Analysis Of The Ideal English Major By Mark Edmundson

Harold Bloom understands that we read not only to learn of literary composition but also because “we require knowledge, not just of self and others, but of the way things are.” This proves true to essentially all humans for any great

Miller asked a question in his text, The Dark Night of the Soul, which is asked on numerous occasions. ‘What might the Literate Arts be good for?’ Miller gives situations and reasons why we could say the Literate Arts are useless in today’s world. What might the Literate Arts be good for? I ask this question a lot nowadays too. When I go for an English class or see literary books, the question creeps into my mind unconsciously. In this modern world ‘reading and writing’ have gone downhill and yet people do not seem bothered or affected by it which makes the doubt in literary power even stronger. But after a lot of thinking and research, I have come to realize that literate arts are still needed in

Literature, the dictionary defines it being the art of written works that is simultaneously designed to entertain, educate and instruct its audience; writers, using their skill of telling stories, use literature in an attempt to transfer their ideas from paper to the reader; for some, this task means bringing their story to a different place and time that is entirely separate from what the could be perceive as ordinary, on order to serve the writer’s intent. With this, the impossible, becomes the probable, and the worst fear imagined becomes the breathed reality; with no separation between the truth, and fiction. The word “literature” in itself cannot be accurately defined, and by attempting to do so, it limits the word not only in its

In Mark Edmundson’s article Who Are You and What Are You Doing Here, published in the Oxford American on August 22, 2011, he talks about his college experience and what others need to do in college to be successful. Getting an education is hard because there are too many distractions, but find something you enjoy doing or else you’ll be bored and work hard to become that. There are a lot of paths to choose from in life and going to college is one of the best to choose. Edmundson must also agree with this since he is pushing kids to try harder in school. However, Edmundson points out some very key points as to what students need to do.

Throughout American history a multitude of issues has plagued society that has caused people to feel oppressed and imprisoned within themselves and society. However, through the utilization and expression of language people have been able to find freedom. Writing and reading allows someone to be free for the reason - it creates opportunities for more compassion. Above all, language allows the exploration of different viewpoints which allows a greater audience, or even oneself, to garner a greater understanding of issues such as racism, and sexual orientation, and mental wellness.

The novel Mark Haddon has written contains a lot of meaningful ideas and has successfully written it in a way that is skilful and provides a variety of appropriate language and distinctive qualities that include diagrams, structure of the novel and narration. In doing that, it allows the audience to provoke thought and challenges them with profound views about the deep and meaningful ideas that are within the novel. The audience is introduced to different concepts such as Christopher’s struggles with the acceptance of truth, values of family relationships, growing up, and social interaction which are all evident in the novel and shown through Haddon’s use of different language and conventions.

English professor, Verlyn Klinkenborg, published an essay, “The Decline and Fall of the English Major” on June 22, 2013, about the reduction of the English major in colleges. The author declares, “Writing well isn’t merely a utilitarian skill. It is about developing a rational grace and energy in your conversation with the world around you.” Klinkenborg has taught nonfiction writing to various students at Harvard, Yale, Bard, Pomona, Sarah Lawrence and Columbia’s Graduate School of Journalism. The author has found that her students are able to assemble jargon, use proper syntax, and utilize thematic and ideological notions.

Amy Tan begins her speech with a very abnormal claim that she is not a scholar of English or Literature but a writer, due to the fact that she can’t give us more than “personal opinions on the English language and its variation in this country or others"(271). It is obvious that Tan’s purpose is to show the audience that she has lots of ideas about her way of learning English in school, but can also speaks the “fractured English” as her mother. Furthermore, this contrast also implies to the audience that you don’t have to be an “expert” of English to be a

In the passage “Why Literature Matters,” Dana Gioia uses facts and statistics as well as strong word choice and tone to help persuade the audience.

Good writers, like Huntley Fitzpatrick, know how to appeal to their audience, for figurative language is more than an “intellectual extravagance” (Krauss). According to R. Grant Steen, “For communication to serve the needs of the listener as well as the needs of the speaker, the listener must be able to understand what the speaker is "really" saying. It is not enough to understand the literal meaning of speech” (Krauss). The key to an interesting novel is the compelling storyline drawing you in and making want to read just a little more, for “no facet of humanity’s evolved “genius” as Aristotle put it more than 2300 years ago, sparkles so brilliantly as our unique capacities for extra-literal description and comprehension” (Krauss).

Can you agree that a writer’s diction is what draws the audience into a piece of literature? Why is this true? Well often times writers will do this to keep the attention of the audience. Shakespeare the poet of Romeo and Juliet is one author who is known to use various literary devices to grab the audience attention. Shakespeare focuses on the character’s Romeo and Juliet, a couple that fell in love they belong to the two houses that are against each other. Throughout his play Shakespeare uses three literary devices to reach his audience: foreshadowing, Indirect characterization,Imagery.

No one is quite sure at what exact time reading became more for pleasure than for knowledge, but today, novels are expected to be entertaining and used to relax the mind. What an author cannot do to make their writing entertaining is to sit in their offices all day and churn out page by page of material. Authors must first feel the emotions they describe in order to enable the reader to relate to the text. In order to write an effective piece of writing, an author must first experience and understand their own lives and apply it to their writing in order to be engaging and of use to their reader.

I sit in this AP Language and Composition class trying to decipher the essence of the unending annotations and floods of random texts for the past quarter. Little did I know that I would be taking flight and soaring through the smallest details and threads of literary devices and techniques of analyzing language. Before this class, I looked at a book, aware that it was filled with potential symbolism and crucial themes that were definitely worth considering. Yet, I often paid far less attention to the way words are crafted in efforts to create a beautiful masterpiece. Who knew that the jargon used in Snow Falling on Cedars could significantly shape the overall tone of the book? From the years leading up to this class, the

Over the past month, we have been studying the concept of reading and writing in different communities. To assess this, we have read two different texts. Richard Rodriguez’s the achievement of desire”, from his autobiography “Hunger of Memory”; and Lucille McCarthy’s “A Stranger in Strange Lands: A College Student Writing across the Curriculum” from “Research in the Teaching of English”. Both answer key questions regarding what it takes to become a great reader and writer, however, from the reading that I have done, each one only answers one part of the question. Rodriguez’s main focus is in the aspect of reading, whereas McCarthy mainly focuses on the writing portion. Both do a decent job of analyzing and putting forth a view of how they believe a person can best perform in these environments. This then allows us to use their concepts and create our own version, based on their points of view. But why should we care? Most people at this level of academia will have developed a system of writing that works for them, and will have a difficult time breaking from it if they’re process doesn’t meet the criteria that Rodriguez, and McCarthy put forth. The reason it’s so important is because of implications these ideas have. Both authors put forth concepts that are indirectly related to one another and that are highly beneficial to all who will apply them. They will force you to conform to new environments in order to succeed, this in turn will make you more

In the world, there are about 6909 different languages being spoken. Millions of people are speaking those languages all around the globe, but how many of them are actually speaking? Language is not just about communication with words. Toni Morrison elaborates more on that idea in her speech the Nobel Lecture. Toni’s writing illustrates her beliefs about language and the deeper meaning of it. She explains that language should “Permit new knowledge or encourage the mutual exchange of ideas” (Morrison). She believes that America is not achieving those ideas for language but in fact is doing the opposite. American people do not know the meaning and effect of language and because of that, true language is dying. In the speech, the Nobel Lecture, by Toni Morrison, the author narrates repetition and connotation in order to emphasize and elaborate ideas and purposes of language , ultimately exposing her beliefs about language.