Literature Is Not Only What We Read, Reflecting On The

In the passage “Why Literature Matters” by Dana Gioia, Gioia states that the decline of interest in reading in America is decreasing. She then claims that this lack of interest will hold negative effects on the future of our society. Gioia uses facts and evidence to support her claim.

Critic Roland Barthes has said, “Literature is the question minus the answer.” Choose a novel or play and, or considering Barthes’ observation, write an essay in which you analyze a central question the work raises and the extent to which it offers any answers. Explain how the author’s treatment of this question affects your understanding of the work as a whole.

The value of literature delineates an opportunity for humanity to achieve collective growth. The intellectual capability of both individuals and communities are affected by the importance assigned to literary works. Lack of such regard results in a limited capacity for sociological cohesion consequently shaping the discourse of an era. Austen inadvertently expresses the minimal regard for written material in her society through Pride and Prejudice. The exclamation “there is no enjoyment like reading!” highlights the passion felt for such an activity. However, this desire can be attributed to discourse. Austen exhibits this through the cultural expectation that a woman “must have thorough knowledge”, furthered by the dialogue of gaining cognizance

In the article “Why Literature Matters” by Dana Gioia, she is trying to persuade the audience that the decline of reading in America has a negative impact. She does this by using logos and diction in her writing to make her claim stronger. Dana Gioia uses logos, which is putting facts into the article. This is proven in the second paragraph when she states “According to the 2002 survey of Public Participation in the Arts… arts participation by Americans has declined for eight of the nine major forms”. Gioia uses facts from a relible resource, which makes her claim stronger.

In Why Literature Matters Author Dana Gioia expresses and supports his opinion on why schools should support and teach arts and literature. Gioia shows the rapid decline in Americans not reading literature anymore, he shows the consequences you will face in the real world, like when you try to get a job. Gioia uses facts and statistics throughout the essay, as well as appealing to your patriotism.

Dana Gioia, author of the article "why Literature Matters", writes about the decline of reading in the U.S. and how it affects our society. The consequences of people not reading are expressed through his specific factual evidence and his prediction of what is going to happen if the American people continue to ignore this issue.

Nowadays, people are facing an important problem of inheriting the interest in reading. In the Article “Why Literature Matters”, the author, Dana Gioia persuades his audiences that the phenomenon of Americans being deficient in reading effects the nation negatively. He strengthens his claims by using comparisons,quotation from compelling author, supportive evidences, and forceful words that can catch readers’ attention. The utilization of ethos and logos also give credits for backing his assertion. In the first paragraph, Gioia starts with “a strange thing has happened”, that gives people the sense of mystery.

Texts and their appropriations are related to particular historical periods, and the diverse perspectives they offer are significant to understanding the ways of thinking and the values held during that period. Discuss with close reference to Jane Austen's Emma and Amy Heckerling's Clueless.

In this passage Why Literature Matters by Dana Gioia, he argues the reading is an important thing to be doing.After he collected data which shows that “the declines have been most severe among younger adults”, which explains the reasoning for the lack of creativity and knowledge.Throughout this passage Gioia started it off with a survey that happened then was followed by why the study was important and was explaining the importance of it.

For years literature has been probed and prodded by students, teachers, scholars, and those just looking to pass the time. What all these readers can agree on is that any single work can be interpreted in a myriad of ways. Readers can derive interpretations on completely opposite sides of the spectrum, which can even go so far as to spark conflict or debate; thus, supporting Lemony Snicket’s argument that, the most “passionate and interesting pieces” of writing “divide” people in their opinions. Sometimes it is the writer’s intent to introduce a controversial issue to get people to question and argue, and other times the author merely presents a more relaxed or simplistic idea still knowing that readers can branch off of it in many different

This paper will cover this topic by using the main aspects of Reader-Oriented Criticism, so it will also evaluate a few essays, reviews, or analyses on the book. Considering that there are two possible angles to interpret the book (idealistic or cynical), it is ultimately the readers who decide how they find its meaning, and their past experiences can influence that decision. In fact, these past experiences can also affect their character as a whole, possibly determining their attitudes towards life or the world. When analyzing the sources, this paper will focus on the parts of the book that people tend to reference most often when explaining their interpretations. It’s essentially important to see whether the readers from both sides are referencing the same scenes or different ones. If both “idealistic readers” and “cynical readers” are viewing the same moments from different perspectives, then that suggests their thoughts are essential to forming their interpretations, which supports the ideas of Subjective

In “An Introduction to Literature, Criticism and Theory” Bennett and Royle, explore topics such as subjectivity and ideology. In the Chapters “Me” and Ideology”, Bennett and Royle are able to define the terms as well as suggest how they are interrelated or interconnected. Bennett and Royle contend that literature replicates structures of ideology while encouraging subjects to question personal idenitity. They believe “subjects – people – make their own ideology at the same time as ideology makes them subjects” (Bennett and Royle 202). Stevens exemplifies Bennett and Royles contentions by building his ideologies around his profession as a bulter at the risk of losing himself to the subjection of his ideologies in which he can never be alone and cannot exist without his profession or the justications of his profession.

the whole novel: “the linguistic pattern of choices realizes a primitive pattern of cognition, which in turn is the key to the tragic vision of the novel.”(Leech & Short, 2001: 32) Halliday being the widely acknowledged precursor of functional stylistics, the eminent German linguist-critic Leo Spitzer (1887-1960), is likewise father of literary stylistics. In his insistence that the smallest detail of language can unlock the “soul” of a literary work, he maintains the task of stylistics is to provide a hard-and-fast technology of analysis: I would maintain that to formulate observation by means of words is not to cause the artistic beauty to evaporate in vain intellectualities; rather, it makes for a widening and deepening of the aesthetic taste. It is only a frivolous love that cannot survive intellectual definition; great love prospers with understanding. (Leech & Short, 2001: 2) A question which is often asked in this connection is “At which end do we start, the aesthetic or the linguistic?” The image used by Spitzer of the “philological circle”, the circle of understanding, however, seems to suggest there is no logical staring point. Spitzer argues that the task of Linguistic-literary explanation proceeded by the movement to and fro from linguistic details to the

Literature is an imitation of societal values and is thus a reflection of the human experience of a time period. Written works emphasize the elements of culture, by means of characters, particular events, setting and theme, specific to the time period in which it was composed. Furthermore, literature mirrors the troubles or hardships of society and projects the core values that define said society. Thus, as culture has changed over time, literature has remained a critical facet in representing time periods of the past. Essentially, the culture of a time period is manifested through writing in the projection of society’s values, symbolism of the center of community and literature itself.

Any literary work is unique. It is created by the author in accordance with his vision and is permeated with his idea of the world. The reader’s interpretation is also highly individual and depends to a great extent on his knowledge and personal experience. That’s why one cannot lay down a fixed “model” for a piece of critical appreciation. Nevertheless, one can give information and suggestions that may prove helpful.