Francine Prose

On first reading of Francine Prose’s “Why are Poor Kids Paying for School Security?” some may remember when pagers hit the scene in the nineties. Chances are if a person does then he or she may also recall how these devices had become associated with drug dealers and gang bangers. Today, however, technology has become an essential need, a lifeline. One may primarily feel when reading that Francine Prose’s essay is primarily about the excessive security measures plaguing lower income students. But the problem really is that these kids from lower income families seem to still endure the preconceived notions that they may be up to some form of unscrupulous behavior by maintaining a line of communication outside of the school’s walls. The vilest

On this basis, we have to be careful about the children’s education. Lots of students find literature boring and waste of time nowadays. So, we have to make them realize that literature does not only consist of stories written about imaginary people, but it represents ideas that are revolutionary and fascinating for their future life; however, that will not happen without taking responsibility. Therefore, parents and teachers have to undertake this task because that a generation takes the shape of the society it belongs. For instance, they will not feel strange if their parents do not discuss different ideas about a situation. That’s why; parents and teachers should keep children away from the idiot box, and should pay attention to their education. Not only from the perspective of literature but also relating what they learn from books with real life. Being aware of that technology is being used to establish conformity in society, that is, simply accepting the tenets of the majority, we have to try to change the rules of the

Today, no one seems to give much value of literary works or reading. Not because it doesn’t give anything beneficiary, but because not everyone had the urged to at least finish a book. We now live in a world where social medias almost dominates our daily activities. It’s unlikely to have a place for us to consume a non-fiction or fiction book. As absurd as it sounds but that’s how people often think. We now live in an egalitarian society, where everyone is given the freedom and right of its own.

The text I know why the caged bird cannot read Francine Prose describes the reasons why high school students seem to dislike reading. She supports her idea with saying the problem starts with teaching moral values through literature, instead of teaching the value of literature itself. She also blames the education system that enforces these books to be placed in the curriculum. These books only focus on a reoccurring problem like racism religion or gender identity. And the curriculum works around that to teach the student right from wrong and moral values. Which puts the student on a path of hatred to literature.

Prose starts off with very strong language in her essay “I know Why the Caged Bird Cannot Read”. Prose’s opening paragraph includes words such as “appalled”, “dismal”, and “dreariness”, which establishes negative connotation, a central feature of the essay(Prose 176). These words signify the lack of confidence that Prose has in the trends of American education. By beginning her essay with judgemental and cogent language, Francine Prose develops a clear and concise argument. She intends to hook her readers by immediately stressing the importance of the subject and conveying her justifiably strong perspectives. Prose claims that she is “ appalled by the dismal lists of texts that her sons are doomed to waste a school year reading” (Prose 176). Prose’s use of negative connotation allows her to clearly and effectively convey her message regarding the negative influence that American education has had on literature.

“The Lonely, Good Company of Books” by Richard Rodriguez, is an expressive narration about the importance of learning through reading. The essay is a narration of his life from his early school years to high school and how he struggled with the general belief that reading books are the main source of education. “Open the doors of your mind with books” (172) he quotes from a poster over his teacher’s desk. He learned early on that books were the key to academic success. Even though his bilingual parents never read for pleasure, they instilled in him the value of books. This idea was repeated by his teachers that reading was the main activity of learning.

In Francine Prose’s “I Know Why the Caged Bird Cannot Read: How American High School Students Learn to Loathe Literature”, the author is trying to explain why high school students are not asked to read more quality pieces of literature now a days. In my opinion I agree with Prose because I think the texts we read in high school are not challenging and not a lot of students enjoy the readings because they cannot relate. Prose uses the rhetorical strategy of degrading the books high school students are reading and she uses her own personal experiences to support her argument.

I know why the caged bird cannot read, by Francine Prose, is basically her opinionated article in which she tries to show the audience different reasons why the high school students have a lack of interest in reading. This article was definitely showing her ideas and thoughts about books and literature chosen for high school students. When it comes to me, I think that this article in many ways is irrelevant and vague, when she talks about the types of novels or books chosen for high school students. In this era, high school curriculum has some of the best well-crafted and adulated works of writings. Moreover, these masterpieces are written by some of the most adroit writers. We cannot argue about the value of these writings, because these are

Prose assumes that most high school students do not read on their own and that students do not enjoy the literature they read in school; she also assumes that many students stop reading in their adult life and that what books students read in high school affect them for the rest of their lives.

Banning books stops a student from being creative, and teachers have experimented with banned books to prove that students won’t turn into delinquents when studying this literature. Smiley introduced his eight-grade class to the topic of banned books, and the first lesson the students already knew that banning books was wrong. The students felt that they should choose what they should and should not read (Smiley, 55). Parents may feel over protective of their children, because they worry about their children encountering something that changes them forever; however, students know what is right for them and what isn’t right for them. At the end of the study, many students felt that banning books was not right, and one student continued with their belief that choosing what to read is up to the student (Smiley, 56-7).

As I read, “The Dark Night of the Soul” by Richard E. Miller, I found it to be an interesting read. He inquires, why we read, why we write and what might literate arts be said to be good for? In his essay he describes the school massacres that have occurred throughout the years. As he describes these events, he asks a deeper question, “What is the point of continuing to read, write and learn in the face of such underlying dangers. I think that with all that is happening, individuals/students should continue with education because reading, television, writing and communication makes a difference in the lives of individuals around the world. The bottom line is that literary art has a way of touching students unexpectedly one way or another and students should not just throw the art away because of society’s perception.

Literature opens our eyes to the different social and cultural standings around the world. For instance, in the book “Thousand Splendid Suns” by Khaled Hosseini, Hassani's parents had believed that education was important and put hassani in school but they married her off at the young age of 13. She was sent away from her family to live with her husband and his family. Prior to reading this book, it was implemented in my brain that education is the

In conclusion, society should stick to a fair filtration system towards literature, rather than a confiscation frenzy. No human has the right to strip any other human of an education or knowledge. If this trend continues to grow, I fear for what will become of our world as a whole and how our lives will be shrouded in censored control, rather than personal

When I first started researching my focus was about the author, Francine Prose. Finding facts about her was not very challenging. The first thing I did was I Googled “Francine Prose” and there were exactly 400,000 results. I decided to use the first site, wikipedia.com and I gained my first fact which is that she is a novelist, a short story writer, essayist, and a critic.

In recent times there has been a renewed interest in Virginia Woolf and her work, from the Broadway play, “Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?” to the Academy award nominated film “The Hours” starring Nicole Kidman. This recent exposure, along with the fact that I have ancestors from England , has sparked my interest in this twentieth century British novelist.