In the passage the author Dana Gioia argues and states that the literacy rate here in the United States is dropping very fast. The author claims that “the interest young Americans showed in the arts and especially literature actually diminished. Gioia is stating that many young Americans throughout the United States are not reading and that is making the literacy rate to decrease. Making our literature status go down. Gioia gives us examples of this by stating some facts and looking back at a survey.
Gerald Graff’s argument on how educational systems are missing a great opportunity to tap into “street smarts” and focus them into a path of academic work is indeed convincing (Graff, 198). After all, anyone who’s been through the American educational system knows odds are often stacked against the “street smarts.” This is especially true in english classes, where one is often required to read boring and somewhat heartless books like, 1984, Beowulf, and the majority of Shakespeare’s classics. This is not to say these books are bad or shouldn’t be read during one’s schooling years, instead, the problem is one of apathy. For instance, in my high school years I never even remotely liked to read books Othello, but I loved to read magazines and
Pervagatus Oppressio “Oh! Come and see the violence inherent in the system! Help, help, I'm being repressed!” -Dennis Literature exists to express, and thus is tied to the oldest and finest art in human expression, complaining. Complaints can take many levels, from the trivial to the hefty and legitimate. Literature then is often used to illustrate some issue, be it political, social, antisocial, intrinsic, extrinsic, people not being friendly enough, people being overbearing, people being people, men being men, imagined, concrete, abstract, modern, postmodern, post-postmodern, meta-post-postmodern, timeless, classical, the faults of the young, the faults of the old, the faults of the very old and now dead, endemic, exdemic, tenacious,
As the digital age comes upon us, more and more Americans become dissatisfied with the state of literacy in this generation. Because the Internet paves the way for shorter and shorter interactions, namely articles versus novels and six-second viral videos versus films, many people that grew up in the age of the Internet have a preference for this condensed form of entertainment. Dana Gioia of The New York Times asserts in his essay “Why Literature Matters” that the decline of reading in America is destined to have a negative impact on society as a whole. Gioia opens his essay with a bittersweet account of which trend is occurring in the twenty-first century America arts scene. He notes that as college attendance rates blossom, the interest
In “Does Great Literature Make Us Better?,” Gregory Currie questions how in the case of perusing literature, helps to improve us individuals. He utilizes his title to help the perusers additionally question what precisely is better. Whether it makes us "better" is not really the point. I don't think anybody peruses writing to improve as a person. Does it truly make a difference what you read or that you were profoundly drawn in while understanding it?
Critical Review on An End to Audience Literature is important in any one culture. Written word is used all throughout history, and it is transported all over the world. However spoken word is different, it is altered every single time that it is told. Every person tells a story differently, and everyone interprets a story differently. In the speech that Margret Atwood gave, An End to Audience, she uses many personal analogies to show how all a story teller can do is tell the kinds of stories that they wish to tell and hope that someone out in the world will want to listen, even if they are not in the same place or time as the story teller themselves.
Literature has a great deal to offer when it comes to discovering more about the unexplored nature of the world. Whether this is in a historical context or the context of our present lives, literature functions to spread the knowledge and ideas of others. Our generation, including the students that surround me, often take for granted many of the ideas that guide our lifestyles. This could include the importance put on education, or the idea that a democracy is the most appropriate form of government for our society. However, at some point, these ideas needed to be questioned and debated before they became part of present culture.
In this essay, "Why Literature Matters", author Dana Gioia sets up an argument about literature. Which she uses various ways to persuade her audience be in favor of her proposal; by showing statistic evidence, facts, and historical evidence, as well as some ironies, diction, and the appeals to reader's emotion. First of all, Gioia begins with strong appeals to reader's logos by clearly laying out the statistic source. For example, "According to the 2002 survey of Public Participation in the Arts, the reading population of the Americans is declining. " In turn, is an attempt to point out the thesis statement and make the readers to think out about this topic wile reading through her essay.
In my mind, literature is a constant present in our lives as it is the best way to express opinions to a wide audience, a viewpoint echoed by Anthony Burgess in A Clockwork Orange: "We can destroy what we have written, but we cannot unwrite it". The messages conveyed live on despite a censorship of said texts. Burgess' novel, as well as Orwell's 1984 which holds similar views of how freedom, regardless of the consequences or form it takes, is what makes us human, have both been ironically banned at some point in history for their 'controversial' nature. I believe that studying literature from a wide variety of sources is important to developing a true understanding of the social environment in which we live in, as through them we can see a cascade of different ideologies offering an unfiltered insight into all walks of life. I believe that a degree in literature will not only develop my cultural awareness, but help develop both my written and verbal communication skills.
teven Pearlstein published "Meet the parents who wouldn’t let their children study literature" on September 2, 2016. His article is based on his experience of learning how most students do not study literature and why they don’t study it. What Steven learned was far from what he had though when he first walked into the honors college class to teach. He figured most of the students would have taken some kind of liberal arts class but only one out of the twenty four students had takes a course of that matter.
She believes the syllabus provided to students do not include any challenging books, and her belief toward high school teachers becoming too lazy to examine thoroughly if the book the education system provides them with represent any true and significant value is a recurring concern of hers’- therefore ineffective to students. All in all, Prose used ethos, pathos, logos and the usage of specific words to help her argument. She successfully persuades her point of view and makes it clear that if schools want their curriculum to improve, they must change their way of teaching and push their students to view literature in a new
Literature is, after all, the manifestation of the thoughts and opinions of authors, often hidden and wrapped in a thick veil of metaphor. Literature is
In the article, “Why Literature Matters” by Dana Gioia, he states that the decline of interest in literature—especially from young teens—will have a negative outcome in society. Notably, he informs the readers by utilizing strong vocabulary, as well as rhetorical appeals to persuade his audience that the decline in reading will have a negative outcome. This allows readers to comprehend his views and join his side of the argument. Gioia’s word choice assists in showing the magnitude of the text by stressing the meaning and importance of his argument.
The Human condition is the root of what it means to be human, how we are all human, and in the same way, how we are individuals. Throughout this essay, you will perceive a better understanding of the human condition, and how it is reflected in select pieces of literature. The Human condition is an extremely paramount part of understanding literature. Who are we if we are not human?
While many would rather grab something written a little more recently, a blossoming student should not settle for something that would keep them in place rather than push them forward. Reading classic literature is vital for college preparation as well as the improvement of the vocabulary and reading skills of high school students, and should not be replaced by the easier, more recent novels. Admittedly, some may argue that forcing students
