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The Human Cost Of An Illiterate Society By Jonathan Kozol

570 Words3 Pages

In the essay “The Human Cost of an Illiterate Society”, written by Jonathan Kozol and published in the Reading for Writers, New York, 2013, the author is raising awareness of illiteracy and the effects it has on society to his audience, the literate who can read and can do something about the issue. Pointing out the illiteracy problem in the United States that is unknown to most, he explains the impact that such a vast amount of illiterate people can have on voting and the government. Being that such a large amount of individuals are uneducated on the voting candidates, he goes on to say that many often do not vote or vote for someone for the wrong reason. With the use of statistics from the 1980 presidential vote to argue his point, he said that Ronald Reagan likely would not have been the president.
Aside from a political view, the author provides numerous personal stories to show the difficult daily obstacles that an illiterate person may encounter like trying to shop, cook, help their children with homework, traveling in an …show more content…

It would be frightening to live unknown to the hazards that are around you, helpless as what is meant to save your life, a precautionary warning does not make any sense or have meaning. With the use of quotes and real life experiences to help better understand how life would be living illiterately, he shows the various ways the illiterate are put at a disadvantage and made vulnerable. I can only imagine that life will continue to become extra difficult unless something is done. It is unquestionably clear that being illiterate is a tremendous disadvantage. I can now recognize the effect illiteracy has, not only on a person, but also on society, especially when so many are illiterate and nothing is being done about the

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