Cultivating a Love of Reading
M.G. Prezioso, PhD ’24
Most of us can remember being completely engrossed in a book when we were children. But while absorption during reading has been studied in adults, there is a conspicuous lack of research on the experience in young people. As a PhD student in human development, learning & teaching at Harvard Griffin GSAS, M.G. Prezioso sought to fill that gap. She talks about igniting and cultivating a love of reading, writing her thesis on The Lord of the Rings as a senior at Harvard College, and the rewards of teaching expository writing to undergraduates.
Studying the “Story World”
My dissertation focused on “story world absorption.” This is a particular type of reading where you feel transported and deeply immersed in the world of a story. Surprisingly, while there is research on absorption in adults, there is a massive gap in the literature when it comes to children and adolescents.
I wanted to know: Do kids report getting absorbed? And do avid readers experience this differently than infrequent readers? We see books like Harry Potter or Percy Jackson engage even disinterested readers for long stretches, igniting a love of reading. To study this, I used a self-report survey that measures absorption across four dimensions:
- Attention: High levels of sustained focus.
- Transportation: The feeling of being “in” the world of the book.
- Emotional Engagement: Feeling the feelings of the protagonist.
- Mental Imagery: Seeing the story happen as you read.
We found that children do indeed report becoming absorbed, and interestingly, avid and infrequent readers report experiencing this phenomenon with certain similarities. This set the scene for my postdoc work: if this is an observable phenomenon, how do we cultivate it to address broader issues in education?
The Power of Patience
The timing of this research feels urgent. The 2024 National Assessment of Educational Progress Report Card showed some of the lowest literacy scores ever reported. Scores are stagnant or declining, and children report enjoying reading less than they used to.
We are living in an “attention economy” where children’s focus is constantly split by digital media and TikTok. This short-burst consumption is the antithesis of absorption; it erodes the capacity for deep reading and sustained attention. My research has modeled how absorption relates to three key constructs: reading motivation, reading frequency, and reading comprehension.
We found that absorption directly correlates with comprehension. It also seems to cultivate autonomous motivation—if you get absorbed, perhaps you want to read more. It’s a type of experience that can compete with the digital world by offering something deeper. In my expository writing classes, we have my students read a piece by Jennifer L. Roberts called “The Power of Patience,” which is about the value of deceleration—like looking at a single work of art for three hours. There is something beautiful about sinking your teeth into a longer text and experiencing the depth of symbolism and character development that you just can't get from a short digital piece.
Fellowship of the Ring
My dad is a dentist, and my mom worked in marketing for IBM. My dad was the first person in his family to go to college, so education was always very important to him, as it opened doors and changed the trajectory of his life. I know my Mom feels similarly; both of my maternal grandparents are teachers, so education was always a part of our family. (In fact, my grandpa just turned 100—he’s still going strong!) My parents really emphasized education to my younger sister and me—reading, learning, curiosity, pretend play, and imagination.
I grew up doing theater and reading constantly, and in many ways, that informed what I’m doing now. Storytelling was central to my upbringing, and that led me to both my undergraduate and graduate work.
I graduated from Harvard College in 2013, where I lived in Quincy House—the “People's House.” Everyone there was genuinely so nice and welcoming, and that reputation for friendliness definitely tracked.
When I was an undergrad, I was an English concentrator, and my plan all along was to go to law school. But as a senior, I ended up writing my senior thesis on The Lord of the Rings and British children's literature, and that totally changed the trajectory of my professional life.
Children’s literature as a genre is so complex; you read it through one lens when you’re young, but when you’re becoming an adult in college, you suddenly see it through different eyes. I was looking at how Tolkien was recycling the pastoral literary tradition to reflect his conception of Britain in the midst of industrialization. At the heart of it was an “aha moment”: stories we read in childhood have incredible staying power. They stick with us forever, and I wanted to look at that even more.
The Meaning of “Expos”
Teaching “Expos” [the Expository Writing course] has been incredibly meaningful. You get to see a student’s progress in real-time over a single semester. Writing can be so stressful and scary for students transitioning from high school to college, and I love being a supportive presence for them.
The best moments are the student-teacher conferences. We’ll have a brainstorming session to get the ideas going, or a session where we talk through transition sentences and structure. Then, I’ll see the final paper and think, “Yes—you did it!” Seeing them “click” and realize they can handle complex academic writing is the most rewarding part of being here.
