Rhetorical Analysis Of Why Literature Matters By Dana Gioia

Pushing to Read Nathaniel Hawthorne. Harper Lee. F. Scott Fitzgerald. All of these people are genius literary writers who have written text that many people of different ages are familiar with. However, the familiarity of these works have been declining, because the American population is losing interest in classic literature quickly. One person, Dana Gioia, strongly believes in this problem and in his article “Why Literature Matters” published in 2005 by The New York Times Company he argues that this lack of literary reading is quickly becoming a problem that will impact the american society. Dana Gioia is effective at persuading the audience that reading literature is imperative to a prosperous society by using his research to support

It is clear that Gioia prepared well for this article, because of the obvious time it took to find credible surveys and facts. This immensely helps the reader want to listen and consider his argument, because it makes him seem qualified. In his article, he uses two different surveys to back up his claim. The first survey he used was a 2002 survey that the Public Participation in the Arts and the second survey that he used in his article was done by the National Conference of State Legislatures. The first survey helped him support his argument that young people were losing interest in literature. He used the second survey to support his ideas on how the lack of reading literature is affecting our society. These surveys help Gioia effectively convey his message because it proves that what he is saying is not his opinion but actually factual. The way that Gioia used logos in his article made the article seem trustworthy and true. However, despite having substantial factual evidence, Gioia nevers claims any personal credibility. This weakens his argument because the audience truly has to assume that the sources he pulled from are refutable. This can lead to audiences feeling like what he has to say is not important and not give it a second's thought. The lack of personal ethos in his paper directly correlates to why his paper was ultimately not

Gioia uses human emotion to his advantage in his article and it proves to fortify his argument. One way that he persuades human emotion in his article is with powerful word choices. Words and phrases like “troubling trend”, “declining rates”, and “consequences” all have a negative connotations that leave the reader thinking and worried. In his article he references a 2003 study done by National Conference of State Legislatures and it is stated by them that “Young people do not understand the ideals of citizenship… and their appreciation and support of American democracy is limited.” In Gioia’s statement he argues that the American people losing interest in literature has a direct affect on society. This quote he used clearly and effectively pushed the readers to feel worried which in the end strengthened his argument. These all prove the thesis because using the negative words in his article makes the reader feel like they need to take action and pick up a