Dana Giola believes literature is a crucial part of life, especially for young adults. In her passage “Why Literature Matters” she describes that young Americans' interests have diminished for literature. She persuades her audience using ethos, logos, and cause-and-effect reasoning. Giola starts off her passage by describing the interest young Americans showed in arts which “actually diminished”(Giola 1) because of how they “taught reading comprehension”(Giola 2).
“That individual at a time of crucial intellectual and emotional development bypass the joys and challenges of literature is a troubling trend.” It makes the reader consider if they are lacking some sort of skill from not reading. Gioia added quotes from a magazine, sharing a common belief. “When asked what kind of talents they like to see in management positions,
Books have a history of impacting the views of the masses, influencing thought and bringing about the most spectacular inventions; the Bible, Uncle Tom’s Cabin, The Republic, and so many more. With books playing such a role in society, it is hard to imagine a world without literature. This is the goal of Ray Bradbury’s book, Fahrenheit 451: to explore a world where reading is outlawed, and to show how books, or the lack of, change the way people feel and connect. The general people who do not read, including the protagonist, Guy Montag, seem discontent with their lives and derive no real joy. Conversely, the readers and the thinkers are kinder, bolder, and humorous; Faber and Clarise, for example, leave powerful impacts on Montag with their thinking.
Home is Where the Learning Starts Children start to love reading at a young age, but when reading textbooks the love for reading slowly starts to deteriorate. Most kids hate to read in school because it’s nothing they are truly interested in when in all reality children need to understand how important reading is. In the essay “My Literacy History” by Dedrick Skinner and “The Lonely Good Company of Books” by Richard Rodriguez he explains how he did not know why reading was so important, but as he grew older he understood its values. I also developed a love for books at young age when my mom began to read to me, but as I grew up I felt reading was a struggle because I didn’t understand its values like Rodriguez.
We, as human beings, have always been naturally curious. We are on the search for better, brighter ideas, and new solutions to our problems. Here, in the United States, we know how important the freedom to think and being able to let ideas flow freely is. But, in some societies, people are treated different. Take the society in Ray Bradbury’s novel, Fahrenheit 451, for example.
A novel such as How to Read Literature like a Professor brings joy to the reader because it awakens the senses he or she has become numb to in reading. This novel brings fun and irony back into reading literature and makes the reader remember why literature is important. In the eyes of non-professors, books are just a way to keep records and entertain the few. This is true, however, in reality, books serve the eternal purpose to expand communication between humans and bring
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
“Throughout time, literature has been used as an instrument to revolt against social and political issues” This quote explains how literature has been used through out all these years and how it used violent action against an established government issues. A successful totalitarian government is when they have total control and access of the citizens and their social and personal life. Freedom is non existing if ruled under a totalitarian government. They rule through fear and only target on a specific religion and belief.
It's about reading. People read all the time. They read for information, for escape, for entertainment, for instruction, for guidance. They read recipes and tweets and texts. They read newspapers, blogs, and Facebook replies.
In 1982 three books written by three very different women; Maya Angelou, Anne Frank, and Doris Day were placed in cages at the American Booksellers Association's annual convention (Zalusky np). The display called attention to the practice of book banning. In his book Banned Books: Challenging Our Freedom to Read, Robert Doyle wrote: Up until that day when they witnessed the display of books behind bars, the members of the professional association - the authors, publishers, booksellers, librarians, and journalists attending the convention - were all unaware that so many books and such familiar titles were removed from bookstore and library shelves because an individual or group thought the printed matter unfit for others to read. To the spectators the implication was clear - it was readers who were being caged, not just books. (qtd.
While it may be true that even if a student is reading Sports Illustrated, they will still become more literate and reflective than if they hadn’t read at all, it is also true that the student is then less likely to read the same desired material outside of class because they are already being forced to read it inside of class. Moreover, if class time is spent reading something such as Malcolm Gladwell’s Outliers: The Story of Success, the student will be more inclined to read Sports Illustrated outside of class; thus, increasing their reading time altogether. On the report of Engaging Schools: Fostering High School Students’ Motivation to Learn, “studies have shown that students who read outside of school become better readers (Anderson, Wilson, and Fielding, 1988; Fielding, 1994; Guthrie, Schafer, Wang, and Afflerbach, 1995)” (64). Therefore, by engaging in materials which the students may not be interested in during the school day, they will be more likely to read other subject matters outside of school and consequently increase their reading
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.
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
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 western intellectual enquiry has undergone tremendous attitudinal as well as perceptional change over the years. The modifications are necessitated by the socio-political predicament of the ages gone into the repository of the past. Innumerable movements and isms have proficiently supplied ideas and ideologies to interpret the literary text from divergent perspective. “If there is such a thing as literary theory, then it would seem obvious that there is something called literature which it is the theory of.” (1) To put it precisely, much earlier critical writings aimed at explicating the nuances which must have involved in literary production.
