Summary Of The Human Cost Of An Illiterate Society By Jonathan Kozol

Throughout Kozol’s essay, he constantly highlights the negative aspects that come from an illiterate society. He describes the importance of being able to read by giving examples that any adult would have to face eventually in their lifetime. More importantly, he sympathizes with illiterates by imagining himself as illiterate and lost (256). This shows his credibility by giving many examples from real illiterate people and their daily struggles. However, he argues that illiterates of America are too familiar with an “uninsured existence” (257). In other words, he means that illiterates are not guaranteed for a tomorrow. In the beginning, Kozol decided to add a warning label

Writer Jonathan Kozol, in the essay “The Human Cost of an Illiterate Society,” suggests that the alarming rates of illiteracy in the U.S. are corroding the fundamentals of democracy, reinforcing the structures of inequality that created the problem to begin with. His argument draws on a range of evidence and support from multiple sources such as philosophers and historical figures, anecdotes, and first-person accounts. Kozol’s purpose is to not simply illustrate the various personal tragedies that people with underdeveloped reading skills face, but to tell his audience that such tragedies when you add them up constitute a threat to the basic values that maintain the nation as a whole.

In “The Human Cost of an Illiterate Society”, a chapter from book called Illiterate America (1985), the author Jonathan Kozol highlights that society cannot continue to sustain if we all neglect 60 million Americans who suffer from illiteracy. Kozol develops his claim by utilizing logos and pathos on describing the hardships that illiterates experience on a daily basis including their political rights. His purpose is to inform non-illiterates about the kind of life that illiterates go through, in order to bring the awareness on illiteracy. Kozol establishes sympathy relationship towards illiteracy and intended audience are two types of non-illiterate Americans who are not aware on suffering of illiterates and who blames illiterates without

Being without the ability to read brings along many different problems. One of the most important problems is that dealing with economics. In his article to the “Vocal Point”, Mcmaster emphasizes that how illiteracy affects the nation’s economy by stating that,

Democracy has always been threatened by illiteracy. There are a few ways in which democracy has been threatened by illiteracy. These ways are, people forging a vote, not understanding instructions on medication, and traveling out to the streets. These three things are a huge problem for illiterates. In order to prevent illiteracy one must open themselves to the world and learn about democracy. As James Madison stated, “A people who mean to be their own governors must arm themselves with the power knowledge gives” (Kozol 114).

The word literacy is defined as a person’s ability to read and write in a sentence. According to the article “Adolescent Literacy”, the literacy problem is getting serious in America because the students feel frustrated and discouraged to read and write when they are in school. Students without a diploma, they will face problems in getting a limited job or promotion to a higher level. The authors, Jimmy Santiago Baca and Malcolm X were having an illiteracy problem when they were in prison. Jimmy Santiago Baca is born in New Mexico and grow up without a proper family. Baca was caught and sentenced to prison for dealing with drugs when he was in his early twenties. He also gave free readings and speeches about his experiences within the country.

Kozol explains that as an illiterate, the right to equality is likely to be violated, even if the Declaration of Independence states that all men are equal. Many illiterates face struggles with inequality, including an illiterate student who explains that, “I came out of school. I was sixteen. They had their meetings. The directors meet. They said that I was wasting their school paper. I was wasting pencils” (Kozol 155). A school’s purpose is to assist their students to learn, and to become knowledgeable. Rather, they shun those without literacy, and make them feel inferior and undeserving. This shows that illiterates are not given chances to improve and

In the essay “The Human Cost of an Illiterate Society” is written by Jonathan Kozol, published in “Reading for writers” in NY. 2013. The author Kozol is a nonfiction writer, educator and social activist. In the essay, he writes about illiteracy occur in American society, illiterates who cannot read are getting trouble with many issues in their life. He is successful in affecting readers by using rhetorical throughout his essay. Kozol has also shown his talented skill of writing with logos, ethos and pathos. With logos, he is well-developed on the core of his argument, talented in appeal to readers’ emotion with pathos, and impressing readers to believe in his reliable with ethos.

This critique will be of chapter one of the book Literacy in American Lives. The author of this book is Dr. Deborah Brandt, a professor of English at Wisconsin Madison University and her main focus in Literacy in American Lives is to study about how people have learned to read, how they use their ability to read, and how literacy learning changes with time. In this first chapter “Literacy, Opportunity, and Economic Change”, Brandt focuses on how economic change can affect the value of literacy, and the impact that this change in the value of literacy has in the lives of two farm women from Wisconsin.

One of the strongest rhetorical appeals Kozol uses in this particular excerpt is, undoubtedly, the appeal to pathos. Throughout the entire piece, he spends lot of his time delivering lengthy descriptions. They begin when he reports

In the essay, “The Human Cost of an Illiterate Society” written by Jonathan Kozol and originally published in the book, “Illiterate America”, is a bundle of examples of how people who are illiterate live every day. It showcases the hardships they go through, and how much of a problem it is. He had quotes from various interviews with people who are illiterate, and how many become distrustful of people trying to explain what the written document or form says, for they can never know if they are telling the truth. Kozol heavily uses rhetorical strategies, mostly pathos related, to showcase these struggles and make us take notice of this problem. Overall, he uses the strategies of logos, ethos, and pathos to push his point across.

Knowledge is an effective factor in which human society relies on. Throughout history, those who were knowledgeable were well-respected, honored and revered. Author Jonathan Kozol writes his essay, “The Human Cost of an Illiterate Society,” to project the importance of knowledge and to explain that without it, one can suffer disastrous repercussions. He highlights real-life examples of how people suffer as a result of chronic illiteracy, and his entire essay is an advocacy for knowledge and literacy. Other authors such as Frederick Douglass and Richard Wright would use their personal experiences in completely different settings to highlight the power of knowledge. Douglass, a man born into slavery, and Wright, a man living through

Statistically, based on reports from 2003, 99% of the total population ages 15 and over can read and write (CIA Library). Thus, one can conclude illiteracy is not a crisis. However, “The Human Cost of an Illiterate Society” by Jonathan Kozol, implies something different. Kozol emphasizes the hardship of an illiterate, and briefly explains the importance of helping an illiterate without providing much of a solution, while Kozol’s essay was ineffective overall because of the lack of factual evidence and flawed conclusions, his strategic use of tone, repetition and rhetorical questioning provided some strength to his argument.

Yet, although Kozol may have shown being arrogant and using condescending tones, one of his strongest parts of his essay is his use of syntax. Some of his sentences are elegant and well-formed which the readers can often see when he tries to explain or prove a point about people who are illiterate. But some of his sentences are short and choppy. Some even seem to be almost personified and make clear the confusion and thought process of people who are illiterate. For example, he use imaginary to paint a picture for the reader in pg. 10 where he dreamed he was in a world where nothing makes sense, not having any dictionary and ID card with him, and then waking up from the dream in a panic. With this, he compares his panic to illiterate people

Adult literacy lies at the heart of many social crises in the United States, including crime, unemployment, and poverty. According to the Pro Literacy Organization, it has been estimated that as many as fourteen percent of  US adults over the age of sixteen read at or below a fifth grade level. Among those segments of the US population with lower literacy rates, almost half live in poverty. Over ninety million American adults, are illiterate, which means they do not possess the skills required to function in today's modern society. Facts such as this regarding literacy illustrate a  portrait of the social conditions that exist in America, the country generally portrayed as the most advanced in the world. Out of 191 million adults in the US, as many as 44 million cannot read a newspaper or fill out a job application; another 50 million are unable to read or comprehend above the eighth grade level. According to education experts it requires ninth grade competence to understand the instructions for an antidote on a bottle of corrosive kitchen lye, tenth grade competence to understand the instructions on a federal income tax return, and twelfth grade competence to read a life insurance form. Unfortunately, more than three fifths of the population is unable to read with the competence of a fifth grader. Steps to resolve this problem must be taken immediately. Educational improvements need to be made at the most basic level, in the country’s elementary schools. It has been