss, Flying Marine 1 Pathways to the Stars 1 1 The Best Years of My Life 3 The Robe 1 Magnificent Obsession 1 Cheaper by the Dozen 2 2 Twenty-one Days at Sea 1 India 1 A Man Called Peter 1 75

TABLE VII—Continued

Junior Senior Question Boys Girls Boys Girls

Torn Edison 1 Baseball 1 Babe Ruth 1 1 The JLost Dutchman Mine 1 Florence Nightingale 1 The Story of Irving Berlin 1 Elementary navigation 1 Clara Barton 1 Huckleberry Finn 1 The Flying Carpet 1 Flush 1 My Sister Eileen 1 Sonnets from the Portuguese 1 Areopagitica 1 Self-Reliance 1 The Man Who Came to Dinner 1 The Greatest Story Ever Told 1 My Eyes Have a Cold Nose 1 Waldea 1 My Partner, Ben Hogan 1 Jack London 1 George Washington 1 Essays ©f Emerson 2 Anna Pavlova 1 Big Dream 1 Daniel Boone 1 The Life of Franklin Delano Roosevelt 1 Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin 1 The Odyssey 2 76

TABLE VII-Continued

Junior Senior Question

Boys Girls Boys Girls

Memphis High School

What is your favorite non-fiction book?

The Raven 1 1 Six Feet Six 2 Little Britches 1 Kon- Tiki 1 Big Foot Wallace 1 Bible I Petticoat Doctor 1

Mineral Wells High School

What is your favorite non-fiction book?

Doak Walker, Three Times All-American 1 1 1 Bible 2 1 7 Kon- Tiki 1 Invincible Louisa 1 The Young Edgar Allan Poe 1 Knute Rockne of Notre Dame 2 The Pastor Preacher 1 Skippy' s Family 1 Life of Abraham Lincoln 1 1 Green Light 1 God Is My Co-pilot 1 Big Foot Wallace of the Texas Rangers 1 11

TABLE VII—Continued

Junior Senior Question Boys Girls Boys Girls

When Our Hearts Were Young and Gay- 1 Only Yesterday 1 Life with Father 1 Autobiography of Roy Chap- man Andrews 1 Jack London, Magnet for Adventure 1 I The First Woman Doctor 1 Out on a Limb 1 Curtains Going Up I Gone with the Wind 1 Especially Father I My Dog Flash 1 Hunter 1 Plato 1 A Man Called Peter 1 Moby Dick 1 Franklin Delano Roosevelt 1 They Were Expendable 1 Joan of Arc 1 The Story of My Life (Helen Keller) 1 The Chicago Bears 1 Nathaniel Hawthorne I The Girl in White 1 Thomas Jefferson's Daughter 1 Abe Lincoln's Other Mother 1 Pride of the Yankees I Life of Washington Irving 1 English and American Poetry 1 Bonita Wauvez 1 How to Win Friends and Influence People 1 78

TABLE VII—Continued

Junior Senior Question

Boys Girls Boys Girls

Key to Peace 1 The Gathering Storm 1 The Lost Eleven 1

Northwest High School, Justin

What is your favorite non-fiction book?

1 Took a Trip with Marco Polo 1 I Married Adventure 1 The Babe Ruth Story 1 1 Lou Gehrig 1 2 Angel Unaware 1 2 1 Cheaper by the Dozen 1 Martha Washington 1 The Presidents Lady 1 2 Huckleberry Finn 1 Alone on the Wide, Wide Sea 1 We Thought We Heard the Angels Sing 4 Fabulous Empire 1 The Greatest Book Ever Written 1 Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo 2 Invincible Louisa 1 Margarita's Soul 1 Science Subjects Made Easy 1 Welcome Home, Mrs. Jordan 1 79

TABLE VII— Continued

Junior Senior Question

Boys Girls Boys Girls

Story of My Life (Helen Keller) 1 Victoria Regina 1 Courageous Heart 1 Life of Will Rogers 1 Life of Clara Barton 1 Mark Twain 1

Post High School

What is your favorite non-fiction writer ?

Cheaper by the Do sen 1 Belles on Their Toes 1 Abraham Lincoln 1 Doak Walker, Three Tiroes All-American 2 1 Benjamin Franklin 1 Six Feet Six 1 I Married Adventure 1 The Story of My Life (Helen Keller) 1 General Ike 1 Only Parent 1 The Young Brontes Z Life of O. Henry 1 Homemaking 1 80

TABLE VII—Continued

Junior Senior Question

Boys Girls Boys Girls

St. Jo High School

What is your favorite non-fiction book?

Abraham Lincoln 1 I Married Adventure 1 1 2 A Man Called Peter 1 3 1 1 R. M. S. Titanic 1 Country Doctor 1 The Daughter of Jairus 1 The Red Plot Against America 1 Angel Unaware 1 The Story of Will Rogers 2 1 James Bowie 1 A Sort of a Saga 1 Up Front 1 The Raven 1 The Silver Chalice 1 Smoky 1

Tulia High School

t What is your favorite non-fiction book ?

A Man Called Peter 4 7 7 Theodosia 2 George Washington Carver 1 Abraham Lincoln 1 81

TABLE VII—Continued

Junior Senior Question Boys Girls Boys Girls

The President's .Lady 1 10 8 Little Britches 1 Life of Thomas Jefferson 1 Martha Washington 1 Young Bess z Two Years before the Mast 1 Jane Addanos of Hull House 1 Magnificent Obsession 1 Tallulah 1

Phil Rixxato 1 " Boy's Life of Mark Twain 1 Life of Helen Keller 1 Sitting Bull 1 3 The Longhorns 1 The Story of Will Rogers 1 1 Wild Bill Hickok 1 Adventures in Two Worlds 1 1 A Man's Reach 1 1 Madame Curie 1 The Red Badge of Courage 1 The Shape of Sunday 1 Syrian Yankee 1 The Sea Around Us I Craasy Horse 1 Abe Lincoln 1 Young Walter Scott 1 Life Magazine 1 Barabbas 1 Around the World Single- handed 1 Kon-Tiki 1 The Spirit of St. Louis 1 The Old Man and the Sea 1 82

TABLE VII—Continued

Junior Senior Question Boys Girls Boys Girls

Doak Walker, Three Times All-American 1 Bible 1 Flush 2 Concord's Happy Rebel 1 Florence Nightingale 1

Webster High School

What is your favorite non-fiction book?

A Boy with Edison 1 Book of Marvels 1 Abraham Lincoln 1 1 Queen Victoria 1 The Presidents Lady 2 1 The Prince and the Pauper 1 Wild Bill Hickok 1 1 The Spirit of St. Louis 1 Lou Gehrig 1 A Man Called Peter 1 Annapurna 1 Life of Benjamin Franklin 1 Under the Red Sea Sun 2 Fireside Book of Dog Stories 1 Andrew Jackson 1 Knute Rockne 2 The Courageous Heart 3 Malice Toward Hone 1 Robert £. Lee I Cheaper by the Dozen 1 The Greatest Story Ever Told 1 National Geographic Magazine 1 83

TABLE VII—Continued

Junior Senior Question Boys Girls Boys Girls

Wings on My Feet 1 Bible 1 Life of Wagner 1 Mein Karnpf 1 Frank Leahy and the Fighting Irish 1 Abe Lincoln on the Missis- sippi 1 Daniel Boone on the Caro- lina Trail 2 Bride of Fortune 1 Gone with the Wind 1

Whitesboro High School

What is your favorite non-fiction book ?

Dancing Star 1 JLife of. Louisa Mae Alcott 1 Curtains Going Up 1 Mark Twain 1 Herbert Hoover 1 Invincible Louisa 1 . David Crockett 1 1 The Good Earth 1 Life of Helen Keller 1 1 Jack London 1 1 A Tale of Two Cities 1 Sam Houston 1 Six Feet Six 5 The Raven 1 84

TABLE VII— Continued

Junior Senior Question Boys Girls Boys Girls

Up from Slavery 1 Will Rogers 1 Benjamin Franklin 3 How to Win Friends and Influence People 1 The Greatest Story Ever Told 1 Belles on Their Toes 1 The Little Princesses 2 Captain John Paul Jones 1 Immortal Wife I To Hell and Back 1 Ulysses Grant 1 Life of Buffalo Bill 1 Angel Unaware 2 Doak Walker, Three Times All-American 1 Abraham Lincoln 1 Life of George Gershwin 1 A Man Called Peter 2 Captain Paul 1 Mark Wakefield 1 Life on the Mississippi I Blind Adventure 1

Favorite Non-fiction Writers

Table ¥111 presents the information relating to the students' favorite non-fiction writer®. Comparatively few of the students in any of the schools named a favorite writer of non-fiction. Here again, as 85 in previous instances, there was a distinct tendency for the favorite non-fiction writers of the juniors to be different from those named by the seniors, and for the favorite non-fiction writers of the boys to be different from those listed by the girls. However, there were numerous instances of overlapping. Most of the writers were named by only one student each, not necessarily indicating a wide range in individual tastes but more likely a lack of extensive reading in the field of non- fiction. Some of the students may have read only one or two non-fiction works, and naturally they would name the author as their favorite, even though that particular author might be the only one in this field with whom they were familiar.

In every school, one or more novelists were classed by some students as writers of non-fiction works, thus indicating, as with non- fiction books, a difficulty in deciding which are writers of fiction and which, of non-fiction. The following list is a sampling of the errors made in classifying novelists as writers of non-fiction. Such writers as Mark Twain, who wrote in both fields of fiction and non-fiction, are not included in the list.

Nocona High School—Kudyard Kipling, Robert Turnbull, Charles

M. Sheldon, and Ernest Hemingway.

Electra High School—Pearl S. Buck, George Washington Carver

(a scientist, not a writer), Lloyd C. Douglas, and Virginia Wolff. 86

Memphis High School— Thomas Hardy.

Mineral Wells High School—John Steinbeck, Jackson Scholtz,

Edna. Ferber, Herman Melville, Lloyd C. Douglas, Bret Harte, and

Pearl S. Buck,

Northwest High School, Justin—Zane Grey, Babe Ruth (not a writer in any field), and Louisa Mae Alcott.

Post High School—Jan Struther, O. Henry, and Jack London.

St. Jo High School—Lloyd C. Douglas.

Tulia High School—Stephen Crane, A. J. Cronin. Lloyd G.

Douglas, James Hilton, Zane Grey, and John Drinkwater.

Webster High School—Margaret Mitchell, Ernest Hemingway,

John Drinkwater, Andrew Jackson (a President, not a writer), and

Zane Grey.

Whitesboro High School—Pearl S. Buck, Betty Cavanna,

George Washington Carver, Charles Dickens, and Louisa Mae Al- cott.

The inclusion of such persons as George Washington Carver,

Babe Ruth, Bud Fisher, and even "The Bible" as writers of non- fiction works is rather surprising and reveals a deplorable lack of knowledge.

On the other hand, it is somewhat easier to understand how students might classify certain novelists as non-fiction writers because of their realistic craftsmanship and their outstanding ability 87 to make fictional materials appear factual. Zane Grey and Lloyd C»

Douglas, named most frequently as non-fiction writers who in reality were novelists, filled their books with incidents that appeared realistic and true-to-life. The same can be said for most of the other fiction writers who were named as writers of non-fiction. Thus the novel- ist's realism in literary craftsmanship may cause young people to assume that he is writing fact, not fiction.

TABLE VIII

FAVORITE NON-FICTION WRITERS OF JUNIOR AND SENIOR BOYS AND GIRLS IN TEN TEXAS HIGH SCHOOLS

Junior Senior Question

Boys Girls Boys Girls

Nocona High School

Who is your favorite non-fiction writer ?

Rudyard Kipling 1 Robert Turnbull 3 F rank and Elizabeth Gilbreth 3 2 John Gun the r 1 James Henry Daugherty 1 Bob Feller 1 Osa Johnson 1 Melton Cross 1 Charles M. Sheldon 1 88

TABLE VIII—Continued

Junior Senior Question

Boys Girls Boys Girls

Richard Halliburton 1 Ralph Moody 1 Ernest Hemingway 1 Charles A. Lindbergh 1 Grantland Rice 1 Eddie Rickenbacker 1 Irving Shaman 1

Electra High School

Who is your favorite non-fiction writer ?

Ralph Waldo Emerson 1 6 Richard Halliburton 1 Mark Twain 1 Sim JEly I Catherine Marshall 1 Pearl S. Buck 1 George Washington Carver 1 Al Hershburg I Lloyd C. Douglas 1 2 Ralph Moody 1 Harold Russell 1 3 Will James 1 Irving. Stone 1 George Erwin 1 General Douglas MacArthur 1 Shannon Garst 1 Com, Edward Ellsberg 1 Frank and Elizabeth Gilbreth 1 2 89

TABLE VIII—Continued

Junior Senior Question Boys Girls Boys Girls

Felix Reiseaburg 1 Benjamin Franklin I Bennett A. Cerf 2 Henry David Thoreau I John Milton 1 Elisabeth Barrett Browning 1 Virginia Wolff

Memphis High School

Who is your favorite non- fiction writer ?

Marquis James 1 1 Thomas Hardy 1 Helen Keller 1 Ralph Moody 1 Shannon Gar at 1

Mineral Wells High School

Who is your favorite non-fiction writer ?

John Steinbeck 1 1 Jackson Scholtz 1 Ernie Pyle 1 Edna Ferber 1 Dale Carnegie 1 William Beebe 1 Theodore Roosevelt 1 90

TABLE Yin—Continued

Junior Senior Question Boys Girls Boy® Girls

Winston S. Churchill 1 Albert Bigelow Paine 1 Helen Keller 1 J. Frank Dobie 1 Herman Melville 1 Shannon Garst 1 1 Bob Gonsidine 2 Barrett Browning 1 Gladys Taber 1 Clarence Day 1 Uloyd C. Douglas 1 1 Hartzell Spence 1 Bret Harte 1 Carl Sandburg 1 1 Pearl S. Buck 1 1 Richard Halliburton 1 Thor Heyerdahl 1

Northwest High School, Justin

Who is your favorite non-fiction writer ?

Mark Twain 1 1 1 James WMttaker 1 4 Irving Stone 1 2 Frank Graham 1 Zane Grey 1 Gsa Johnson 1 Bob Considine 1 P. J. O'Brien 1 Babe Ruth 1 Bill Stern 1 91

TABLE VIII—Continued

Junior Senior

IHtWEe Ta * $**4 «d mfl V«s * Boys Girls Boys Girls

Ted W. Lawson 1 Hank Bilyue 1 Laurence Housxnan 1 Helen Keller 1 Robert Browning 1 William Grause 1 Louisa Mae Alcott 1 Fulton Oursler 1 Fred Gipson 1

Post High School

Who is your favorite non-fiction writer ?

Clarence Day 1 Frank and Elizabeth Gilbreth 1 1 Bob Hope 1 William Shakespeare 1 Clara Ingram Judson 1 Jan Struther 1 O. Henry 1 Louise Dickinson Rich 1 Jack London 1

St. Jo High School

Who is your favorite non-fiction writer ?

Dale Evans 92

TABLE VIII—Continued

Junior Senior Question

Boys Girls Boys Girls

Ernie Pyle 1 Catherine Marshall 1 2 1 Robert Stripling 1 Louis Bromfield 1 Paul Fox 2 Osa Johnson 1 1 2 Will James 1 Lloyd C. Douglas 1 Marquis James 1 Homer Croy 1 E. Stanley Jones 1 Bill Mauldin 1

T ulia High School

Who is your favorite non-fiction writer ?

Stephen Crane 1 Irving Stone 1 10 8 Glenn Clark 1 A. J. Cronin 1 1 Shannon Garst 2 3 J. Frank Dobie 1 Louise Baker 1 Lloyd C. Douglas 4 Jane Addams 1 Margaret Irwin 2 Alice Desmond 1 Catherine Marshall 3 3 6 Grant Overton 1 1 Alfred Noyes I 93

TABLE VIII—Continued

Junior Senior Question

Boys Girls Boys Girls

E. Stanley Jones 1 Henry Pidgeon 1 James Hilton 1 Zane Grey 1 John Drinkwater 1 Winston S. Churchill 1 Richard Halliburton 1

Webster High School

Who is your favorite non-fiction writer ?

Margaret Mitchell 1 Harry Studebaker 1 Irving Stone 1 Com. Edward Ellsberg 2 Ernest Hemingway 1 Fulton Ourslcr 2 1 John Drinkwater 1 Andrew Jackson 1 Albert Fayson Terhune 1 Maurice Herzog 1 Benjamin Franklin 1 Charles A. Lindbergh 1 Zane Grey I Theodore Roosevelt 1 Carl Sandburg 1 94

TABLE VIII—Continued

Junior Senior Question Boys Girls Boys Girls

Whitesboro High School

Who is your favorite non-fiction writer ?

Bill Stern 4 Norman Vincent Peale 1 Catherine Marshall 1 PearlS. Buck 1 2 Quentin Reynolds 1 Benjamin Franklin 1 Marquis James 7 1 Betty Cavanna 1 Mark Twain 1 2 2 3 Will Rogers 1 Dale Carnegie 1 George Washington Carver 1 Charles Dickens 1 Louisa Mae Alcott 4 Howard Ditmars 1

Reading of Pocket-book Editions

Table IX presents information collected from the questionnaires relating to whether or not the students read pocket-book editions of books. For purposes of tabulation, such answers as "sometimes, "

"occasionally, " and "some" were classified as "Yes, " while such 95 responses as "very seldom, " "very little, M and "hardly ever" were classified as "No. " Most of the students, of course, answered with a simple "yes" or "no, " although there were a number in each school who did not make any response at all to this question.

In some schools, more students read pocket-book editions than did not, while in others a majority did not read such books. In other

schools, the number for each category is approximately equal. Boys

tended to read pocket-book editions more than did girls. However, for both sexes, for both academic classifications, and for all schools,

there were somewhat more students who did not read pocket-book edi-

tions of books than who did.

TABLE IX

READING OF POCKET-BOOK EDITIONS OF BOOKS AS REPORTED B Y JUNIOR AND SENIOR BOYS AND GIRLS IN TEN TEXAS HIGH SCHOOLS

Junior Senior Question Boys Girls Boys Girls

Nocona High Sch ool

Do you read pocket-book editions of books ?

Yes 19 9 11 2 No 10 19 5 11 96

TABLE IX—Continued

Junior Senior Question Boys Girls Boys Girls

Electra High Scl & o o i

Do you read pocket-book editions of books ?

Yes 13 U 11 10 No 22 35 4 IS

Memphis High School

Do you read pocket-book editions of books t

Yes 6 10 13 3 No 7 6 3 7

Mineral Well! s High School

Do you read pocket-book editions of books ?

Yes 34 8 11 10 No 20 21 7 15 97

TABLE IX— Continued

Junior Senior Question Boys Girls Boys Girls

Northwest High School, Justin

Do you, read pocket-book editions of books ?

Yes 5 4 11 13 No 13 13 10 8

Post High S choc >1

Do you. read pocket-book editions of books ?

Yes 10 1 1 4 No 9 5 2 16

St. Jo High School

Do you read pocket-book editions of books ?

Yes 6 2 3 2 No 5 9 2 98

TABLE IX—Continued

Junior Senior Question Boys Girls Boys Girls

Tuiia High School

Do you read pocket-book editions of books ?

Yes 7 3 15 3 No 13 28 22 21

Webster High School

Do you read pocket-book editions of books ?

Yes 13 12 7 10 No 10 15 13 9

Whitesboro High School

Do you read pocket-book - editions of books ?

Yes 4 3 14 9 No 1 8 6 7 99

Reading of Book Digests

In Table X are presented the data on whether or not the students included in this study read book digests. In some of the schools, such as Nocona High School, Electra High School, Memphis High

School, Mineral Wells High School, and Whiteaboro High School, there were decidedly more students who read book digests than who did not do so. la the other schools—Northwest High School, Post High

School, St. Jo High School, Tulia High School, and Webster High

School—there were fewer students who read book digests than who did not do so. la the main, it may be said that this group of junior and senior students in ten Texas high schools were approximately evenly divided in terms of reading and not reading book digests.

There appeared to be no perceptible difference in the sexes in this regard! in some schools more boys read book digests than did the girls, while in others more girls read them than did boys. 100

TABLE X

READING OF BOOK DIGESTS AS REPORTED BY JUNIOR AND SENIOR BOYS AND GIRLS IN TEN TEXAS HIGH SCHOOLS -

Junior Senior Question Boys Girls Boys Girls

Nocona High School

Do you read book digests ?

Yes 22 21 13 8 No 7 5 2 5

E1 ectra High School

Do you read book digests ?

Yes 16 34 7 16 No 19 12 7 11

Memphis High School

Do you read book digests ?

Yes 5 11 11 6 No 7 4 3 4 101

TABLE X—Continued

Junior Senior Question Boys Girls Boys Girls

Mineral Wells High School

Do you read book digests t

Yes 35 23 17 15 No if 4 2 11

Northwest High School, Justin

Do you read book digests ?

Yes 8 12 8 11 No 10 8 13 8

Post Hij gh School

Do you read book digests ?

Yes 5 1 2 7 No 11 5 1 13 102

TABLE X—Continued

Junior Senior Question Boys Girls Boys Girls

St. Jo High School

Do you read hook digests ?

Yes 4 12 9 2 No 4 i 1

Tulia High School

Do you read hook digests ?

Yes 8 12 20 13 No 12 19 17 12

Webster High School

Do you read book digests ?

Yes 12 22 13 18 No U 7 9 3 103

TABLE X—-Continued

Junior Senior Question Boys Girls Boys Girls

Whitesboro High S chool

Do you read book digests ?

Yes 4 10 14 14 No 1 6 2

Favorite Newspaper Writers

Table XI lists the names of favorite newspaper writers and the number of students in each class and sex who named these writers as their favorites. Many students did not attempt to name a favorite newspaper writer.

The same tendency is noticeable in this tabulation as has appeared in those tabulations relating to favorite authors and boojcs; that is, the favorite newspaper writers of the juniors tend to be different from those of the seniors, and those of the boys from those of the girls. Most of the favorite newspaper writers were named by only one student, thus indicating wide preferences, or else a very restricted reading of newspapers. Boys tended to prefer those writers who deal 104 with sports events, while the girls tended to prefer the women columnists such as Dorothy Kilgallen, Dorothy Dix, and Louella Parsons.

Both local writers and nation-wide columnists were mentioned by students in all schools as their favorite newspaper writers. News an- alysts such as Walter Winchell and Drew Pearson were listed as favorites by both sexes in most of the schools.

There was a tendency in most of the schools for some students to list cartoonists and comic-strip artists as newspaper writers, as indicated by the following examples:

Nocona High School—A1 Capp, Clark Kent (the real name of Su- perman}, and Bud Fisher.

Electra High School—A1 Capp.

Mineral Wells High School—Bud Fisher.

Northwest High School, Justin-— Clark Kent (the real name of Su- perman).

Post High School—Bud Fisher.

Tulia High School—A1 Capp.

From the above listing, Bud Fisher appears as a favorite newspaper in three of the ten schools. Fisher, who is the creator of the comic feature, "Mutt and Jeff, " could hardly be classified appropriately as a newspaper writer, although failure of the questionnaire to define what was meant by a newspaper writer may have been responsible for 105 these misinterpretations. In three schools, A1 Capp, the creator of the comic strips "Li'l Abner" and "Long Sam, M was named as a favorite newspaper writer; and is two schools Clark Kent, which is the name used by Superman when he masquerades as a normal man, was listed as a lavorite newspaper writer. The mentioning of Kent is beyond understanding, since he appears as a character in a comic feature.

TABUS XI

FAVORITE NEWSPAPER WRITERS REPORTED BY JUNIOR AND SENIOR BOYS AND GIRLS IN TEN TEXAS HIGH SCHOOLS

Junior Senior Question Boys Girls Boys Girls

Nocona High School

Who are your favorite newspaper writers ?

Ed Cole 1 Bob Herriden 1 Dorothy Kilgallen 1 Roland Peters 1 A1 Capp 3 1 1 Clark Kent 1 1 Bill Reeves 1 Louella Parsons 1 Edgar A. Guest 1 Blackie She rrod 1 Earl Wilson 1 Bud Worsharn 3 1 1 106

TABLE XI—Continued

Junior Senior Question

Boys Girls Boys Girls

Jack Gordon 1 Walter Wiachell 1 Drew Pearson 1 1 Bob Cole 1 Bill Stern 1 Bud Fisher 1 Ed Sullivan 1 Hal Roach 1 Bill Rives 2 Don Francisco 1 Molly Mayfield 1 Mai Boyle 1

Electra High School

Who are your favorite newspaper writers ?

Abby Cooper 1 Paul Rosenfield 1 1 Vinell Jones 1 A1 Capp 1 1 Ernie Pyle 1 Bill Sheldon 1 Ed Fitxhugh 1 . Bud Worshara 2 Edward R, Murrow 3 Bob Herdeen 1 Paul Harvey 2 Bill Rives 2 Dorothy Dix 4 Ed Sullivan 2 107

TABLE XI—Continued

Junior Senior Question

Boys Girls Boys Girls

Drew Pearson 2 Bob Cole 4 Jack Webb 1 Walter WincheU 2

Memphis High School

Who are your favorite newspaper writers ?

Dorothy Thompson 1 Wes Izzard 1 1 Gaston Foote 1 Claude Callen 1 1

Mineral Wells High School

Who are your favorite newspaper writers ?

Flem Hall 1 John Morrison 1 Hal Boyle 2 J. Frank Dobie 2 1 1 Taylor Spink I Jerry Hayes 1 Bud Fisher 1 Jack O* Brian 2 1 Bill Stern 2 1 Walter Winchell i 5 1 108

TABLE XI-—Continued

Junior Senior Question

Boys Girls Boys Girls

Pugey Foley 3 Bob Considine 3 jLouella Parsons 1 Dorothy Kilgallen 1 2 4 Ed Sullivan 2 Slim Hall , 1 Bob Thomas 1 Alta A. Stames 1 Jack Gordon 4 Bennett Cerf 1 H. V. Kaltenborn 1 Jim Owens 1 JEarl Wilson I Lorin McMullin 1

Northwest High School, Justin

Who are your favorite newspaper writers ?

Clark Kent 1 Jack Gordon 1 2 1 Lorin McMullin 1 1 Dorothy Kilgallen 6 3 2 Claude Callan 1 Molly Mayfield 3 George Kellam 1 Bob Brock 1 Hal Boyle 2 JLouella Parsons 1 Blair Justice 1 JR. J. (Bob) Edwards 2 109

TABLE XI—Continued

Junior Senior Question

Boys Girls Boys Girls

Hank Bilyue 1 Bob Coneidine 3 Faye Sisnersoa 1 Jack O'Brian 1 Jack Brickhouse 1 Gene Gregston 1

Post Hi gli Sch ool

Who are your favorite newspaper writers ?

Charles A. Smith 1 Art Gatts 2 Walter WincheU 1 Louella Parsons X 1 Ernie Pyle 1 Eric Brandis 1 Bud Fisher 1 Amon Carter, Jr. 1 Ken Allen 1 Roy Crane 1 Bil|.y Graham 1 Drew Pearson 1 110

TABUS XI—Continued

Junior Senior Question. Boys Girls Boys Girl*

St. Jo High School

Who are your favorite newspaper writers ?

Lydie Lane 2 Bill King 2 2 Hal Boyle 1 Jack Gordon 3 Walter Winchell 2 Louella Parsons 1 Walt Kelly 1 E. E. Hayley 1 4 2 J. Frank Dobie 1 Bill McClanahan 1

Tulia High School

Who are your favorite newspaper writers ?

Wes Izzard 5 9 11 10 Mark Trail 1 Thess -Spud 1 Amon Carter 3 Harry Gilstrap 1 3 Putt Powell 2 8 Macon King I Dick Collins 1 Kim Bagley I A1 Capp 1 2 John Rosenfield 1 in

TABLE XI—Continued

Junior Senior Question

Boys Girls Boys Girls

Irving Holodin 1 Bill Stern 1 Hutt Huttsan 1 Walter Wine hell 1 1

Webster High School

Who are your favorite newspaper writers ?

George Fuerman 1 1 1 Annie Lane 1 2 JLouella Parsons 1 Dorothy Kilgallen 7 2 Ed Sullivan 1 2 Earl Wilson 2 1 Clark Nealon 1 2 Bill Stern 1 Fulton Lewis, Jr. 1 Bill Roberts 1 1 Carl V. Little 1 George GOT SEN 1 Andy Anderson 2 George Wright 1 Morris Frank 1 Frank Godsoe 3 Henry Tanner 2 Bob Rule 1 Roger Price 1 112

TABLE XI—Continued

Junior Senior Question Boys Girls Boys Girls

Whitesboro High School

Who are your favorite newspaper writers ?

JLowell Thomas 1 3 Mary Margaret McBride 3 Dorothy Dix I 2 6 Dale Carnegie 1 Dorothy Kilgallen 1 John Lovelace I 1 Gracie Allen 1 Joe Larry I Dale Groom 1 Hal Boyle 2 fileanor Williams 7 Amy Campbell 1 Bill Ives 1

Magazine Articles Read Recently

In Table XII are presented data compiled from the questionnaires relating to the magazine articles which had been read recently by the junior and senior students participating in this study. Here again, for the most part, the articles read by the juniors were different from those read by the seniors, and those read by the boys were 113 different from those read by the girls, although, of coarse, there was some overlapping. Most of the articles were mentioned by only one individual, although a few articles or a few types of articles, such as those dealing with racial segregation, had attracted several readers among this group of students. Junior students reported considerably more reading of magazine articles than did members of the senior classes, although there were numerous individuals in both classes who did not signify that they had read any magazine articles, and some of them so stated on their questionnaires that they had not read any articles.

There was such a wide diversity of articles named by the students that it is next to impossible to make any generalizations as to the types of articles reported most frequently. It appeared, however, that both boys and girls were quite interested in articles dealing with world affairs, with health, with racial segregation, and with adventure and conquest. Girls were interested in articles about the home, about personal charm and grooming, and about motion pictures and movie stars. Boys, on the other hand, liked articles dealing with sports, with science, and with "hot-rod" cars. 114

TABLE XII

MAGAZINE ARTICLES READ RECENTLY BY JUNIOR AND SENIOR SOYS AND GIRLS IN TEN TEXAS HIGH SCHOOLS

Junior Senior Question Boys Girls - Boys Girls

Nocona High School

What articles have you read recently in magazines ?

Etiquette on Marriage 1 Memo about Your Memory 1 2 How to Cook and Like It 1 About sports cars 1 About football I About etiquette 1 Walter Winchell 1 Care of the Hair 1 My Old Man, Groucho 1 Sports Car Racing 1 Crazy Legs, Hush 2 Death on the East River 1 About music 1 I Was, Briefly, the Colonel's Orderly 1 The Sucker List You Can't Get Off 1 More Pheasants for Hunters 1 The Greatest Duel Ever Held 1 The Queen Comes Home 1 2 The Last Days of Hitler I I'm Collecting, Myself 1 1 Marlon Brando I Styles in Clothes and Hair 1 About modern cars 1 115

TABLE XII— Continued

Junior Senior Question Boys Girls Boys Girls

About fashions 1 About household hints 1 About sports 2 J. C. Caroline of Illinois 1 Can the Russian H-Bomb Sterilize tls ? 1 About cat# 1 The Rio Grande Flood 1 About cancer 1 Blowing Up a Storm 1 An Experiment in Accelera- tion 1 About hot-rod magazines 1 Hot Time on the Half Mile 1 Comeback Track 1 He Knew the World Was Round I Hail, Caesar 1 Dickie Moegle 1 The Truth about Mental Illness 1 About World War II 1 Six Hours of Surgery That Saved a Boy's Life 1 1 We're Phoning You a Bandit 1 The Kid's First Fight 1 I Flew a MIG to Freedom 1 116

TABLE XII—Continued

Junior Senior Question Boys Girls Boys Girls

£lectra Hi gh School

What articles have you read recently in magazines ?

I Joined the Human Race 1 How I Won the World Series 1 About segregation 2 5 Irrigation for Mere Cotton I Communists Are Taking Over 1 .Elizabeth the Woman 2 About hunting and fishing 1 The Climbing of K-2 I Football Preview I About the Dionne quin- tuplets 1 What Shall We Do about Communism in Africa ? 1 About "blue babies" 1 About Liberace 1 2 About world affairs 3 1 Is College Football Fixed? I How to Control Shipping Fever 1 About sports 1 Communism Today 1 About sub-debs I About hurricanes I Yes and Ho for the Commun- ist Party in the United States I I 17

TABLE XII—Continued

Junior Senior Question Boys Girls Boys Girls

We Adopted Twelve Children Nobody Wanted 2 About communism 1 The Bandwagon 1 The Fight against Comic Books 1 To the Moon and Back 1 Nobody JLoves Liberace hut the People 3 Blackboard Jungle 1 Two Way Pie 1 About Marilyn Monroe and Joe di Maggio 1 About Dior creations 2 I Flew My M1G to Freedom 1 About sports 1 About fashions for teen-agers 1

M erophis High School

What articles have you read recently in magazines?

About new cars 1 The Other Billy Graham 1 The Gray Sickness 1 About movies 1 About teen-agers 1 The Desperate Hour 1 General Dean's Story 1 About Korea 1 Off-year Elections 1 About science 1 118

TABLE XII— Continued

Junior Senior Question Boys Girls Boys Girls

About new drugs 1 2 About segregation z About current events 1 Education of School Children 1 About Jesse Stuart 1 Articles on United Nations 1 About movies 2 Scotland's Golden Eagles at Home 1 About Albert Schweitzer 1 Mrs* Billy Graham Tells the Story 1

Mineral Wells High School

What articles have you read recently in magazines ?

About mountain lions 1 About housekeeping 1 About politics 1 Should Your Boy Flay Football ? 1 How Safe Is High School Football ? 1 We Adopted Twelve Children Nobody Wanted 2 1 No One Else Wanted 1 I Was the Colonel's Orderly 1 No Place Called Home 1 My Old Man, Groucho 2 The Hunter Hunted 1 119

TABLE XII—Continued

Junior Senior Question Boys Girls Boys Girls

Research in Cancer 1 The Fence 2 They Came on Sunday 1 The Art of Applying Make-up 1 How to Customise It 1 Who Won? 1 How to Hop Up Your Car 1 The Atomic Bomb Blast 1 The Sinking of the Sub 1 I Flew My MIG to Freedom 1 I Conquered Cancer 1 1 Crazy Legs 1 He Knew the World Was Round 1 Customizing Your '40 Frozen Ice 1 Safety in the Pit 1 Development of Gas Turbine Engines 1 The Lost Company 1 The Terrible Tempered Rube 1 Why the People Like Liberace 1 About sports 1 Bing Crosby and His Four ions 1 About outdoor life 1 About Flying Tigers 1 Tips for Teen-agers 1 2 Our Daughter Had Polio I How to Win with the Dodgers 1 The Maharaja of Akron, Ohio 1 Dual Garbs for Your Car 1 The Lonesome Bear 1 Top Secret on Jack Webb 1 How to Write Good Music 1 On science 1 I Was a Hobo Kid 1 120

TABLE XH~ Continued

Junior Senior Question Boys Girl# Boys Girls

Report Card Controversy- 1 Deep in the Soul of Texas 1 Do Cigarettes Cause Cancer? 1 Who Will Win the '54 Elec- tion ? 1 Our Public Schools 1 How to Stay in College 1 The School That Broke the Color Line 1 1 2 Why Notre Dame Picked Brennan I The American Negro 3 3 About medicine 1 About segregation 1 Who Knows Who's ®n Top? 1 1 Did You Stop Reading in the Third Grade? 1 I 1 Why Women Idolize Liberace I 1 Do Farm Prices Make Sense ? 1 1 For Women Only 1 I Going Steady 1 The Claude Batcheller Case 2 Mental Growth of Children 1 Great Football at Maryland 1 Notre X>ame Misses Neely 1 The New Ford Thunderfeird 1 121

TABLE XII— Continued

Junior Senior Question Boys Girls Boys Girls

Northwest High School, Jus tin

What articles have you read recently in magazines ?

About teen-age problems 2 About cattle 1 The Climbing of Mount Everest 1 The Eddie Fisher Story 1 About the World Series 1 1 Choose You 1 Red Carpets lor Mamie 1 About Marilyn Monroe 1 About fishing 1 Teen-age Runaways 1 Bing Crosby and His Four Sons 2 J. C. Caroline, Ail- American 1 About sports 3 1 The World We Live in 1 1 She Glittered When She Walked 1 Call Me Lucky 1 General Dean's Story 1 Nurse's Guide 1 A Twenty-year Wait 1 A Benchwarmer Named Smith 1 Youth Talks on Alcoholism 1 Why So Many Freshmen Drop College 1 Wheels without Wheels 1 122

TABLE XII—Continued

Junior Senior Question Boys Girls Boys Girls

New Virus May Prove Can- cer Clue 1 About cars of the future 1 About divorces 1 The Story of Princess Margaret 1

Post High School

What articles have you read recently in magazines ?

Why Boys Run Away from Home 1 Finnigan Was Afraid 1 The Untold Story of Gen- eral Mac Arthur 1 About polio 1 The Fastest Man on Earth 1 How to Marry a Million- aire 1 Twenty-four Survived 1 Liberace 1 Nobody Loves Liber ace but the People 1 Do's and DonH's on College 1 How to Be a Bride I About Marilyn Monroe 1 About segregation 1 The $1, 000, 000, 000 Loot 1 123

TABLE XII— Continued

Junior Senior Question Boys Girls Boys Girls

St. Jo High School

What articles have you read recently in xnagaxines ?

About winter fashions 3 God Blessed Our Honoe 1 About world affairs 1 My Old Man, Groucho 2 1 33 Hours to Paris 1 How to Distill Liquors and Intoxicating Drinks 1 Dior Fashions 1 Our First Real Home 1 About scientific developments 1 Incident on the China Coast 1 I Felt No Pain 1 About sports About crime 1 Learning to Pray 1 The Old Man and the Boy 1 About driving automobiles 1 124

TABLE XII—Continued

Junior Senior Question

Boys Girls Boys Girls

T uli a High School

What articles have you read recently In magazines ?

About segregation 1 1 My Old Man* Groucho 2 Are We Poisoning Our- selves ? 1 Old-time Cowboys 1 Who Knows Who's on G. O. P. ? 1 How to Stop Smoking 1 2 About Protestant and Catholic beliefs 1 How to Design Everyday Wear 1 About fashions 1 About current events 1 2 1 They Ask Me 1

The Finding of a Dinosaur 1 - Big Honkers 1 Scientific Developments in Medicine 1 The Fiery Young Coach from Iowa 1 General Dean's Story 1 Home JLife of a Teacher 1 Sports Afield 1 GI's Wind up Korean Affair 1 The Silver Chalice 1 The United Nations Is Dying 1 Will Eddie Fisher Marry Debbie Reynolds ? 1 Atomic Attack i 124-a

TABLE XII—Continued

Junior Senior Question Boys Girls Boys Girls

I'm Going Mad 1 The Daughter of Herbert BrownelX 1 About motors 2 About the Bonneville salt flats 1 The Conquest of Everest 1 What Can Be Done for Mental- ly Retarded Children? 1 Don't Tell Me Teaching's a Soft Job! 1 Twenty Time® Higher Than Niagara 2 Mrs. Billy Graham TeUs the Story 1 About the H-bomb 1 How 1 Stopped Smoking 2 A New Breed of Hogs 1 Teen-age Delinquency I Dog Stealer 1 Trip to Mars 1 Want to Borrow a Jack? 3 Atomic Age— Good or Bad ? i If I Should Die- 1 Bringing 'em in at Idlewild 1 "A Bomb" Defense 1 China Coast Incident 1 1 The Gentle House 1 Great Hymns Unite lis 1 On sports cars 1 The New South 1 New Helps for Curing Cancer 1 1 25

TABLE XII—Continued

Junior Senior Question Boys Girls Boys Girls

Webster High School

What articles have you read recently in magazines ?

Divorces Are Expensive 1 Customizing Cars 1 My Old Man, Groucho 1 I Made a Million from Diamonds 1 My Ordeal (The Angel of Dien Bien Phu) 3 My Diamonds Drip Blood 1 Terry Brennan, the Kid Coach 1 The Black Tulip 1 About segregation 1 3 1 About fall styles 1 About cooking I About current events 1 4 The Trial of Dr. Sam Sheppard 1 The Negro in America Today 1 About atomic power 1 1 The Fighting 34th 1 About cars 1 1 About American foreign policy 1 About Marilyn Monroe 1 About football Z About sports 2 About science 1 About movies 1 About national affairs 1 126

TABLE XII—- Continued

Junior Senior Question Boys Girls Boys Girls

Rearming of Germany 1 3 Universal Military Training 1 The Most Underrated Foot- ball Coach 1 Tips for Teens 1 About Jess Neeiy 1 Fishing H^nts 1

Whitesboro High School

What articles have yon read recently in magazines ?

Dangers of the H-bomb 1 Know Yourself 1 Big-time College Football 1 Dope Addicts 1 Are We Taking America for Granted f 1 Juvenile Delinquency 1 3 Tell Me about Babe Ruth 1 Why Must Our School Teach- ers Be Mistreated? 1 Dope in Our High Schools 1 Life of a Football Coach 1 Richard Nixon, Our Vice- President 1 Insert Coin Here 1 Red China's War against God 1 Breathing Made Easy 1 About science 1 1 5 About sports 1 1 1 What's Bight with Big-time Football? 1 12?

TABLE XII— Continued

Junior Senior Question Boys Girls Boy® Girls

My Old Man, Grouch© 1 1 1 Atomic Age 1 About politics 1 Secret Service 1 Ophthalmia 1 Orphans' homes 1 The Cerfboard 1 Articles about history 2 I Build You* Ovra Cabin 1 Slag Your Shotgun 1 Thumb® Down an Hitch- hikers I About state prisons 2 Billy Graham's Story 1 About coffee 1 The Big Snake 1 About baseball 1 About war 1 1 My Eight Year® in the Congo 1 About agriculture 1 Better Be a Coach 1 The Art of Faying a Com- pliment 1 Islands of Immunity 1 About France 1 About character skits 1 How to Help Someone in Sorrow 1 Founders of New England 1 128

Number of Books Read in a Two-month Period

When the students participating in this study were asked how many books they had read within the two-month period preceding the administration of the questionnaire, the results shown in Table XIII were obtained. In some schools, so books had been read by some of the pupils. For instance, seventeen students in the Memphis High

School had read no books within the two-month period; three students in the Mineral Wells High School had read none; seventeen students in the

Northwest High School had read no books in that period; one pupil in the Post High School was in this category; two students in the St. Jo

High School and one in the Tulia High School had done no reading; while ten students in the Webster High School and eight in the Whitesboro

High School had not read any books within the two-month period immediately preceding the administration of the questionnaire. Only two high schools—those of Mocona and Electra—did not report students who had done no reading of books during this period.

On the other hand, all of the schools reported one or more students who had read ten or more books during the two-month period, the number of books read ranging from eleven to the incredibly high totals of fifty and sixty books. Perhaps it will be of interest to note the extent of reading done by the students who reported the largest number of books read. 129

In the Nocona High School, two junior boys read twelve books each, whereas one read twenty books, and another, fifty books. The two senior boys with the highest reading record read twelve and fourteen books, respectively; whereas a senior girl read twenty-one books in the two-month period* It is interesting to sot® that only oae girl had read more than ten books, while seven boys had done so.

The two junior boys in the Electra High School doing the most reading read sixteen and thirty books, respectively. Of the seven junior girls who read more than ten books during the period, four read twelve books, one read fourteen, one read twenty, and one read twenty - five books in the two-month period. The two senior boys who read more than ten books read twelve and thirty books, respectively. One of the senior girls doing the most reading read twelve books, another read fifteen, one read twenty-five, and one reported reading from thirty to thirty-five books in the two-month period.

la Memphis High School, the three junior boys who reported having read more than ten books in the two-month period had read, respectively, fifteen books, eighteen or twenty books, and twenty-five books.

The two junior boys in the Mineral Wells High Schools who indicated that they had read more than ten books during the two months had read, respectively, from fifteen to twenty books for one boy, and twenty 130 books for the other. The senior boy who had done the most reading during the period had read twelve books. The senior girl who had done the most reading had the incredibly high total of sixty books read during the two months.

In the Northwest High School, Justin, the two junior girls who had read more than ten books during the two-month period reported having read, respectively, forty-five and fifty-five books; whereas the senior girl doing the most reading reported from twelve to fifteen books read during the same period of time.

In the Post High School, only one person-—a senior girl—reported having read more than ten books during the two-month period.

Her total was eleven books.

At the St. Jo High School a junior boy was the only student re- porting more than ten books read during the period. This youth had read between twenty-five and thirty volumes.

In the Tulia High School, the junior boy who had read more than ten books during the two-month period reported having read twelve books; however, the senior girl in the same school who did the most reading indicated that she had read fifteen volumes during the same period ©f time.

In the Webster High School, only one student reported having read more than ten books during the two months. This was a junior boy, who said that he had read fifteen books. 131

A total of nine students in the Whitesboro High School reported that they had read snore than tea hooks in the two-month period. The junior boy in this category had read thirteen books, while the two junior girls had read, respectively, sixteen and eighteen books. The four senior boys who exceeded ten books in the period had read, respectively, twenty-five, thirty, thirty-five to forty, and forty books.

At the same time, the two senior girls who did the most reading reported having read thirteen and fifteen books, respectively.

Junior students tended to read more books than seniors, but the number read by boys and girls in each academic classification was approximately equal. From one t® four books was the number reported most often as having been read during the two-month period under consideration* 132

TABLE XIII

NUMBER OF BOOKS READ IN A TWO-MONTH PERIOD BY JUNIOR AND SENIOR BOYS AND GIRLS IN TEN TEXAS HIGH SCHOOLS

Junior Senior Question Boys Girls Boys Girls

Nocona High School

How many books have you read in the last two months ?

None 1 8 6 4 3 2 9 d 4 3 3 3 5 4 . 3 4 4 1 3 5 3 Z 6 1 1 7 1 8 9 1 10 or more 5 2 1

Electra High School

How many books have you read in the last two mohths ?

None 1 6 7 4 2 17 5 3 6 3 2 8 1 4 4 3 6 2 4 5 1 5 3 133

TABLE Xlil—Continued

Junior Senior Question Boys Girls Boys Girls

6 4 3 1 7 . 1 4 8 4 2 9 10 or more 2 8 2 4

Memphis High School

How many hooks have you read in the last two months ?

None 1 11 5 1 3 2 3 3 2 2 6 2 3 1 4 4 1 3 5 1 6 7 8 9 10 or more 3 1 134

TABLE XIII— Continued

Junior Senior Question Boys Girls Boys Girls

Mineral Wells High School

How many books have you read in the last two months ?

None 1 2 1 15 5 4 4 2 13 6 3 9 3 15 13 7 2 4 3 6 1 2 5 2 1 3 6 2 2 7 1 3 1 9 10 or more 4 1 1

Horthwest High Sc hool

How many hooks have you read in the last two months ?

None 8 1 6 2 1 4 5 4 2 2 3 3 5 8 3 2 1 3 2 4 2 1 1 2 5 2 6 2 2 7 1 8 1 1 9 10 or more 2 1 135

TABLE XIII—Continued

Junior Senior Question Boys Girls Boys Girls

Post High School

How many books have you read in the last two months ?

Hone 1 1 1 1 1 1 2 2 1 5 3 5 3 2 4 3 1 1 5 Z 7 6 1 7 1 & 1 9 1 10 or more 2

St. Jo High School

How many hooks have you read in the last two months ?

None 1 1 1 3 Z 3 1 2 3 6 2 3 2 1 1 4 2 1 2 5 1 6 1 7 8 1 1 9 10 or more I 136

TABLE XIII— Continued

Junior Senior Question Boys Girls Boys Girls

T alia High School

How many books have you read in the last two months ?

None 1 1 2 5 3 4 2 3 5 6 5 3 4 a 13 8 3 5 2 7 5 3 6 8 5 7 1 2 3 4 9 1 10 or more 1 1 2

Webster High School

How many books have you read in the last two months ?

None 2 6 2 1 3 3 9 2 2 5 7 4 6 3 5 7 3 3 4 1 4 5 4 3 1 3 6 1 2 7 8 1 1 9 10 or more 2 1 137

TABLE XIII—Continued

Junior Senior Question Boys Girls Boys Girls

White sboro High School

How many books have you read in the last two months ?

None 2 4 2 1 3 1 2 2 3 3 1 1 2 4 4 1 5 1 2 2 6 2 3 7 2 8 2 9 1 10 or more 1 2 4 3

Favorite Books Read Within a Two-month Period

Table XIV presents data compiled from the questionnaires rela- tive to the books read within the two-month period immediately preceding the administration of the questionnaire, which the students liked most. Many students did not indicate a favorite title, and most of the titles that were named were mentioned by only one student. The titles listed represented both the old perennial favorites and the modern 138 literary products, in both fiction and non-fiction. So diverse was the number of titles mentioned that generalizations are difficult, especially since only a few of the books received more than one or two votes.

In general, it can be said that the boys tended to name books of adventure, of sports, of animal life, and of excitement with "hot rods. "

The girls, on the other hand, tended to list books dealing with teen- age heroines, with romance, and with home life. Mystery stories were popular with both sexes, as were the wholesome novels of Lloyd C.

Douglas and certain biographies.

Apparently, the junior students were much more inclined to name

their favorite books read within the two-month period than were the

seniors.

TABLE X1Y

FAVORITE BOOKS READ WITHIN A TWO-MONTH PERIOD AS REPORTED BY JUNIOR AND SENIOR BOYS AND GIRLS IN TEN TEXAS HIGH SCHOOLS

Junior Senior Question Boys Girls Boys Girls

Nocona High School

Which of the books you read within the last two months did you like most? River of the Wolves 1 Daffodil Blond 1 The Song of Ruth 1 139

TABLE XIV— Continued

Junior Senior Question Boys Girls Boys Girls

Our Town I All-American 2 Gandhi, Fighter without a Sword 1 The Coraaacheros 1 Alice of Old Vincennes 1 Debbie Jones 1 Smoke Patrol 1 They Laved to Laugh 2 Mrs. Partington 1 Poe's Works 1 Going on Sixteen 2 The White Feather 1 Johnnie Trenaain 1 Devil's Laughter 1 The Execution of Private Slovik 1 Daniel Boone 1 Border Legion 1 Red Grange 1 Belles on Their Toes 1 Bible I High Pockets 1 Silver I Nearly Seventeen 1 He Heard America Sing 1 Street Rod 1 Secret Sea 1 Of Whales and Men 1 JLydia Bailey 1 Gridiron Courage 3 It 1 Robinson Crusoe 1 The Last of the Mohicans 1 The Flicker Feather 1 The Golden Horn 1 140

TABLE XIV—Continued

Junior Senior

V&ut'iOwt «4St* L#%»•&I OO, Boys Girls Boys Girls

Gallows Back 1 The Stolen Pearl 1 Ethan Allen 1 Bennett High 1 Magnificent Obsession 1 1 The Yikiag Dog . 1 A Daughter of the Land 2 Beloved Bondage 1 These Wonderful People 1 God's Country 1 Oklahoma Split T 1 Down Under 1 Lost on a Mountain in Maine 1 The Prince and the Pauper 1 The Happy Aristocrat 1 The Courage of Marge O'Doone 1 My Friend Flicka 1 Doctor Kim 1 On Board a United States Submarine 1 Sunshine and Shadow 1 The Broken Lance 1 Big Red 1 The Sport 1 141

TABLE XIV —Continued

Junior Senior Question Boys Girls Boys Girls

£lectra High School

Which of the books you read within the last two months did you like most?

On the Trail of the Lonesome Pine 1 1 Remember Mama 1 Doak Walker* Three Times All-Am ericas 2 Practically Seventeen 2 The Fields of Home 1 Destination— Moon 1 The Green Bough 1 The Robe 1 Man of the House 1 Green Light 1 Magnificent Obsession 3 2 Harlequin Hullabaloo 1 Hell on Ice 2 Hold That Line! 1 The Midnight Colt 1 A Man Called Peter 1 Forgive Us Our Tres- passes 2 The Beloved Stranger 1 Lost Canyon 1 Thunder Road 1 The Saint Goes Overboard 1 Southpaw from San Fran- cisco 1 The Magnificent Yankees 1 Romance Comes Riding 1 Years Ago 1 142

TABLE XIV—Continued

Junior Senior Question Boys Girls Boys Girls

Life with Father 1 Gone with the Wind 1 The Rolling Tears 3 The Harvester 1 Tow and the Town 2 No Wind Blows Free 1 The Haunts of Drowning Creek 1 Return to the River 1 Hardrock 1 Silver Sage 1 Anne of Green Gables 1 Once There Was a Princess 1 Indian Fire 1 Arrowsmith 1 The Longest Way Around 1 Burns Mantel's Plays 1 A Star to Follow 1 Two Quarterbacks 1 The Mystery of Lost Valley 1 The House of the Seven Gables 1 The Scarlet Letter 1 When God Says No 1 Dods worth 1 Day Must Dawn A Cap for Mary Ellis 1 Going on Sixteen 1 Son of a Coach 1 The Years of the Locust 1 The Good Earth 1 The Bishop's Mantle 1 Blind Adventure 1 Mine Brides and Grannie Hite 1 Fielder's Choice 1 143

TABLE XIV— Continued

Junior Senior Question

Boys Girls Boys Girls

Green Dolphin Street 2 Pride and Prejudice 1 4 Ivanhoe 1 Sky Mountain 1 JLord Johnnie 1 The Silver Chalice 1 The Return of the Native 1 The High and the Mighty 1 Baseball 1 A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court 1 Random Harvest 1 Treasure Island 1 The Black Arrow 1 The Prince and the Pauper 1 Vanity Fair 1 China Sky 1 A Tale of Two Cities 1 Only Child 1 A Song for Julie 1 Elixabeth the Queen 1 Shane 1 Captains Courageous 1 The Green Years 1 Shannon's Way 1 Madame Bovary 1 Dr. Jekyl and Mr. Hyde 1 Westward, Ho! 1 Jane Eyre 3 Wuthering Heights 1 Marcy Catches Up 1 144

TABLE XIV—Continued

Junior Senior Question Boys Girls Boys Girls

Memphis High School

Which of the books you read within the last two months did you like most?

The Nature of the Universe 1 Sky Mountain 1 Magnificent Obsession 2 George Washington Carver I 20,000 Leagues under the Sea 1 The Egyptian 1 The Peacock Sheds Its Tail 1 Two Faces West I Over the Line 1 Six Feet Six 1 Desiree 1 Anna Marie Seiinko 1 The Egg and 1 1 Twentieth Century Music 1 Lost Horizon 1 Uncle Tom's Cabin 1 The Prophet i Thomas Jefferson 1 1 45

TABLE XIV—Continued

Junior Senior Question Boys Girls Boys Girls

Mineral Weils High School

Which of the hooks you read within the last two x» onths did you like most?

The Long Wait 1 My Six Convicts 1 The Game Mutiny 3 Call of the Wild 1 Seventeenth Summer 1 Yonder the Golden Gate 1 The Devil's Laughter 1 Pearod 1 Prince of Foxes 1 Gone with the Wind I 1 1 Bread into Roses 1 Disputed Passage 1 Invitation to live I The Moon Is Down 1 White Fang 1 *• Not as a Stranger 1 The High and the Mighty 1 Magnificent Obsession 1 The Man withowt a Country 1 Kon- Tiki 2 Dark Memory 1 Mrs. Mike 1 Skipper, the Guide Dog 1 The Terns Rangers 1 One Foot in Heaven 1 The Black Stallion 1 Bulldo&er 1 146

TABLE XIV—Continued

Junior Senior Question Boys Girls Boys Girls

Arrowsmith 1 Inside Tackle 1 Gown of Glory 1 Knute Eockne 1 Six Weeks in March 1 Eamooa 3 None Shall Know 1 The Only One 1 The JLone Rider 1 The Forest and the Fort 1 The Day Must Dawn 1 Without Orders 1 The Robe 1 1 Hebrew® Verse by Verse 1 The Count of Monte Cristo 1 The Deerslayer 1 Lumberjack 1 The King's General 1 The Man Who Wouldn't Wait 1 The Higher Happiness 1 The Red Badge of Courage 1 The Silver Chalice 1 2 A Tear for Judas 1 The Last of the Mohicans 1 Prisoners of Hope 1 A Man Called Peter 1 Little Women 1 The Prince and the Pauper 2 The Big Fisherman 1 The Black Arrow 1 Cue for Treason 1 The Black Stallion's Revolt 1 Sironia 1 Don't You Cry for Me 1 Joan of Arc 1 147

TABLE XIV—Continued

Junior Senior Question Boys Girls Boys Girls

A Light in My Window 1 The Gay Galliard 1 Witch in the Wood 1 Brand of Empire 1 A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court 1 Anna Karenina 2 War and Peace 1 Ivanhoe 1 The Sword in the Stone 1 The White Panther 1 The Talisman 1 Men of Iron 1 Yon Rolling River 1 Cochise 1 Key to Peace 1

Northwest High School, 3us tin

Which of the books you read within the last two m onths did you like most?

The Man without a Country 1 Yankee Thunder 1 Drums along the Mohawk I A Star to Follow 2 Class Ring 2 Daniel Boone 1 Gone with the Wind 1 2 2 The Red Badge of Courage 1 Little Women 2 Love Me, Love Me Not 1 148

TABLE XIV— Continued

Junior Senior Question Boys Girls Boys Girls

To Have and to Hold 1 Nonfleet 1 The Miracle of the Bells 1 Hot Eod 2 West of the Hill 1 Senior Year 1 Francie 1 Gulliver's Travels 1 Wild Trek 1 The Kid from Tomkinsville 1 The High and the Mighty- 1 All This and Heaven, Too 1 My Cousin, Rachel 1 Shane 1 Mutiny on the Bounty 1 Snow- Bound 1 Animal Farm 1 Red Heritage 1 White Banners 1 Mrs. Mike 1 Robinson Crusoe 1 All Quiet on fee Western Front 1 Antony and Cleopatra 1 The Voice and the Light 1 Love Came Laughing By 1 Submarine 1 The Devil's Laughter 1 Chad Hanna 1 149

TABLE XIV—Continued

Junior Senior Question Boys Girls Boys Girls

Post Hig h School

Which of the books you read within the last two months did you like moat?

Hot Rod 1 Street Rod Tennessee Farmer 1 Quo Vadis 1 The Branding Iron 1 Guardian Heart 1 Doak Walker, Three Times All- American 1 Punt Formation 1 A Girl Can Dream 1 The Caine Mutiny 1 One Lonely Night 1 The Melted Coins 1 A Bend in the Road 1 Dave Loggaa 1 Beloved Bondage 1 Brief Gaudy Hour 2 They Loved to Laugh 1 Now That April's Here 1 Jane Eyre 1 And Both Were Young 1 Queen's Folly 1 Rebecca 1 The Road Back 1 The Prince and the Pauper 1 All This and Heaven, Too 1 Stub, a College Romance 1 The Green Years 1 ISO

TABU: XXV—Continued

Junior Senior Question Boys Girls Boys Girls

The Ark 1 This Above All 1 The Black ilose 2 Gone with the Wind I April Snow ' 1

St. Jo High School

Which of the books you read within the last two months did you like most?

Gone with the Wind 1 Going Steady 1 Love Deferred 1 The Silver Chalice 1 David 1 The Red Plot Against America I April Gold 1 First Ladies 1 Jo's Boys 1 A Man Called Peter 1 Titanic 2 Little Britches 1 Runaway 1 Rebecca 1 The Robe 1 The Yearling 1 Wild Horse Mesa 1 House Divided 1 The Greatest Story Ever Told 1 A Girl to Come Home to 1 151

TABUS XIV —Continued

Junior Senior Question Boys Girls Boys Girls

The Talisman 1 Jinx 1 The Caine Mutiny 1

Tulia Hig [h School

Which of the books you read within the last two months did you like most ?

Living with Cancer 1 Adventures in Two Worlds 1 The Man from Home 1 Lonely Passage 1 The Big Fisherman 1 1 1 The Football Gravy Train 1 Up from Slavery 1 Son of Black Stallion I The Story of Will Rogers 2 Prince of Foxes 1 Invitation to Live I Forgive Us Our Trespasses 1 Les Miserables 1 3 6 The Brother 1 1 2 1 Rarnona 2 Red Rock 2 The Presidents JLady 2 1 Deep Summer 1 Ocean Gold 2 Little Women 1 Jane Eyre 1 A Lantern in Her Hand 2 The Scarlet Letter 1 152

TABLE XIV—Continued

Junior Senior Question Boys Girls Boys Girls

The Silver Chalice 1 1 2 The Robe 2 4 5 3 Magnificent Obsession 2 1 1 The Bent Twig 2 Green Mansions 1 The House of Rim m on i The Three Musketeers 1 2 The First Woman Doctor 1 The Red Badge of Courage 1 1 The Count of Monte Cristo 1 3 Theodosia 1 A Tale of Two Cities 2 Quo Vadis 1 3 A Man Called Peter 5 Here I Stay 2 The Keys of the Kingdom I The Hunchback of Notre Dame 1 In His Steps 2 Cyrano de Bergerac 1 Ivanhoe 1 Around the World Single- handed 1 Pilgrim's Progress 1 Syrian Yankee 1 Crime and Punishment 2 The Dark River 1 Barabbas 1 A Man's Reach 1 Romeo and Juliet 1 JLorna Doone 1 Ben Hur i Mary, Queen of Scots 1 Blood, Sweat, and Tears 1 David Copperfield 1 153

TABLE XIV— Continued

Junior Senior Question Boys Girls Boys Girls

Webster High School

Which of the books you read within the last two months did you like most?

The Railroad t© Freedom 1 The President's Lady 1 The Totem of Black Hawk 1 "H" Is for Heroin 1 The Yearling 1 No Bugle is Tonight 1 The Iron Mistress I Seventeenth Summer 1 Dawn's Early Light 2 Gone with the W ind 3 2 Richard Carvel 1 Wilderness Clearing 1 Mike Maroney, Raider 1 Life of Andrew Jackson 1 Hurricane Treasure 1 Little Britches 1 Desiree 1 Tree of Freedom 1 Drums along the Mohawk 1 The Reluctant Rebel 1 Bride ©f Fortune 1 And Now Tomorrow 1 To Have and to Hold 1 Marie Antoinette 1 The Robe 1 Farewell, My General 1 The Last of the Mohicans 1 The Big Fisherman 1 1 154

TABLE XIV—Continued

Junior Senior Question Boys Girls Boys Girls

Wild Bill Hickok 1 Elizabeth of the Mayflower 1 Malice Toward None 1 The Strange Proposal 1 Until the Dawn 1 I Led Three Lives 1 Foxes of Harrow 1 Guns in the Forest 1 The Conqueror 1 The Pilot 1 Annapurna 1 A Man Called Peter 1 20, 000 Leagues under the Sea 1 Son of the Land 1 .Rebecca . 1 The Trumpeter of Krakow 1 He Went with Marco Polo 1 Geordie 2 Lord Hornblower 1 Summer for Two 1 Francie 2 Charlemagne 1 Black Beauty 1 Enemy Brothers 1 The Fire Brand 2 1 The Prince and the Pauper 1 Prince of Foxes 1 Young Bess 1 The Spider King 1 Jane Eyre My Cousin, Rachel 1 The Deerslayer 1 Northern Summer 1 The Caine Mutiny 1 When the Dawn Breaks 1 155

TABLE XIV— Continued

Junior Senior Question Boys Girls Boys Girls

Whitesboro High School

Which of the hooks you read within the last two months did you like roost ?

The Kingdom of Flying Men 1 My Friend Flicka 1 Angel Unaware 1 Mary Wakefield 1 Connie Mack's Baseball Book 1 In the Years of Our JLord 1 College Slugger 1 Rebecca 2 Crown Fire 1 Song of the Years 1 Commadore Hornblower 1 Wuthering Heights 1 Wild Hunter 1 Bless This House 1 As You Liike It 1 Treasure Island 1 Hamlet 2 Sorority Girl 1 The Hunchback of Notre Dame I Green Dolphin Street 1 Kidnapped I Victory 1 River Boy 1 Othello 1 Henry V 1 The Red Badge of Courage 1 Florence Nightingale 1 Paintbox Summer 1 156

TABLE XIV—Continued

Junior Senior Question Boys Girls Boys Girls

Both Were Young 1 The House of the Seven Gables 1 This Above All I Jeff White 1 Love, Laurie 1 Senior Tear 2 A Lantern in Her Hand 1 The Totem Gast a Shadow 1 Watch for a Tali White Sail I In His Steps 2

Availability of Encyclopedias in the Homes of Students

When the students were asked whether a set of encyclopedias was available in their homes the results compiled in Table XV were obtained from the questionnaires. Many students did not answer this question.

All in all, the number of sets of encyclopedias present in the homes of students is somewhat surprising, for in some schools there were more pupils with encyclopedias available in their homes than there were without such helps to study. Although in some schools the number of students having encyclopedias and the number not having 157 them were approximately equal, in a few schools there were more with encyclopedias, and in several, there were more without them.

All things considered, there were some that more students without encyclopedias in their homes than there were with them. But

the differences was not nearly so great as might have been expected.

In a rural community like that served by the Northwest High School,

for instance one would suppose that the sets of encyclopedias in the

homes would be small, indeed. Yet, among the students answering

this question from this school, thirty-nine had encyclopedias in their homes, while forty-one did not have such helps.

TABLE XV

AVAILABILITY OF ENCYCLOPEDIAS IN THE HOMES OF JUNIOR AND SENIOR BOYS AND GIRLS IN TEN TEXAS HIGH SCHOOLS

Junior Senior Question Boys Girls Boys j ~ Girls

Nocona High School

Is there a set of encyclopedias in your home ?

Yes 11 14 6 5 No 19 13 9 8 158

TABLE XV—Continued

Junior Senior Question Boys Girls Boys Girls

Electra High School

Is there a set of encyclopedias in your home ?

Yes 24 2 7 9 15 No 11 19 6 13

Mem phis ]Hig h School

Is there a set of encyclopedias in your home ?

Yes 4 9 9 4 No 10 9 10 7

Mineral Wells High Schoo 1

Is there a set of encyclopedias in your home ?

Yes 34 18 11 14 No 22 14 7 12 159

TABLE XV—Continued

Junior Senior Question Boys Girls Boys Girls

Northwest High School, , Justin la there a set of encyclopedias in your home ?

Yes 13 8 11 7 No 6 10 10 15

Post High School

Is there a set of encyclopedias in your home ?

Yes 3 4 1 a No 13 3 2 12

St. Jo High School

Is there a set of encyclopedias in your home ?

Yes 5 5 1 No 6 7 9 2 160

TABLE XV—Continued

Junior Senior Question Boys Girls Boys Girls

Tulia High School lit there a set of encyclopedias in your home ?

Yes 10 16 24 15 No 12 15 15 10

Webster High School

Is there a set of encyclopedias in your home ?

Yes 15 ZZ 16 17 No 8 3 5 5

Whitesboro High School

Is there a set of encyclopedias in your home ?

Yes 3 5 7 No 4 8 14 a 161

Types of Encyclopedias Available in the Home • of the Students

When the students were asked to name the set of encyclopedias available in their homes, many of them could not think of the title, although they had asserted that they had encyclopedias in their homes.

This inability to recall the titles of the volumes implies that, in many instances, the students were not utilising the encyclopedias to any great extent, or else they could have remembered the titles.

Table XVI presents the names of the encyclopedias that were available in the homes of the students, based upon the students' responses to this question in the survey sheet. All of the better known encyclopedias, such as Americana, Britanaica, Gompton's, World

Book, Book of Knowledge, and others are represented in the list, as well as a number of sets which are not so widely known.

Gompton's Pictured Encyclopedia, the World Book Encyclopedia, the Book of Knowledge, and the Encyclopedia Britannica appeared more frequently in the homes of students in the various schools than did any other sets. Thus, the quality of encyclopedias found in most of the homes was of a high order. In most of the schools, Gompton's Pic- tured Encyclopedia was the most frequently named. 162

TABLE XVI

TYPES OF ENCYCLOPEDIAS AVAILABLE IN THE HOMES OF JUNIOR AND SENIOR BOYS AND GIRLS IN TEN TEXAS HIGH SCHOOLS

Junior Senior Question Boys Girls Boys Girls

Nocona High School

If encyclopedias are available in your home, what is the name of the set?

World Book Encyclopedia 3 3 2 Book of Knowledge 2 2 Coonpton's Pictured Ency- clopedia 2 2 2 1 Lincoln Library I American People's Ency- clopedia 1 2 1 1 Br itannica, Junior 1 Encyclopedia Ameri cana 1 1 1 Encyclopedia Britannica 1 1 The Wonder World 1 Funk and Wagnalls' Ency- clopedia 1 1 Twentieth Century Ency- clopedia I 163

TABLE XVI—Continued

Junior Senior Question Boys Girls Boys Girls

£le c t r a High School

If encyclopedias are available in your home, what is the name of the set ?

World Book Encyclopedia 7 3 6 6 Encyclopedia Britannica 1 5 1 Z Traveler s1 Encyclopedia 2 World Encyclopedia 2 5 I Book of Knowledge 1 2 1 Britannica, Junior 2 Encyclopedia Americana 1 Comp ton's Pictured Ency- clopedia 1 1 American Encyclopedia 1 Reference Library 1

Memphis High School

If encyclopedias are available in your home, what is the name of the set?

Compton's Pictured Ency- clopedia 2 4 % 1 Book of Knowledge 1 1 1 Funk and Wagnalls' Ency- clopedia 1 1 American People's Ency- clopedia 1 1 Encyclopedia Britannica 1 164

TABLE XVI—Continued

Junior Senior 4" * <9i*% Boys Girls Boys Girls

World Book Encyclopedia 2 1 World Popular Encyclopedia 1 Encyclopedia Americana 1 I Reference library 1

Mineral Wells High School

If encyclopedias are available in your home, what is the name of the set?

Encyclopedia Britannica 2 2 Compton's Pictured Ency- clopedia 19 3 4 3 Lincoln Library I 1 World Book Encyclopedia 2 7 1 2 World Encyclopedia 1 1 Our Wonder World 1 Standard Reference Work 1 American People's Ency- clopedia 2 American Encyclopedia 1 Britannica, Junior 1 1 1 Modern Encyclopedia 1 Mew Student's Reference Works 1 Book of Knowledge 2 2 3 Columbia Encyclopedia 1 Encyclopedia Americana 1 1 1 American Educator 1 Button's Universal Ency- clopedia 1 165

TABLE XVI—Continued

Junior Senior Question Boys Girls Boys Girls

Grolier's Encyclopedia 1 1 1 New Standard Encyclopedia 1 i Funk and Wagnails' Ency- clopedia 2 Hational Encyclopedia 1 New International Encyclo- pedia 1

Northwest High School, Justin

11 encyclopedias are available in your home, what is the name of the set?

World Book Encyclopedia 2 3 2 Book of Knowledge I 2 New Standard Encyclopedia 3 1 Collier's Encyclopedia 1 Grolier's Encyclopedia 1 .Lands and Peoples 1 Book of Popular Science 1 1 Encyclopedia Americana 1 1 Unicorn Encyclopedia 1 Nelson's Encyclopedia 1 American People's Ency- clopedia 1 166

TABLE XVI—Continued

Junior Senior Question Boys Girls Boys Girls

Post High School

If encyclopedias are available in your home, what is the name of the set ?

World Book Encyclopedia 2 1 Corapton's Pictured Ency- clopedia I 3 World Encyclopedia 2 Mew Standard Encyclopedia 1 This Oar World 1 Britannica, Junior 1

St. Jo High School

l KM j Ml ... If encylopedias are available in your home, what is the name of the set?

Lincoln Library 1 2 Book of Knowledge 1 American People's Ency- clopedia 1 Unicorn Encyclopedia I 167

TABLE XVI— Continued

Junior Senior Question Boys Girls Boys Girls

Tulia High School

If encyclopedias are available in your home, what is the name of the set?

Compton's Pictured Ency- clopedia 4 9 8 9 Funk and W agnails' Ency- clopedia 1 1 2 2 American People's Ency- clopedia 2 1 Unicorn Encyclopedia 1 1 World Book Encyclopedia 2 2 5 American College Ency- clopedia 1 Book of Knowledge 2 1 1 Encyclopedia Britannica 3 Encyclopedia Americana 1 2 Lincoln Library 1 1 2 American Encyclopedia 1 World Encyclopedia 1 Dictionary of Facts 1 Britannica, Junior 1 1 Collier's Encyclopedia 1 Standard American Educator 1 New Standard Encyclopedia 1 168

TABLE XVI—Continued

Junior Senior Question Boys Girls Boys Girls

Webster !Hig h School

I£ encyclopedias are available in your home, what is the name of the set?

World Book Encyclopedia 4 8 4 5 Encyclopedia Americana 1 1 1 Britannica, Junior 1 4 3 American Encyclopedia 1 Encyclopedia Britannica 1 4 4 2 Compton's Pictured Ency- clopedia 1 1 2 National Encyclopedia 1 1 American People's Ency- clopedia 1 1 1 1 Standard Encyclopedia 1 Richardson's Encyclopedia 1 World's Popular Encyclopedia i 1 Cham plain's Encyclopedia 1 Funk and Wagnails' Ency- clopedia 1 1 Wonder World 1 World Scope 1 169

TABLE XVI—Continued

Junior Senior Question Boys Girls Boys Girls

White sboro Hi gh School

If encyclopedias are available in your home, what is the name of the set?

American People's Ency- clopedia 1 World Book Encyclopedia 2 Encyclopedia Britannica 1 Encyclopedia Americana 1 1 Gompton's Pictured Ency- clopedia 2 Britannica, Junior 1 World Encyclopedia 2 Z 1 Book of Knowledge 1 1 American Standard Ency- clopedia 1

Students' Desire to Read More

Table XVII presents the responses of the junior and senior students participating in this study to the question, "Would you like to read more ?" Some of the students, instead of answering with a simple "yes" or "no, " made such replies as "in some cases, M "maybe, " and "possibly, " These replies were tabulated as "yes. " On the other 170 hand, when students replied, "not especially" or "probably not, " these responses were classed as "no" m the compilation of, data.

Although all schools had some students who indicated that they would not like to read more than they were reading at the present time, the overwhelming response for both boys a»d girls in both junior and senior classes in all schools was that they would certainly like to be able to read more than they were doing at the time. Such a response, overwhelming as it was, implies a wholesome attitude toward reading on the part ol most of the students.

TABLE XVII

ANSWERS TO THE QUESTION, "WOULD YOU LIKE TO READ MORE?" AS REPORTED BY JUNIOR AND SENIOR BOYS AND GIRLS IN TEN TEXAS HIGH SCHOOLS

Junior Senior Question Boys Girls Boys Girls

Nocona High School

Would you like to read more ?

Yes 26 23 13 12 No 5 4 1 2 ITI

TABLE XVII—Continued

Junior Senior Question Boys Girls Boys Girls

Elcctra High School

Would you like to read more?

Yes 25 36 10 20 No 10 7 5 7

Memphis High School

Would you like to read more ?

Yes 12 16 20 11 No 1 2

Mineral Wells High School

Would you like to read more?

Yes 43 29 16 22 No 12 3 2 4 172

TABLE XVII— Continued

Junior Senior Question Boys Girls Boys Girls

Northwest High School, Justin

Would you like to read more?

Yes 4 18 17 21 No 11 2 4

Post High Schi E> O 1

Would you like to read more?

Yes 8 6 3 17 No 9 3

St. Jo High School

Would you like to read more?

Yes 7 13 9 1 No 3 I 1 1 173

TABLE XVII—Continued

Junior Senior Question Boys Girls Boys Girls

Tulia High School

Would you like to read more?

Yes 17 31 33 25 N© 5 1 5 1

Webster High Scl lOOl

Would you like to read more ?

Yes 17 21 17 1 4 Ho 6 9 6 6

Whitesboro High Si chooi

Would you like to read more ?

Yes 4 11 16 15 Mo 1 3 1 174

Reasons for Not Doing More Reading

la Table XVIII are compiled the data, relating to the student a' responses when they were asked to check the reasons why they were not doing more reading if they were among the group who would like to read more than they were doing. Ten reasons were listed on the questionnaire to be checked, and, although a few students wrote in other reasons, the tabulation is confined to those provided in the questionnaire. A number of students in each of the schools failed to check any reasons to explain why they were not doing more reading.

A careful scrutiny of the table reveals that six of the ten reasons listed were checked more frequently than the others as being responsible for the students not doing more reading. These six reasons were the following: heavy school assignments, outside work, dates and social activities, sports, radio and/or television, and lack of interest.

The four remaining reasons—read too slowly, lack of money, lack of reading materials, and difficulties with eyes—were of lesser importance, although each was worthy of consideration in all of the schools studied, and among all of the groups of students.

Boys seemed to be more likely to blame heavy school assignments than were the girls; and lack of interest was also more prevalent among the boys. Outside work, logically, was assigned more frequently by the boys as a reason why they did not do more reading. 175

TABLE XVIII

REASONS FOR NOT DOING MORE READING AS REPORTED BY JUNIOR AND SENIOR BOYS AND GIRLS IN TEN TEXAS HIGH SCHOOLS

Junior Senior

» UvU Boys Girls Boys Girls

Nocona High School

What are the reasons why you cannot read more ?

Heavy school assignments 20 21 9 9 Outside work 6 16 9 5 Read too slowly 5 2 5 Dates and social activities 7 12 3 5 Lack of money 2 1 1 Sports 12 3 3 1 Radio and/or television 10 5 4 5 Lack of interest 6 2 2 Lack of reading material 9 I 1 1 Difficulties with eyes 3 4 1

Electra High School

What are the reasons why you cannot read more ?

Heavy school assignments 10 21 6 16 Outside work 13 14 3 3 Read too slowly 3 2 2 2 Dates and social activities 15 24 4 8 Lack of money 2 2 Sports 16 5 4 1 176

TABLE XVIII—Continued

Junior Senior

Boys Girls Boys Girls

Radio and/or television 17 9 10 9 JLack of interest 9 4 4 1 Lack of reading material 3 I 1 Difficulties with eyes 4 5 1

Memphis High School

What are the reasons why you cannot read more?

Heavy school assignments 5 7 8 8 Outside work 8 11 13 6 Acad too slowly 4 3 Dates and social activities 1 14 9 4 Lack of money 1 1 Sports 3 3 7 1 Radio and/or television I I 3 Lack of interest 1 1 Lack of residing material 1 1 1 1 Difficulties with eyes 2 4 1

Mineral Wells High School

What are the reasons why you cannot read more ?

Heavy school assignments 15 16 6 13 Outside work 17 6 5 13 Read too slowly 7 2 2 2 Dates and social activities 5 7 4 Lack of money 1 177

TABLE XVIII—Continued

Junior Senior Question Boys Girls Boy® Girls

Sports 11 3 Radio and/or television 6 1 Lack of interest 14 2 1 1 Lack of reading material 4 2 Difficulties with eyes 3 1 4

Northwest High School, Justin

What are the reasons why you cannot read more?

Heavy school assignments 1 5 7 Outside work 8 4 10 10 Read too slowly 4 3 6 1 Dates and social activities 6 9 5 11 Lack ©£ money 1 Sports 1 4 6 2 Radio and/or television 2 9 6 11 Lack of interest 6 3 3 1 Lack of reading material 2 1 Difficulties with eyes 1 2 2 3

Post High School

What are the reasons why you cannot read more ?

Heavy school assignments 3 3 1 9 Outside work 3 2 2 6 Read too slowly 1 3 2 Dates and social activities 2 2 1 13 178

TABLE XVIII—Continued

Junior Senior Question Boys Girls Boys Girls

Lack of money- 1 1 Sports 1 3 Radio and/or television 4 2 2 7 Lack of interest 5 I 4 3 Lack of reading material 5 1 4 Difficulties with eyes 2 4

St. Jo High School

What are the reasons why you cannot read more ?

Heavy school assignments 5 6 6 1 Outside work 9 7 4 1 Read too slowly 2 1 3 1 Dates and social activities 5 8 2 1 Lack of money 2 Sports 2 2 Radio and/or television 1 3 2 1 Lack of interest 4 I 3 1 Lack of reading material Difficulties with eyes 3 , 1

Tulia High School

What are the reasons why you cannot read more ?

Heavy school assignments 9 17 19 16 Outside work 11 19 28 13 Read too slowly 6 4 12 6 Dates and social activities 5 15 12 1 179

TABLE XVIII—Continued

Junior Senior Question Boys Girls Boys Girls

Lack of money- 2 1 Sports 4 6 7 1 Radio and/or television 3 7 3 3 Lack of interest 4 5 8 2 Lack of reading material 1 1 1 1 Difficulties with eyes 4 4 5 5

Webster High School

What are the reasons why you cannot read snore ?

Heavy school assignments 9 6 3 8 Outside work 6 9 7 4 • Read too slowly 2 6 3 Dates and social activities 3 8 5 8 Lack of money 2 1 Sports 6 1 4 I Radio and/or television 2 7 3 6 Lack of interest 7 6 3 5 Lack of reading material 2 3 Difficulties with eyes 7 1 2

Whitesboro High School

What are the reasons why you cannot read more ?

Heavy school assignments 1 3 9 Outside work 2 10 16 7 Read too slowly 1 2 180

TABLE XVIII—Continued

Junior Senior Question Boys Girls Boys Girls

Dates and social activities 1 Z 8 6 Lack of money 1 Sports 1 2 4 Radio and/or television 1 1 2 2 Lack of interest 2 4 1 Lack of reading material 3 3 Difficulties with eyes 3 3

Voluntary Reading of Magazines

Junior and senior students in the ten Texas high schools were asked to name any magazine which they had been required to read in

school that they were now reading voluntarily. Table XIX presents the compiled data obtained from the responses to this question. Many

students in each of the schools wrote on the questionnaires that they had never been required to read any particular magazines in their school work, but others named magazines that they had been required to read and which they were now reading voluntarily.

The Reader's Digest was by far the most frequently listed magazine which had been required reading in school a ad that now was read voluntarily. This was true of both boys and girls, in both junior and 181 senior classes, in virtually all of the schools included in the study.

Farm magazines and The Saturday Evening Post were also mentioned frequently, although not to a degree comparable to that of The Reader's

Digest.

This tabulation shows that, although many of the students had

never been required to read any specific magazines in their school work, others had formed the habit of reading voluntarily certain

periodicals which they had, from time to time, been required to read

in their class work.

TABLE XIX

MAGAZINES WHICH STUDENTS HAVE BEEN REQUIRED TO READ IN SCHOOL. WHICH THEY NOW READ VOLUNTARILY, AS REPORTED BY JUNIOR AND SENIOR BOYS AND GIRLS IN TEN TEXAS HIGH SCHOOLS

Junior Senior Question

Boys Girls Boys Girls

Nocona High S cho< >1

Name any magazine which you have been required to read in school that you now read voluntarily.

Reader's, Digest 11 19 8 8 Saturday Evening Post 1 2 Life 2 1 182

TABLE XIX--Continued

Junior Senior Question Boys Girls Boys Girls

Charm 2 Science Digest 1 Look I Sports I Future Farmers of America 1

Electra High Sch tool

Name any magazine which you have been required to read in school that you now read voluntarily.

Reader's Digest 2 8 6 2 Junior Scholastic 1 Look 2 1 Progressive Farmer 2 Successful Farming 1 Time 2 2 Open Road for Boys 2 1 Farm and Ranch 1 Practical English 1 Life 1 1 Collier's 1 Saturday Evening Post 1 Popular Mechanics 1 Sports Afield 1 183

TABUS XIX—Continued

Junior Senior

jess* m 4*4

Boys Girls Boys Girls

Memphis !Hig h School

Name any magazine which you have bean required to read in school that you now read voluntarily.

Look 1 / Saturday Evening Post 1 Newsweek 1 4 1 I • Reader's Digest 1 2 I World News 1 .Ladies' Home Journal 1 American 1 Young America 1 Time 2 Upper Room 1 Life 1

Mineral Wells High School

Name any magazine which you have been required to read in school that you now read voluntarily.

Time 2 Reader's Digest ? 6 6 15 Saturday Evening Post 4 1 1 Life 3 1 2 Progressive Farmer 1 Future Farmers of America 1 184

TABLE XIX—Continued

Junior Senior Question Boys Girls Boys Girls

Collier's 1 Sports Illustrated i Newsweek 1 American Observer 3 Outdoor Life 1 Flying 1 Parade Z Harper's Bazaar 1

Northwest High School, J ustin

Name any magazine which you have been required to read in school that you now read voluntarily.

Reader's Digest 2 10 13 Saturday Evening Post 1 Country Gentleman 1 Look 1 National Geographic 1 Current Events 1 185

TAB US XIX—Continued

Junior Senior Question Boys Girls Boys Girls

Post High School

Name any magazine which you have been required to read in school that you now read voluntarily.

Saga 1 ULfe 2 1 4 Saturday Evening Post 3 2 3 Look 1 1 1 Collier's 1 3 Boy's Life 1 £ squire 2 McCall's 1 1 Seventeen 1 Everyone 1 Reader's Digest 1 1 Modern Screen 1 Coronet 2 Science 1

St. Jo High School

Name any magazine which you have been required to read in school that you now read voluntarily.

Life 1 1 Reader's Digest 1 1 Farm and Ranch 6 1 86 TABLE XIX—Continued

Junior Senior Question Boys Girls Boys Girls

Look 1 Field and Stream 1 Saturday Evening Post 1 Sports Afield 1

Tulia High School

Mame any magazine which you have been required to read in school that you now read voluntarily.

Reader's Digest 4 5 27 17 Chemistry 1 Newsweek 1 1 Boy's JLile 1 Coronet 1 Life 3 1 Collier's 1 Saturday Evening Post 3

Webster :Hig h S chool

Name any magazine which you have been required to read in school that you now read voluntarily.

Reader's Digest 4 13 3 1 Collier's 1 United States Hews and World Report 1 3 187

TABLE XIX—Continued

Junior Senior Question Boys Girls Boys Girls

Newsweek 1 1 Life 2 1 2 Time 1 1 1 Look 1 Saturday Evening Post 1

Whitesboro High School

Name any magazine which you have been required to read in school that you now read voluntarily.

Reader's Digest 1 9 10 5 Coronet 3 1 5 8 Life 1 Saturday Evening Post 1

Favorite Magazines

When the students participating in this study were asked to name their favorite magazine, the result was a long list of many- dif- ferent periodicals, as presented in Table XX. Favorite magazines tended to be the same for both juniors and seniors and for both boys and girls to a greater degree than was true of favorite books and favorite authors, as presented in earlier tabulations. 188

For all of the students, The Saturday Evening Post, life, and

JLook were the three most popular magazines, according to the.numbers of students naming them as their favorites. For the girls, Seven- teen, McCall's, American Girl, and Ladies' Home Journal were the most popular magazines, while for the hoys such magazines as Sports

Illustrated, Popular Mechanics, Popular Science, Field and Stream and other outdoor magazines, Argosy, and Boy's Life were among the more popular magazines, according to the frequency with which they were named as favorites.

There was certainly a wide variety of favorite magazines listed by the students included in this study, but this fact may have been due to a narrow and restricted acquaintance with magazines rather than to a selective process to determine personal favorites.

TABLE XX

FAVORITE MAGAZINES REPORTED BY JUNIOR AND SENIOR BOYS AND GIRLS IN TEN TEXAS HIGH SCHOOLS

Junior Senior Question

Boys Girls Boys Girls

Nocona H igh School

What is your favorite magazine ? Sports Illustrated 4 1 2 Popular Mechanics 1 2 189

TABLE XX—Continued

Junior Senior Question Boys Girls Boys Girls

Saturday Evening Post 7 5 3 2 Male 1 . tAqvie ro^gaaines 1 Look 1 1 1 Argosy 2 Seventeen 10 4 Field and Stream 4 True 3 Farm and Ranch 1 Cycle 1 Reader's Digest 1 1 Science Digest 1 Catholic Digest 1 Air Trails 1 Hunting and Fishing 1 Woman's Home Companion 1 Life 3 3 2 Good Housekeeping 1 Collier's 1 1 Hot Rod 2 3 Outdoor Life 1 1 Photoplay 1 Ladies' Home Journal 1 Stag 1 See 1 Charnn 1 American Girl 2 Man to Man 1 McCall's 1 1 Western Horseman 1 True Confessions 1 Funny books 1 True Romances 1 Car Craft 1 Redbook 3 Better Homes and Gardens 1 190

TABLE XX— Continued

Junior Senior Question Boys Girls Boys Girls

Electra High School

What is your favorite magazine ?

National Geographic 1 Ladies' Home Journal 3 1 Life 3 6 2 5 Modern Screen 1 Saturday Evening Post 11 9 2 6 Look 3 5 1 Auto Age 1 Hunting and Fishing 1 Photography 1 Redbook 5 Popular Mechanics 2 Popular Science 2 2 Better Homes and Gardens 1 1 Seventeen 5 8 Sports Illustrated 4 5 American 1 True Story 4 Popular Electronics 1 Good Housekeeping 1 Mc Call's 5 3 Field and Stream 2 Time 1 1 Reader's Digest 2 1 Fur, Fish, and Game 1 Collier's 1 1 1 1 Bluebook 1 Hot mod 1 1 Pic 1 Air Trails 1 Charm 1 Glamour 1 191

TABLE XX—Continued

Junior Senior

Ci%£tAt j#w* s>s |*SN|I> Af wii* Boys Girls Boys Girls

Mademoiselle 1 Comics 1 Mad 1 Compact 1 World Tenuis 1

Memphis High School

What is your favorite magazine ?

Field and Stream 1 2 Seventeen 6 1 Saturday Evening Post 1 3 2 4 Life 6 4 1 2 Look 1 1 i 1 Sports Illustrated 2 1 Reader's Digest 1 1 z 1 Collier's 1 1 2 Mc Call's 1 1 Woman's Home Companion 1 American 1 1 True 1 Outdoor Life 2 Christian Herald 1 Western Horseman 1 Holiday 1 Open Road for Boys 1 Popular Science 1 Compact 1 192

TABLE XX—Continued

Junior Senior Question Boys Girls Boys Girls

Mineral Wells High School

What is your favorite magazine ?

Look 3 1 2 Western Horseman 1 Travel 1 Sports 4 2 Life 10 1 7 5 Harper1 s 1 Atlantic Monthly 1 Yachting 1 Photography 1 Seventeen 11 7 Eedbook 2 1 Saturday Evening Post 13 10 6 3 Collier's 5 5 Modern Screen 1 C osmopolitan 1 Boy's Life 1 Outdoor Life 3 Hot Rod 5 True 1 Saga 1 Q. S. T. 1 American Rifleman 1 Field and Stream 2 Hop-Up 2 Speed Mechanic 2 Popular Science 1 Popular Mechanics 1 Farmer-Stockman 1 Reader's Digest 1 1 2 True Story 1 193

TABLE XX—Continued

Junior Senior

®* !«**#** Boys Girls Boys Girls

Ladies' Home Journal 1 3 Etude 1 Charm 1 Progressive Farmer 1 Home Life 1 American 1 Farm and Ranch 1 Holiday 1

Northwest High School, Justin

What is your favorite magazine ?

Saturday Evening Post 1 4 ? 5 Mc Call's 1 1 Farm and Ranch 2 Sports Afield 1 1 Life 7 1 6 4 Seventeen ? 6 Woman's Home Companion 1 Look 1 I 2 4 Boy's Life 1 Farm Journal 1 Rod and Custom 1 United States Camera 1 American Girl I Reader's Digest % 2 True Confessions I 1 Popular Mechanics 1 I Hot Rod 1 Eedbook 2 Popular Science 1 194

TABLE XX—Continued

Junior Senior

S* t-XO 11 Boys Girls Boys Girls

Sports Illustrated 3 True 1 Today's Secretary 1

Post High School

What is your favorite magazine ?

Collier's 3 1 1 1 Saturday Evening Post 3 5 1 a Look I 2 Progressive Farmer 1 Outdoor .Life 1 True 1 McCall's 1 1 Esquire 1 Hot Rod 1 Argosy 1 Time 1 Mad 2 Panic 1 Flying 1 Ladies' Home Journal 2 National Geographic 1 Seventeen 3 Popular Science 1 Life 4 header's Digest 1 Field and Stream 1 Hunting and Fishing 1 195

TABLE XX—Continued

Junior Senior Question Boys Girls Boys Girls•

St. Jo High School

What is your favorite magazine ?

Saturday Evening Post 5 2 4 1 Science Digest 1 Life 3 5 1 Reader's Digest 1 Look 1 Woman's Home Companion 2 True 1 Mechanics Illustrated i American Girl 1 Good Housekeeping 1 1 Radio-TV 1 Ladies1 Home Journal 2 Compact 1 Mc Call's 1 Popular Mechanics 1 Sports Afield 1 Farm and Ranch 1 Outdoor Life 1 Field and Stream 1 Motor Sports 1 Progressive Farmer 1 1 96

TABLE XX—Continued

Junior Senior Question Boys Girls Boys Girls

Tulia High School

What is your favorite magazine ?

Howie Life 1 Vogue 1 American Girl 1 1 ColUer's 1 1 Saturday Evening Post 11 9 13 8 Life 6 6 9 3 Ladies' Home Journal 3 2 Field and Stream 1 Sports Afield 1 2 Seventeen 7 8 McCall's 1 2 2 Good Housekeeping 1 1 Reader's Digest 1 3 1 Newsweek 1 Look 2 2 Western Horseman 1 Quarterhorse Journal 1 Popular Electronics 1 1 The Cattleman 1 Popular Mechanics 2 National Geographic 1 1 Natural History 1 Saturday Review of Literature 1 Etude 1 American Organ 1 Redbook 1 Farm and Ranch 1 Sports Illustrated 1 American Home i 197

TABLE XX—Continued

Junior Senior Question Boys Girls Boys Girls

Progressive Farmer 1 Popular Science 2 Hot Rod 2 Esquire I

Webster High School

What is your favorite magazine ?

American Girl 1 Life 6 5 5 5 Time 1 1 1 Saturday Evening Post 3 4 Collier's 1 Sports Illustrated 1 Look 4 2 3 I True 1 2 Seventeen 5 3 Popular Science 3 Ladies* Home Journal 1 Reader's Digest 1 3 1 Radio and TV Mirror 1 Field and Stream 1 Popular Mechanics 1 1 2 Modern Bride 1 Hot Rod 3 5 Redbook 1 True Story 1 1 McCall's 2 i National Geographic 2 1 1 Boy's Life 1 Photography 1 Good Housekeeping 1 198

TABLE XX—-Continued

Junior Senior Question Boys Girls Boys Girls

Motor Boating 2 Model Airplane Mews 1 Woman's Home Companion 2 Better Homes and Gardens 1 Glamour 1 Junior Mis# 1 Motor Trend 1

W hite shoxo High School

What is your favorite magazine ?

Saturday Evening Post 2 7 6 3 Redbook 1 Seventeen Z 4 McC all's 4 Sports Illustrated 2 4 Collier's 1 Ladies' Home Journal 2 True Story 2 Look 1 1 True 2 Popular Mechanics 1 Life 1 3 1 Field and Stream 1 Reader's Digest 1 2 Science Digest 1 Outdoor Life 1 Harper's 1 Mechanics Illustrated 1 199

Favorite Newspapers

When students were asked to name their favorite newspapers,

the results tabulated in Table XXI were obtained from the question'

naires. Many students failed to name a favorite newspaper.

Comparatively few students in any school selected their own

home-town newspaper as their favorite, evidently tending toward news-

papers coming from larger cities as their favorites. This was as no-

ticeable in the Nocona High School as in any other school included in

the study. One or more students in all of the schools except the North-

west High School and the Webster High School named their home-town

newspaper as their favorite; but these who did so were far outnumbered

in each instance by those who preferred a paper coming from a larger

city, usually located not far from the vicinity of the school being con-

sidered.

Fort Worth and Dallas newspapers were by far the most popular ones for the students in the ten schools as a whole, although, as in the case of the popularity of Wichita Falls newspapers among the students of the Electra High Schools, there were instances in which newspapers from near-by cities were more popular than the Fort Worth and Dallas sheets. For the Webster High School, Houston newspapers were more popular because of the proximity of this city to Web- ster and the ready accessibility of Houston papers for this reason. 200

TABLE XXI

FAVORITE NEWSPAPERS REPORTED BY JUNIOR AND SENIOR BOYS AND GIRLS IN TEN TEXAS HIGH SCHOOLS

Junior Senior Question Boys Girls Boys Girls

No c oaa High School

What is your favorite newspaper ?

Fojrt Worth Press 3 3 1 Nocoaa News 2 4 1 Wichita Falls Daily Tiroes 5 9 5 1 6 Wichita Falls Daily News 1 Fort Worth Star-Telegram 11 3 1 1 Hong Kong News 1 Dallas MOrning News 3 1 1 2 Wichita Falls Record-News 3 1 2 1 Racine Journal- Times 1 Dallas Times-Herald 1 Daily Oklahoraan 1 St. Jo Tribune 1 Daily Planet 1

Electra High School

What is your favorite newspaper ?

£lectra Star-News 2 3 7 Wichita Falls Morning News 3 I Wichita Falls Daily Times 15 20 5 10 Fort Worth Star-Telegram 4 1 1 1 Wichita Falls Record-News 2 1 1 1 Dallas Morning News 4 3 4 1 201

TABLE XXI—Continued

Junior Senior Question Boys Girls Boys Girls

Wichita Falls Record-Times 1 1 Fort Worth Press 1 1 Tigar Tales 1 1 Dallas Times-Herald 1

Memphis High School

What is your favorite newspaper ?

Fort Worth Star- Telegram 8 3 10 4 Amarillo Globe-Times 1 2 5 2 AmariUo Daily Mews 5 8 4 2 Wichita Falls Daily Mews 1 Wichita Falls Record-News I Memphis Democrat 1

Mineral Wells High School

What is your favorite newspaper ?

Fort Worth Star-Telegram 46 26 16 17 Dallas Morning News 3 1 Fort Worth Press 3 1 5 Mineral Wells Index 3 1 2 Lubbock Avalanche-Journal 1 New York Times 1 202

TABLE XXI—Continued

Junior Senior Question Boys Girls Boys Girls

Northwest High School, Justin

What is yotar favorite newspaper ?

Fort Worth Star-Telegram 13 15 18 15 Denton Record-Chronicle 2 1 1 4 Dallas Times-Herald 1 Dallas Morning Hews 1 2 Fort Worth Press 1 3 1 3

Post High School

What is your favorite newspaper ?

Fort Worth Star-Telegram 3 2 1 3 Lubbock Evening Journal 2 2 Lubbock Avalanche-Journal 6 3 1 6 Abilene Reporter 1 1 Birmingham Mews 1 Post Dispatch 2 1 6 Des Moines Register - Tribune I Lubbock Morning Avalanche I 2 Antelope Echo I 203

TABLE XXI—Continued

Junior Senior Question Boys Girls Boys Girls

St. Jo High School

What is your favorite newspaper ?

Fort Worth Star- Telegram 4 6 2 Fort Worth Press 4 1 1 Wichita Falls Daily Times 4 4 1 Saint Jo Tribune 1 1 1 Dallas Morning Hews 1 1 Wichita Falls Record-News 3 Panther's Purr 1 Life 1

Tulia Hi gh School

What is your favorite newspaper ?

Amarillo Globe - News 5 6 8 4 Fort Worth Star-Telegram 2 4 6 Hornet 1 1 Amarillo Daily News 6 12 12 10 Tulia Herald 1 6 1 2 Amarillo Globe-Times 1 2 5 5 Plaiaview Herald 1 Lubbock Avalanche 2 1 Sporting News 1 Amarillo Morning News 1 Denver Post 1 2 Dallas Morning News 1 204

TABLE XXI—Continued

Junior Senior Question Boys Girls Boys Girls

Webster High School

What is your favorite newspaper ?

Houston Post 8 11 10 5 Houston Chronicle 7 10 9 11 Houston Press 5 4 I 2 Galveston Daily Hews 1 3 2 Austin Statesman 1 Galveston County Press 1 San Antonio Light 1

Whitesboro High School

What is your favorite newspaper ?

Fort Worth Star*Telegram 1 6 7 5 Sherman Democrat 3 - 3 7 8 Dallas Times-Herald 1 Dallas Morning Mews 1 3 3 Whitesboro News-Record 1 Wall Street Journal I Denison. Herald 1 Wichita Falls Record-News 1

Interestingly enough, the above table indicates that students o£ three o£ the high schools, in numbers o£ one or more, checked their school newspapers as their favorites. Tiger Tales in the Electra High 205

School, The Antelope Echo in the Post High School, and The Panther's

Purr is the St, Jo High School are the school newspapers mentioned as favorites by some students. In addition, Life Magazine was mentioned as a favorite newspaper by on® student in the St. So High School!

Frequency with Which Certain Parts of Newspapers Were Read by Students

Table XXII reveals the frequency with which the junior and senior students included in this study stated that they read the following parts of newspapers; front page news, picture features, sports, comics, political cartoons, and editorials. Students were asked to check whether they read these sections every day, occasionally, or not at all. Mum - bers of student® in each school did not check any of these frequencies.

Although there were variations for the individual schools, the comic section appears to be the part of newspapers which was most likely to be read every day by these students. The sports section was in second position as the part of newspapers most likely to be read every day, while front page news was only slightly behind the sports section in popularity. Picture features, political cartoons, and editorials followed in that order.

Comparatively few students read editorials every day, or even occasionally; and there was a strong tendency for editorials not to be read at all. There was no significant difference in the popularity of these 206 various newspaper sections between juniors and seniors, or between boys and girls, except with regard to the reading of the sports section, which was far more popular with boys than with girls. Editorials, on the other hand, were more likely to be read by girls than by boys.

TABLE XXII

FREQUENCY WITH WHICH € ciRTAIN SECTIONS OF NEWSPAPERS WERE READ BY JUNIOR AND SENIOR BOYS AND GIRLS IN TEN TEXAS HIGH SCHOOLS

Junior Senior Question Boys Girls Boys Girls

Nocona High School

Front page news Every day 13 9 7 6 Occasionally 8 IS 6 5 Not at all 3 1

Picture features Every day 7 7 1 2 Occasionally 9 15 7 3 Not at all 4 3 2 3

Sports Every day 20 5 10 5 Occasionally 6 13 1 4 Not at all 5 I 207

TABLE XXII—Continued

' Junior Senior Question Boys Girls Boys Girls

Comics Every day 22 18 11 6 Occasionally 4 5 3 5 Mot at all 1 1

Political cartoons Every day 7 2 7 Occasionally 11 10 6 3 Not at all 3 9 1 4

Editorials Every day 1 1 Occasionally 8 9 4 Not at all 11 11 5 7

33 lectra High School

With what frequency do you read the following parts of newspapers ?

Front page news Every day 21 22 8 14 Occasionally 5 15 4 11 Not at all 1 2

Picture features Every day 12 20 3 14 Occasionally 10 16 10 11 Not at all 1 2 1 208

TABLE XXII—Continued

Junior Senior Question Boys Girls Boys Girls

Sports Every day 22 21 11 9 Occasionally 5 13 2 14 Not at all 1 7 4

Comics Every day 30 33 14 22 Occasionally 2 4 5 Not at all 3

Political cartoons Every day 10 13 1 9 Occasionally a 12 8 14 Not at all 3 8 2 5

Editorials Every day 1 6 2 Occasionally 8 13 4 1? Not at all 10 15 6 10

Memphis High School

With what frequency do you read the following parts of newspapers ?

Front page news Every day 9 13 10 4 Occasionally 3 3 9 6 Not at all 209

TABLE XXII—Continued

Junior Senior m 1»*ifjyt Boys Girls Boys Girls

Picture features Every day 3 8 6 4 Occasionally 9 7 12 6 Not at all 1

Sports Every day 9 7 12 Occasionally 1 a 4 9 Mot at all 3 2 3 1

Comics Every day 12 14 15 7 Occasionally 2 4 3 Not at all

Political cartoons Every day 3 5 2 6 Occasionally 6 12 11 4 Hot at all 1 I 2 3

Editorials JEvery day 2 1 1 1 Occasionally 7 11 11 4 Not at all 3 3 7 5

Mineral Wells High School

With what frequency do you read the following parts of newspapers ?

Front page news Every day 33 23 14 IS Occasionally 23 7 5 7 Hot at all 1 210

TABLE XXII—Continued

Junior Senior

AVI

Boys Girls Boys Girls

Picture features Every day 22 12 4 11 Occasionally 29 16 11 11 Hot at all 2 2 4 3

Sports Every day 41 14 16 13 Occasionally 10 11 2 a Not at all 5 6 2 3

Comics Every day 40 23 13 12 Occasionally 14 5 6 8 Not sit all 2 1 5

Political cartoons Every day 16 5 6 3 Occasionally 30 20 9 21 Not at all 10 5 4 1

Editorials Every day 2 1 2 Occasionally 30 22 14 19 Hot at all 20 8 5 3

Northwest High School, Jus tin

With what frequency do you read the following parts of newspapers ?

Front page news Every day 7 9 11 18 Occasionally 8 12 10 4 Not at all 1 211

TABLE XXII—Continued

Junior Senior

U^utstiozjm, ifcf *S *C£Sfic Boys Girls Boys Girls

Picture features Every day 4 e 6 17 Occasionally 9 12 9 3 Not at all 1 7 2

Sports Every day 8 4 15 9 Occasionally 8 14 8 10 Not at all 3 1

Comics Every day 10 IS 21 16 Occasionally 7 7 2 5 Mot at all 1

Political cartoons Every day 5 3 4 4 Occasionally a 10 11 10 Nat at all 2 7 1 5

Editorials Every day I 3 Occasionally 3 12 6 12 Mot at all 9 6 16 4

Post High School

With what frequency do you read the following parts of newspapers ? Front page news Every day 5 3 2 11 Occasionally 6 1 1 7 Not at all 212

TABLE XXII—Continued

Junior Senior Question Boys Girls Boys Girls

Picture features Every day 4 1 1 9 Occasionally 5 2 4 Hot at all

Sports Every day 5 1 1 5 Occasionally 6 1 1 4 Mot at all

Comics Every day 6 3 2 9 Occasionally 9 3 6 Hot at all

Political cartoons Every day 6 2 2 4 Occasionally 5 2 Not at all

Editorials Every day 1 1 4 Occasionally 3 1 Not at all 1

St. Jo High School

With what frequency do you read the following parts of newspapers f Front page news Every day 3 11 2 5 Occasionally 6 4 4 1 Not at all 213

TABLE XXII—Continued

Junior Senior Question Boys Girls Boys Girls

Picture features Every day 3 7 3 3 Occasionally h 7 3 3 Hot at alt I

Sports Every day 5 4 4 3 Occasionally 2 7 1 3 Not at all 2 4

Comics Every day 5 13 4 5 Occasionally 4 1 2 1 Hot at all

Political cartoons Every day 3 3 3 Occasionally 4 9 5 2 Mot at all 2 3 1

Editorials Every day 1 2 1 1 Occ astionally 5 8 4 5 Not at all 3 5 1

Talia High School

With what frequency do you read the following parts of news* papers ? Front page news Every day 10 18 17 15 Occasionally 6 9 13 7 Mot at all 1 I 214

TABLE XXII—Continued

Junior Senior

/""fro* jss.4'* 4r%-v% 4

Boys Girls Boys Girls

Picture features Every day 7 11 3 ? Occasionally 6 15 9 5 Mat at all 2 3 2

Sports Every day 9 7 12 5 Occasionally 4 14 12 5 Hot at all 1 3 2 4

Comics Every day 9 16 15 11 Occasionally 0 11 9 8 Hot at all 2 1

Political cartoons Every day 6 2 6 3 Occasionally 6 18 11 6 Mot at all 1 2 5

.Editorials Every day 1 5 3 Occasionally 6 14 6 5 Hot at all 4 7 6 5

Webster High School

With what frequency do you read the following parts of newspapers ?

F ront page news Every day 11 24 6 13 Occasionally 9 4 13 3 Not at all 215

TABLE XXII—Continued

Junior Senior Question Boys Girls Boys Girls

Picture features Every day 6 8 5 ? Occasionally 12 12 9 8 Not at all 1 2 4 2

Sports Every day 13 13 16 6 Occasionally 6 8 3 9 Hot at all Z 2

Comics Every day 14 21 13 17 Occasionally 5 6 8 3 Mot at all 2 2 1

Political cartoons Every day 7 8 3 Z Occasionally 8 12 10 14 Mot at all 3 3 3 1

Editorials Every day 4 4 2 Occasionally 7 10 7 12 Mot at all 8 7 10 5

White sboro High School

With what frequency do you read the following parts of news - papers?

Front page news Every day 3 S 13 10 Occasionally 1 2 5 5 Not at all 1 216

TABLE XXE—Continued

Junior Senior Question Boys Girls Boys Girls

Picture features Every day 7 4 8 Occasionally 2 2 7 6 Not at all 2 1 7

Sports Every day, 1 2 12 3 Occasionally 2 7 3 8 Mot at all 1 1 4 3

Comics Every day 2 9 14 7 Occasionally 1 1 5 1 Hot at all 1 1

Political cartoons Every day 4 1 1 Occasionally 3 3 14 10 Not at all 1 3 3 3

Editorials Every day. 1 1 1 4 Occasionally 1 8 3 6 Not at all 2 1 9 4

Favorite Comic Strips

Table XXIII indicate* the favorite comic strips mentioned by the students who responded to this question in the survey sheet. As with the other questions, large numbers did not name favorites. 217

A rather pronounced tendency is apparent in the tabulation, namely, that boys tended t© name a comic strip that has a brave, adventurous young man as its hero, and that girls usually listed as their favorites these comic strips that have teen-age ©r young women as their central characters. There were, however, notable exceptions.

For instance, "Rex Morgan, M. D.," relating the experiences of a handsome young doctor, was one of the most popular comic strips among the girls, while "Dennis the Menace," dealing with the pranks and adventures of a juvenile mischief-maker, and "Blondie and Dag- wood, " relating to the family life of a young married couple and their two children, were highly popular in virtually all of the schools, with bath boys and girls.

On the whole, comic strips depicting thrilling adventure and ordinary human life experiences were more popular with these particular groups of students than were those which tend to be more humorous or "funny. " "Dick Tracy, " for instance, was much more popular than

"Mutt and Jeff. " This indicates that most of the students prefer adventure in their comics, rather than humor. Perhaps this liking is general, since, within recent years, "funny papers" have tended to become less "funny" and more adventurous. 218

TABLE XXIII

FAVORITE COMIC STRIPS REPORTED BY JUNIOR AMD SENIOR BOYS AND GIRLS IN TEN TEXAS HIGH SCHOOLS

Junior Senior Question Boys Girls Boys Girls

Nocona High School

What is your favorite comic strip ?

Nancy 1 1 3 Biondie and Dagwood 4 1 Dennis the Menace 4 4 Will-yum 4 1 Dick Tracy 3 3 Mutt and Jeff 3 1 Li'l Abner 8 4 2 1 Rex Morgan, M. D. 1 3 ' 1 4 Mary Worth 5 Henry 1 Archie I 1 1 1 Kerry Drake 1 2 I 2 • Juliet Jones 2 Alley Oop I Donald Duck 1 Buzz Sawyer 2 3 Susie-Q 1 Snuffy Smith 1 The Nebbs I I Love Lucy 1 Mark Trail 1 1 Steve Canyon 1 219

TABLE XXIII— Continued

Junior Senior Question Boys Girls Boys Girls

Ele ctra High School

What is you* favorite comic strip ?

Red Ryder 3 1 Blondie and Dagwood 4 5 1 3 Rex Morgan, M. D. 14 6 Grandma 3 1 1 Siasie-Q 1 1 Jackson Twins 2 14*1 Abner 5 1 2 Mary Worth 3 2 Donald Duck 5 1 1 Archie 4 3 1 Buzs Sawyer 4 2 Kerry Drake 5 6 3 5 Nancy i 2 1 Fog© I 2 Mutt and Jeff 3 Dick Tracy 2 1 1 Bobby Sox 1 Steve Canyon 1 1 I Flash Gordon 1 Allep Oop 1 Wait for March 1 Buck Rogers 1 Dixie Dugan 1 Jane Arden 1 220

TABLE XXIII—Continued

Junior Senior Question Boys Girls Boys Girls

M emphi s High School

What is your favorite comic strip ?

Rex Morgan, M. D. 3 3 Mark Trail I 2 Juliet Jones 4 I Herman 1 Kerry Drake 1 2 Buss Sawyer 1 i 1 Winnie Winkle 1 Smilin' Jack 1 Dick Tracy 3 2 2 2 Mutt and Jeff 1 Dennis the Menace 2 They'll Do It Every Time I Pogo 1 Little Iodine 1 Bloadie and Dagwood 3 I JLi'l Abner 1 I 1 Ozark Ike 2 Prince Valiant I Steve Roper 1 Judge Parker 1 1 Detective Drake 1 Bugs Bunny 1 Alley Oop 1 Emmy JLou 1 Joe Palooka 1 Penny 1 221

TABLE XXIII—Continued

Junior Senior Question

Boys Girls Boys Girls

Mineral Wells High School

What is your favorite comic strip?

Brenda Starr 2 Dick Tracy 12 5 4 4 L.i'1 Abner 1 1 2 Priscilla's Pop 1 1 Juliet Jones I 10 1 Winnie Winkle I 1 Mutt and Jeff 12 2 3 4 Buzz Sawyer 2 i Jackson Twin# 1 Believe It or Not 1 Will-yum 3 2 1 Mandrake the Magician 2 Herman 2 1 Snulin* Jack 1 i 1 1 Blondie and Dagwood 1 2 1 Nick Holladay 1 Dennis the Menace 1 Bugs Bunny 1 i Rex Morgan. M. D. 1 1 Alley Oop 2 Freckles and His Friends 1 Donald Duck 1 ArcMe 1 Little Iodine 1 Emmy Lou 1 Little Orphan Annie 1 Terry and the Pirates 1 1 Snuffy Smith 2 222

TABLE XXIII—Continued

Junior Senior Question Boys Girls Boys Girls

Northwest High School, Jus tin

What is your favorite comic strip ?

Dick Tracy 2 4 6 4 Herman 2 1 Smilin1 Jack 2 2 1 Mutt and Jeff ? 4 2 Little King I Believe It or Hot 1 Juliet Jones 4 7 Buzz Sawyer 2 3 Mary Worth 1 Long Sam i 1 Johnny Holideen i Daisy Mae i Rip Kirby l I Mark Trail i JLi'l Abaer 3 Henry 2 Grandma 1 Snuffy Smith 1 Ella Cinders 1 Winnie Winkle I They'll Do It Every Time 1 Ozark Ike 1 Will-yuan 1 223

TABLE XXIII—Continued

Junior Senior Question Boys Girls Boys Girls

Post High School

What is your favorite comic strip ?

Peanuts I 1 Buzz Sawyer 5 1 2 1 Dennis the Menace 4 Li'l Abner 1 1 Smilin' Jack 1 1 Mary Worth 1 5 Priseiila's Fop 1 Bugs Bunny 2 Little Eva 1 Little Lulu 2 2 Mutt and Jell 1 1 Will-yum 2 Alley Oop 1 Dick Tracy 3 Nancy 3 Vie Flint 1 Jane Ardea 3 Blondie and Dagwood 1 Rex Morgan, M. D. 3 Julie Adams 1 224

TABUS XXIII—Continued

Junior Senior Question Boys Girls Boys Girls

St. Jo High Sch o o 1

What is your favorite comic strip?

Buzz Sawyer 1 2 Juliet Jones 3 Dick Tracy 2 1 2 Mary Worth 3 JLi'l Abner 3 3 1 Rex Morgan, M. D. 1 1 1 1 Pogo 1 1 Winnie Winkle 1 Blondie and Dagwood 2 1 Fearless Fosdick 1 Donald Duck 1 Kerry Drake 1 Mark Trail 1

Tulia High School

What is your favorite comic strip ?

Mandrake the Magician 1 Dick Tracy I 1 14*1 Abner 5 4 3 3 Dennis the Menace Z 6 3 7 Jones Family 1 Blondie and Dagwood 2 6 3 4 Out Our Way 1 Mark Trail 1 1 4 Jane Arden 1 225

TABLE XXIII—Continued

Junior Senior

M f 1 f*Vk Boys Girls Boys Girls

Bttzac Sawyer 2 2 Steve Roper 1 4 . 1 Little Nancy 2 1 Joe Palooka 1 2 1 Judge Parker 1 Aggie Mack 1 Rex Morgan, M. D. 1 1 Freckles and His Friends 1 1 Tom and Jerry 1 The Little King 1 Gordo 1 Bugs Bunny 4 Mary Worth 1 Kerry Drake 1 Tweety 1 Ozark Ike 2 Steve Canyon 1 Fogo Possum 1 Henry Aldridge 1 Little Orphan Annie 1 Frince Valiant 1

Webster ;Hig h School

What is your favorite comic strip t

Jackson Twins 1 2 Blondie and Dagwood 1 1 1 1 Pogo 1 Dick Tracy 1 2 3 1 Juliet Jones 3 Steve Roper 2 2 2 1 226

TABLE XXIII—Continued

Junior Senior

O f1UV t U€*f l

Boys Girls Boys Girls

Kerry Drake 2 1 1 Rex Morgan, M. D. 6 6 Judge Parker 3 Nancy 2 2 Buzz Sawyer 1 1 Mary Worth 1 2 Beetles Bailey 1 1 3 1 Snuffy Smith 1 L.i'1 Abner 2 3 I Donald Duck 1 Dotty Dripple I Twin .Earths 1 Long Sam 2 Mutt and Jeff 1 1 Dennis the Menace 1 1 Dragnet 1 Mark Trail 1 1 1 Jane Andrews 1 Grandma 1 Flash Gordon 1 Rip Kirby 1 little Iodine 1

Whiteaboro High S c hool

What is your favorite comic strip ?

Smilin' Jack 1 2 Buzz Sawyer 1 5 3 2 Juliet Jones 2 1 Will-yum 1 Secret Agent X-9 1 Ferdinand 1 1 22?

TABLE XXIII—Continued

Junior Senior Question. Boys Girls Boys Girls

Dixie Dugan 3 1 Muggs and Skeeter 1 Winnie Winkle 1 Brenda Starr 1 Blondie and Dagwood 1 3 5 Hick Holliday 1 Dick Tracy 1 4 2 Mutt and Jeff I Pogo 1 Li'l Abner 1 1 Rip Kirby 1 1 Hip Corrig&n 1 Superman 1 Kennesaw 1 They'll D6 It Every Time 1 Our Our Way 1 Donald Duck 1

Magazines Named by Students as Those to Which. They Would Subscribe If They Could Take Only One Magazine

Table XXIV presents the tabulations resulting from responses made by the students to the question, "If you could subscribe to only one magazine, which would you choose?" Many students did not answer this question.

The Saturday Evening Post, Life, and Look were the three magazines selected most frequently by both boys and girls of both 228 academic classes as the ones they would take if they could subscribe to ©tily arte magazine. There were, of course, a few individual schools in which other choices were more prominent; but these three publications led the list throughout the schools as a whole.

Among the boys, such magazines as Field and Stream, Outdoor

Life, Hot Rod, Boy's Life, Sports Illustrated, and Esquire were named rather frequently as choices; whereas among the girls, Seventeen,

McGall's, Woman's Home Companion, Ladies' Home Journal, and

American Girl appeared to be mentioned more frequently than other magazines. From these findings it appears that the boys were more likely to choose magazines in the fields of sports and outdoor life, while the girls tended to select girls' and women's magazines and those relating to the home. 2 29

TABLE XXIV

MAGAZINES SELECTED BY JUNIOR AND SENIOR BOYS AND GIRLS IN TEN TEXAS HIGH SCHOOLS AS THE ONES THEY WOULD CHOOSE IF THEY COULD SUBSCRIBE TO ONLY ONE MAGAZINE

Junior Senior Question Boys Girls Boys Girls

If you could subscribe to only one magazine, which would you choose ?

Argosy 3 Field and Stream 3 Saturday Evening Post 6 6 I 2 Redbook I 4 Look 1 1 Holiday 1 Photoplay 3 Motion Pictures 1 Saga 1 Sport Stars 1 True 1 Seventeen 4 4 Farm and Ranch 1 Hot Rod 4 4 Reader's Digest 1 Air Trails 1 Woman's Home Companion 1 Good Housekeeping 1 Etude 1 Collier's 1 1 Sports Illustrated 2 1 2 Life 2 2 3 Ladies' Home Journal 1 230

TABLE XXIV—Continued

Junior Senior Question Boys Girls Boys Girls

American Home I See 1 American Girl 2 Man to Man 1 Popular Mechanics 2 Western Horseman I Modern Romance 1 National Geographic 1 Progressive Farmer 1 Outdoor Life I iC squire I

Electra High School

• If you could subscribe to only cine magazine, which would you choose ?

Hational Geographic I Seventeen 5 6 Life 8 5 2 4 True Story 3 1 Science Digest I Compact I 1 Saturday Evening Post 7 9 2 5 Ladies' Home Journal ' 4 1 Sports Afield 2 I Popular Science I Redbook 3 Better Homes and Gardens I I 2 Esquire 3 2 Hot Rod 3 American Rifleman 1 231

TABLE XXIV—Continued

Junior Senior Question Boys Girls Boys Girls

True Confessions 1 1 McCall's 2 3 American Girl 1 Popular Electronics 1 Field and Stream 2 Boy's Life 1 Newsweek 2 Reader's Digest 2 3 Farmer-Stockman 1 Coronet 1 Look 1 Collier's 1 1 Time 1 1 Etude 1 Panic 1 Mechanics Illustrated 1 Air Trails 1 Sports Illustrated 1 Harper's Bazaar 1 Popular Science 1

Memphis High School

If you could subscribe to only one magazine, which would you choose?

American I 1 1 Life 5 5 3 2 Reader's Digest 2 5 1 Saturday Evening Post 2 1 5 2 Ideals 1 2 Outdoor Life 1 1 £tude I 2 232

TABLE XXIV—Continued

Junior Senior

yuc «$ friwii Boys Girls Boys Girls

Ladies' Home Journal 1 Seventeen 4 1 Time 1 Sports Illustrated 1 i True 1 Holiday i Western Horseman 1 McCall's i Boy's Life 1 Popular Science 1 Compact i

Mineral Wells High School

If you could subscribe to only one magazine, which would you choose ?

Flying 1 Cattleman 1 Life 10 2 6 6 Seventeen 8 5 Sports Illustrated 5 1 Redbook 2 1 Saturday Evening Post 14 5 5 4 Modern Screen 1 Header's Digest 1 3 2 Boy's Life 2 Outdoor Life I Collier's 4 3 1 Field and Stream 2 Popular Mechanics 2 Popular Science 1 Saga 1 233

TABLE XXIV—Continued

Junior Senior Question Boys Girls Boys Girls

True 1 Q. S. T. 1 Hot Rod 4 Look 1 1 2 1 Farmer -Stockman 1 True Story 1 Training Union 1 Twentieth-Century Christian 1 National Geographic 1 Ladies1 Home Journal 2 3 Speed Age 1 Etude 1 Farm and Ranch 1 American 2 Time 1 2 Argosy 1 Progressive Farmer I Gharm 1

Northwest High School, Justin

If you could subscribe to only one magazine, which would you choose?

Saturday Evening Post 2 5 5 6 Seventeen 7 5 Farm and Ranch 2 Sports Illustrated 1 3 Ladies1 Home Journal i Life 9 i ? 2 Good Housekeeping i McCall's I 234

TABLE XXIV—Continued

Junior Senior Question Boys Girls Boys Girls

True Story 1 Rod and Custom 1 Collier's 1 Popular Photography 1 American Girl 1 Reader's Digest 1 1 2 Holiday 1 True Confessions 1 1 Look 1 2 2 Popular Mechanics 1 Coronet 1 Hot Rod 1 Redbook 2 x Today's Secretary 1 Motor Trend 1 Sports Afield 1

Post High School

If you could subscribe to only one magazine, which would you choose ?

Collier's 3 Saturday Evening Post 4 2 1 7 Look 1 I Outdoor Life 1 True 1 Ssquire 4 McCall's 2 2 Popular Mechanics 2 Boy's Life 1 Argosy 1 Life 1 1 5 235

TABLE XXIV—Continued

Junior Senior

^ f£ f" 4 #%¥% Boys Girls Boys Girls

Seventeen 1 1 True Story 2 Popular Science 1 Glamour 1 Hunting and Fishing I

St. Jo High School

If you could subscribe to only one magazine, which would you choose ?

Saturday Evening Post 5 3 2 Life 1 4 American Girl 2 Look 2 Good Housekeeping 1 2 Ladies* Home Journal 1 Senior Year 1 McC all's 1 Popular Mechanics I Sports Afield 1 Outdoor Sports 1 Esquire 1 Motor Sports 1 Farm and Ranch 2 Country Gentleman 1 Farm Journal 1 236

TABLE XXIV—Continued

Junior Senior Question Boys Girls Boys Girls

T ulia High School

If you could subscribe to only one magazine, which, would you choose ?

.Life 5 6 10 3 Reader's Digest 5 7 6 Saturday Evening Post 8 7 8 6 Field and Stream 1 Woman's Home Companion 1 Ladies' Home Journal 1 2 Sports Afield 1 Mc Call's 1 Seventeen 8 3 American Girl 1 Hot Rod 1 1 Good Housekeeping 1 1 Coronet 1 Better Homes and Gardens 1 True 1 Western Horseman 1 Quarter horse Journal 1 Popular Electronics 1 Cattleman 1 Redbook 1 National Geographic 2 Farm and Ranch 1 Popular Mechanics 3 American Home 1 Collier's 1 1 Look 1 Popular Science 1 1 237

TABLE XXIV—Continued

Junior Senior Question Boys Girls Boys Girls

United States News and World Report - 1 1 Atlantic Monthly 1 Newsweek 1 Sports Illustrated 1

Webster High School

If you could subscribe to only one magazine, which would you choose ?

American Girl 1 Life 4 4 4 5 Sports Illustrated 1 Reader's Digest 2 5 1 1 Seventeen 6 2 Popular Science 1 Saturday Evsning Post 2 1 1 Ladies' Home Journal 1 1 Time 1 1 Look 3 Z 1 1 Popular Mechanics 2 Glamour 1 1 McCall's 2 Boy's Life 2 Hot Eod 3 1 4 Outdoor Life 2 Photography 1 Good Housekeeping 1 True 1 Western Horseman 1 National Geographic 4 1 238

TABLE XXIV—Continued

Junior Senior Question Boys Girls Boys Girls

Motor Boating 1 Tar end 1 Field and Stream 1 Model Airplane News 1 Woman's Home Companion 1 American Home 1 American 1 Junior Miss i Newsweek I 1 Motor Trend 1 Collier's 1

Whitesboro High School

11 you could subscribe to only one magazine, which would you choose?

Saturday Evening Post 2 4 5 2 Redbook 1 Seventeen 4 6 Sports 1 4 Better Homes and Gardens 1 Reader's Digest 2 1 2 True Story 1 True 2 Life 1 2 McCall's 2 Farm 1 Look 1 Farm and Ranch 1 Field and Stream 1 Sports Car 1 239

TABUS XXIV—Continued

Junior Senior Question Boys Girls Boys Girls

Country Gentleman 1 Ladies* Home Journal 1 Mechanics Illustrated 1 Modern. Screen 1

Magazines Recommended for School

Libraries

In Table XXV are presented the students' responses to the question, 'What magazine that our library does not take would you select for the librarian to order next year?" Interestingly enough, the librarian in the Webster High School had examined the questionnaires before sending them to the writer and had noted on more than half of the magazines mentioned that the library was already subscribing t© them. Apparently, the students either misunderstood this item in the questionnaire, or else they were not familiar with the magazines available is their school libraries. If this was true in this school it probably was true, also, in the others. When one looks over the lists contained in Table XXV, and remembers that these, supposedly, are magazines that the school libraries do not take, one cannot help 240 wondering what magazines they do take, since so many of the best- known ones are included in these listings. In all probability, the libraries were already subscribing to a number of the magazines mentioned, and the students were not aware of that fact. Several of the students indicated on their questionnaires that they knew very little about the magazines that the library received, and some stated that they did not have library periods on their schedules; but most of these students listed magazines, anyway, that they wanted the library to re- ceive.

Junior students suggested more magazines for the libraries than did the senior students, and boys in both the junior and senior classifications tended to recommend more magazines for the library than did the girls. There was a strong trend for the magazines suggested by the juniors to be different from those mentioned by the seniors, and for those named by boys to be different from those recommended by girls.

Boys tended to recommend to the library the magazines designed especially for men, such as Esquire, Man to Man, Men, True, Hot

Rod, and Field and Stream and other sports magazines. Girls, on the other hand, wanted the library in their school to take Seventeen,

Collier's, Harper's Bazaar, and other periodicals concerning the home and teen-age life. 241

TABLE XXV

MAGAZINES WHICH SCHOOL. LIBRARIES DID NOT TAKE WHICH WERE RECOMMENDED AS LIBRARY ADDITIONS BY JUNIOR AND SENIOR BOYS AND GIRLS IN TEN TEXAS HIGH SCHOOLS

Junior Senior Question Boys Girls Boys Girls

Noc ona High School

What magazines that our library does not take would you select for the librarian to order next year ?

Photoplay 1 Seventeen 8 5 Vogue 1 Collier's 2 4 Man to Man 1 Argosy 7 Sports Illustrated 1 1 Hot Rod 5 4 Look 1 1 True 3 Modern Screen 1 Western Horseman 1 1 Etude 1 Fashion 1 Sixteen 1 Compact 1 Woman's Home Companion 1 Esquire 4 Field and Stream 2 Saga 2 Outdoor Sportsman 1 Motor Speed 1 Country Gentleman 1 242

TABLE XXV—Continued

Junior Senior

®r IrX v? *& Boys Girls Boys Girls

Motion Pictures 2 Harper's Bazaar 2 Saturday Evening Post 1 McCall's 1 Redbook 2 True Romances 1 Outdoor Life 1

£1e c t r a High School

What magazine that our library does not take would you select for the librarian to order next year ?

Holiday 2 True 5 2 Music 1 Hot Rod 3 1 Compact 1 5 F arrner -Stockman 1 Time 1 Motor Trend 2 Esquire 1 6 Boy's JLife 2 1 Air Trails 2 Sixteen 1 Popular Electronics 2 True Story 3 Successful Farming 1 Life 1 Sports Illustrated 1 3. 2 American Rifleman 1 243

TABLE XXV—Continued

Junior Senior

^1*O Vlv1 tflVIu

Boys Girls Boys Girls

Redbook 1 Photography 1 Farm and Ranch 1 Radio and Television 1 Etude 1 Movie Screen 1 Reader's Digest 1

Memphis High School

What magazine that our library- does not take would you select for the librarian to order next year ?

Ideals 1 2 1 Sports Illustrated 1 1 Outdoor JLife 1 1 Photoplay 2 Modern Screen 2 Movie Life 1 Handicraft 1 Compact 2 Saturday Evening Post 2 1 Saga 1 Redbook 1 Power 2 Concern 1 World News 1 Coronet 1 1 Collier's 1 i£tude 1 244

TABLE XXV—Continued

Junior Senior

^UCS-UUiHsti jpKsjl"? fitU s Boys Girls Boys Girls

Outdoor am an 1 Western Horseman 3 Popular Mechanics 1

Mineral Wells High School

What magazine that our library does not take would you select for the librarian to order next year ?

Look 4 2 1 Etude 1 Wild Life 3 Hot Rod 4 Twentieth-Century Christian 1 Soup- Up 1 Baptist Standard 1 American Automobile 1 Saturday Review of Literature 1 Sports Illustrated 3 Auto Life American Rifleman 1 Q. S. T. 1 Saturday Evening Post 1 1 Movie Stars 1 Motion Pictures 1 Car Life 1 Saga 1 True 3 Motor Trend 1 Harper's Bazaar 4 Holiday 1 245

TABLE XXV—Continued

Junior Senior Question. Boys Girls Boys Girls

Etiquette 2 Yachting 1 Modern Photography 1 Travel 1 Cattleman 1 Progressive Farmer 1 1 Redbook 1 Esquire 1 Stag 1 Home .Life 1 Argosy 1 Time 1 Dramatist 1 Palomino Horses 1 American Home 1 Farm and Ranch 1

Northwest High School, Justin

What magazine that our library does not take would you select lor the librarian to order next year ?

Look 3 3 6 Popular Mechanics 1 Tree Confessions 1 1 Holiday 1 5 Life 2 1 1 Country Gentleman 1 Popular Photography 1 Rod and Custom I American Girl 3 Hot Rod 1 246

TABLE XXV—Continued

Junior Senior Question Boys Girls Boys Girls

Seventeen 1 Sports Illustrated 1 2 1 Farm and Ranch 1 Redbook I Charm 3 Inside Detective 1 Argosy- I Motor Trend 1 Saturday Evening Post 1 True 1

Post High School

What magazine that our library does not take would you select for the librarian to order next year ?

Seventeen 2 4 Leathernecks 1 Look 1 Hot Rod 3 A-rgosy 1 Collier's 1 1 Boy's Life 1 Esquire 5 McGall's 1 True 1 Outdoor Life 2 Sports Afield 1 Popular Mechanics 2 1 Glamour 1 Classics 1 247

TABLE XXV—Continued

Junior Senior Question Boys Girls Boys Girls

Mademoiselle 2 Textile Industries 1 Coronet 1 True Love 1 True Life 1 Saturday Evening Post 1

St, Jo High School

What magazine that our library does not take would you select for the librarian to order next year ?

Look 1 Compact 3 National Geographic 1 3 4 Hog Raisers' Journal 1 Motor Trend 2 Holiday 1 Esquire 1 2 1 Hot Rod 2 Reader's Digest 1 Good Housekeeping 2 Science 1 Sports Afield 1 248

TABLE XXV—Continued

Junior Senior Question Boys Girls Boys Girls

Tulia High School

What magazine that our library does not take would you select for the librarian t® order next year ?

Finn's Weekly Stamp News 1 Argosy 4 "Western Horseman 1 1 F armer-Stockman I True 1 Saturday Evening Post I 1 Seventeen 3 Sporting News 1 Cosmopolitan 1 Hunting and Fishing 1 Good Housekeeping 1 Popular Electronics 1 Ladies* Home Journal I 4 Esquire 1 1 Sports Life 1 Progressive Farmer 1 Hot Rod I Mechanics Illustrated 2 Sports Illustrated 3 Men I Modern Photography 1 Atlantic Monthly 1 Etude 1 Natural History I 249

TABLE XXV—Continued

Junior Senior Question Bays Girls Boys Girls

Webster High School

What magazine that our library does not take would you select for the librarian to order next year ?

Motor Tread 1 1 Life 2 Look 1 1 I Newsweek 1 Better Homes and Gardens 1 Reader's Digest 2 Yachting 1 Compact 1 Photography 2 1 Speed Age 1 Trend 1 National Geographic 1 Sports Illustrated 1 1 Motor Boating 1 Hot Rod 1 Boy's Life 1 Field and Stream 1 Car Craft 1 Etude i Collier's 1 2 50

TABLE XXV—Continued

Junior Senior Question Boys Girls Boys Girls

Whitesboro High S chool

What magazine that our library does not take would you select for the librarian to order next year ?

American Girl 1 .Ladies* Home Journal 1 1 Seventeen 4 1 McCall's 3 4 Auto Sport 1 1 Boy's Life 1 1 Photography 1 1 Argosy 1 Country Gentleman 2 Farm and Ranch 1 Hot Rod 1 2 Outdoor Life 1 Farm 1 Dairyman 1 Skyways 1 True 2 Redhook 4 Collier's 1 CHAPTER III

SUMMARY, CONCLUSIONS, AND

RECOMMENDATIONS

Sum mary

The following summary statements appear to be supported by the findings In this study of the reading interests of junior and senior students in ten Texas high schools:

1. Some students did no recreational or leisure-time reading at all, whereas others read as many as twenty or thirty books each month.

Z. The students tended to do from one to six hours of recreational or leisure-time reading each week.

3. The students enjoyed reading novels more than any other form of literature, followed in descending order by short stories, humor, and current events.

4. Commercial book clubs were of little importance as a source of materials for recreational reading, since very few of the students or their families held memberships in such clubs.

5. In general, the favorite novels of the junior students were different from those of the seniors; and the favorites of the boys were not the same as those of the girls.

251 2 52

6. In fiction, boys tended to prefer books of adventure and those concerning animals and "hot rods, " whereas girls tended to have as their favorites those books dealing with romance or with girls of an age comparable to their own.

7. Some of the students were confused as to whether certain books were fiction or non-fiction. likewise, they were not always clear as to whether certain authors were writers of fictional or of non-fictional works.

8. Junior and senior students, and boys and girls, tended to differ in their selections of favorite authors and of favorite non- fiction books.

9. Apparently, the students' range of reading in the field of non-fiction was somewhat limited and restricted.

10. Pocket-book editions of books were not outstandingly popular with the students included in this study.

11. The reading of book digests was reported by approximately half of the students, and thus did not appear to be a particularly popular type of reading,

12. Students apparently had made little effort to form decisions as to their favorite newspaper writers.

13. The fact that a number of students listed comic strip artists, and even comic strip characters, as their favorite newspaper writers 253 points to a widespread misinterpretation of the term used in the questionnaire, "newspaper writers.

14. Boys preferred magazine articles dealing with sports, with science, with adventure, and with "hot-rod" cars. Girls, on the other hand, liked articles about the home, about personal charm and grooming, and about motion pictures and movie stars.

15. Junior students tended to read more books and magazine articles than seniors, but the number of each read by boys and girls in each academic classification was approximately equal. From one to four books was the number reported most frequently as having been read by the students during a two-month period.

16. There was a surprisingly large number of students who had sets of encyclopedias in their homes, although there were more homes without encyclopedias than with them.

17. The students were overwhelmingly affirmative in their expression of a desire to do more reading than they were doing at the time of the survey.

18. The following six reasons were checked more frequently than were any others as being responsible for the students not doing more recreational reading: heavy school assignments, outside work, dates and social activities, sports, radio and/or television, and lack of interest in reading. Boys seemed to be more likely to blame heavy school assignments than were the girls; and lack of interest 254 also was more prevalent among the boys. Outside work, also, was assigned more frequently by the boys as a reason why they did not do more reading,

^ke Reader's Digest was by far the most frequently mentioned magazine that was now being read voluntarily after having been required reading in school work at some time in the past.

20. The Saturday Evening Post, Life, and Look were the three most popular magazines among the students.

21. The students tended to name as their favorite newspapers, not their home-town publication, but larger newspapers from nearby cities.

22. The comic section was the part of newspapers that was most likely to be read every day by the students. The sports section was second in popularity, while front-page news was third. Picture features, political cartoons, and editorials followed in that descending order. There was a strong tendency among the students for editorials not to be read at all.

23. On the whole, comic strips depicting thrilling adventure and ordinary humaa-lif© experiences were more popular with these students than were the more humorous comic strips.

24. The Saturday Evening Post, Life, and Look were the three magazines selected most frequently by both boys and girls &S both 255 junior and senior classifications as the ones they would take if they could subscribe to only one magazine.

E5. Boys tended to recommend that their school libraries subscribe to those magazines designed especially for boys and men; whereas the girls suggested that their school libraries should subscribe to magazines designed for girls and women, those relating to charm and personal grooming, and those pertaining to home and family life.

C onclusions

In view of the reading done in preparation for this study, and in the light of the findings obtained in the questionnaire survey of reading interests of high school students, the following conclusions appear to be justified:

1. The amount of recreational or leisure-time reading done by teen-age boys and girls varies widely with the individuals.

2. Fiction is the most popular type of recreational reading en- gaged in by the boys and girls of this study.

1. Commercial book clubs are of little importance as sources of reading materials for teen-age youth.

4. Tastes in reading for pleasure were found to vary considerably as between juniors and seniors included in the study; but juniors and seniors throughout all of the schools surveyed tended to have reading 256 preferences and interests similar to those of like classifications, regardless of the school in which they were enrolled. In other words, interests were comparatively homogeneous throughout a given academic classification, regardless of the school attended.

5. Stories of adventure were of highest interest to the boys of the study, whereas books dealing with romance or with girls of comparable ages to their own were the most popular with girls.

6. In the field of magazine reading, sports, science, and ad-

venture were most popular with the boys, whereas the topics of the

home, personal charm, and grooming were the articles most often

read by the girls.

7. Students appear to do less recreational reading as their

grade-level classification advances, if the findings of this study can

be indicative of a trend.

8. Reading is a recreational and leisure-time activity in

which the teen-age students of this study expressed a real interest,

as indicated by their overwhelmingly prominent assertion that they

would like to do more reading than they were then doing, because of

time limitations and other interests and responsibilities.

9. A somewhat broad acquaintance with newspapers was indi-

cated by this study, in that the favorite newspapers of the students

tended to be, not their home-town paper, but larger newspapers from

nearby cities. 257

10. The fact that the comic section of newspapers was the most popular newspaper feature among these students indicates that they enjoy vicarious adventure, simple reading, and pictorial presenta- tions.

11, Reports from research done in the field of reading interests point to the fact that the reading of hooks and articles still has a fascination for young people, in spite of television, motion pictures, and all of the other allurements that require much ©f their time.

i Z. Reading interests of Nocona High School students are quite similar to those of students in other comparable Texas high schools, as measured by this study.

Recommendations

The following recommendations appear to be warranted in view

of the findings of this study:

1. Teachers and librarians should become more alert in exer-

cising their privilege and opportunity to direct the reading experiences

of boys and girls into wholesome fields.

2. Teachers of English, especially, should stress the differ-

ences between fictional and non-fictional works, and should give students the criteria by means of which they may recognise whether a book

is fiction or non-fiction.

3. Students should be encouraged by their teachers to do more

reading in the better magazines in order to become more fully 258 acquainted with periodical literature. Occasional assignments for reports or research in magazines might prove highly profitable in this direction.

4. Teachers and librarians should kotow which students are doing no recreational reading, or not enough such reading, and should strive to arouse the interest of such students in leisure-time reading as a profitable and enjoyable experience. Perhaps the suggestion of books or magazine stories or articles in keeping with the felt needs of the students would be a worth-while project for teachers and librarians.

5. Teachers and librarians should strive to develop in students a greater interest in the news and editorial sections of newspapers.

Perhaps definite assignments would serve to develop this interest, and the frequent use of current events in class would stimulate interest in local, national, and international happenings. Although comics and sports sections in newspapers are not to be minimized as to their importance, students should be led to an awareness that there are other, and possibly more worth-while and interesting, sections in the newspapers as well. APPENDIX

QUESTIONNAIRE TO DETERMINE THE READING

INTERESTS OF STUDENTS

Age Sex_ Name

Classification (Freshman, Sophomore, Junior, or Senior) —

1. How many hours of outside reading, approximately, do you

do each week ?

2. What is your favorite kind of reading? Check one from the

following: Novels, Short Stories, Humor, Current Events.

3. Are you a member of a hook club? ** so» wkich

one? - — —

4. What is your favorite fiction book?

5. Who is your favorite fiction writer ?_

6. What is your favorite non-fiction book?_

7. Who is your favorite non-fiction writer ?_

8. Do you read pocket-book editions of books ?_

9. Do you read book digests ?_

10. Who are your favorite newspaper writers ?_

259 260

11. What articles have you read recently in magazines ?

12. How many books have you read in fee last two months ?

13. Which of the books you read, did you like most?

14. Is there a set of encyclopedias in your home?

15. If so, what is the name of the set ?

16. Would you like to read more ?

IT. If so, what are the reasons why you cannot read more ?

Check from this list: {1) heavy school assignments; (2) outside work;

(3) read too slowly; (4) dates and social activities; (5) lack of money;

(6) sports; (7) radio and/or television; (8) lack of interest; (9) lack of reading material; (10) difficulties with eyes.

18. Name any magazines you were required to read in school that you now read voluntarily.

19. What is your favorite magazine?

20. What parts of the newspapers do you read most frequently? 261

21. Please designate in this order: (1) every day, (2) occasionally, (3) not at all:

(1) Front page new®

(2) Picture features

(3) Sports

(4) Comics

(5) Political cartoons

(6) Editorials

22. What is your favorite newspaper ?

23. What is your favorite comic strip?

24. If you could subscribe to only one magazine, which would

you choose ?

25. What magazine that our library does not take would you

select for the librarian to order next year ? BIBLIOGRAPHY

Books

Frank* Josette, Your Child's Reading Today, Garden City, New York, Doubieday and Company, 19§4.

Gray, William S., editor, Promoting Personal and Social Develop - meat Through Reading, Supplementary Educational Mono- graphs, No. 64, Chicago, University of Chicago Press, Oc- tober, 1947.

Gray, William S., and Munroe, Ruth, The Reading Interests and Habits of Adults, New York, Macmillan Company, 1929.

New York City Association of Teachers of English, Survey of Reading in Typical High Schools of New York City, Yearbook No. 1, Hew York, Noble and Noble, Publishers, 1936.

Nor veil f George W., The Reading Interests of Young People, Boston, D. C. Heath and Company, 1950.

Rankin, Marie, Children's Interests in Library Books of Fiction, Contributions to Education, No. 906, New York, Bureau of Pub- lications, Teachers College, Columbia University, 1944.

Witty, Paul, Helping Children Read Better, Chicago, Science Research Associates, 1950.

Articles

Brady, Margaret E., "Comics—To Read or Not to Read, " Wilson Library Bulletin, May, 1950, pp. 662-668.

Burke, John Emmett, "The School Library Crisis, " April 15, 1951, pp. 683-687.

Carlsen, G. R., "Behind Reading Interests, " English Journal, XLUI (January, 1954), 7-12.

262 263

Green, Rosemary M., "Techniques in Promoting Personal Well-being Through Reading in High Schools and Junior Colleges, " Promot- ing Social and Personal Development Through Reading, William S. Gray, editor, Supplementary Educational Monographs, Mo. 64, Chicago, University of Chicago Press, October, 1947, pp. 41-45.

Jensen, Lisbeth S., "Fostering Interest in Reading, " English Journal, XLII (October, 1953), 367-370.

Martignoni, Margaret E., "Bringing Books and Children Together in the Library, " Wilson Library Bulletin, XXVIII (October, 1953), 179-181.

McCarty, Pearl S. , "Reading Interests Shown by Choices of Books in School Libraries, M School Review, LVIII (February, 1950), 90-96.

Potter, Robert £. , "Reading Unlimited, " English Journal, XLII (January, 1953), 28-32.

Powell, Florence, "Students' Choice," Library Journal, March 15, 1951, pp. 488-490.

Romano, Michael J., "Stimulating Pupils' Reading On the Basis of Interests, " High Points, XXXV (October, 1953), 21-24.

Walraven, Margaret, "Trends in Children's Books—Young People," Texas Library Journal, XXVI (September, 1950), 112-114.

Unpublished Materials

Anthony, Eunice Roach, "The Use of Easy Reading Materials with Junior High School Pupils, " Unpublished Master*s Thesis, School of Education, North Texas State College, August, 1952.

Bothwell, Toramie Jean Dobie, "A Study of the Reading-readiness Program in the Elementary Schools of Collin County to Deter- mine the Extent to Which It Is Planned to Meet Present Educa- tional Theory, " Unpublished Master's Thesis, School of Education, North Texas State College, August, 1950. 264

Knox, L>ois Bennett, "Reading Interests of Students of North Texas State Teachers College in the First Semester of the Year 1942- 1943, " Unpublished Master's Thesis, School of Education, North Texas State College, June, 1944.

Marshall, D. Leon S. , "Some Effects of a Reading-readiness Program on First Grade Children," Unpublished Master's Thesis, School of Education, North Texas State College, August, 1951.

Rollins, Norma Edith, "A Descriptive Survey of the Reading-readiness Program ©f the First Grades in Wichita Falls, Texas, During 1940-1941, M Unpublished Master's Thesis, School of Education, North Texas State College, August, 1941.

Young, Martha Ruth, "Reading Interests of Students of Newsome Dougherty Memorial High School, Gainesville, Texas, in the School Year 1944-1945," Unpublished Master's Thesis, School of Education, North Texas State College, August, 1946.