Our department is now offering a new course called "Reading for a Purpose."The purpose of this course is to provide students with the opportunity and ability to become more confident readers. Students will delve into fiction and non-fiction texts to not only uncover what an author’s purpose is for writing a story but they will also explore how an author purposefully chooses specific literary devices to tell that story. Students will further examine the purpose that these literary devices serve in the text. For example, what is a character’s purpose in the story or what purpose does a particular word, object, image, or setting provide. During the course students will purposefully select strategies and genres to help increase their reading comprehension, stamina, fluency, volume, complexity, and most importantly enjoyment. As they read, students will decide, detail, and document what purpose reading has had in defining their past, developing their present, and determining their future. Students will ultimately discover how becoming a better reader can help them fulfill their own life’s purpose.