Why Literature Matter By Dana Gioia

Larissa MacFarquhar’s essay titled,“Who Cares if Johnny Can’t Read?” , was published in the Slate magazine in 1997, rebuts the misconception that Americans in today’s society don’t read as much as people did in the past. MacFarquhar presented factual information to back up her claim that Americans do read and that they read more now than they ever did. In addition, people do not read classics as much as they read genre fiction and self-help in today’s society. MacFarquhar also stated that reading books is better than television. According to MacFarquhar, she believed that reading can stimulate emotions and allow people to participate unlike television. Later, she acknowledged that certain television can also stimulate emotions and allow people

Dana Gioia calls out millennials and younger generations in america, to spark a conversation about the increasingly declining and destructive behavior of NOT reading! Gioia makes very many fantastic points and uses very many persuasive elements on why literacy actually is vital to to our society and the negative effects that come from this lack of literacy. She gives us factual evidence and credible sources to pull the reader into her side of the argument.

In his essay, “Generation Text,” Mark Bauerlein, uses many statistics and strong evidence to convince his audience that adolescents are losing the need to learn and grasp the knowledge of the arts and humanities that once were important to previous generations.

INTRO PARAGRAPH: The author of the piece “Why Literature Matters”, Dana Gioia, builds a strong argument in favor of why reading literature matters so much, even in today’s technologically advanced and electronically centered environment. Gioia’s piece, (written in 2005), spoke volumes upon the the idea that even Albert Einstein once prophesied. “I fear the day that technology will surpass our human interaction.

Writer, Dana Gioia in his article “Why Literature Matters”, argues that the decline in reading will have a negative effect on society. He supports this claim by first stating that it is an important part of the business world, he then explains that young people will not understand the ideals of citizenship, and finally he claims that there will be long-term social and economic problems. Gioia’s purpose is to inform and persuade his audience in order to bring attention to the problem in reading. He adopts an informative and concerning tone, so that everyone can pitch in and do something about the decline in reading.

In his article “why literature matters” published in the new york times in april 2005 dana gioia claims that the decline of reading in young americans will bring negative consequences to society. He also claims that without the arts, specifically literature, the world would lose its creativity and uniqueness. Gioia uses multiple methods throughout his essay, mainly logos, and quoting other studies, and showing personal interest,to prove his evidence and further persuade the audience of the importance of reading. In the first part of his essay, dana gioia states that ” while income rose to unforeseen levels, college attendance ballooned and access to information increased enormously, the interest young americans showed in the arts actually

“Why Literature Matters” by Dana Gioia is a persuasive text on how literary interests have fallen. Gioia starts this claim by giving very promising information. The information has a great accomplishments but, Gioia also tells of how our literary interests as Americans have fallen drastically. A 2002 Survey of Public Participation in the Arts shows that eight of nine major forms of literature show decreased participation by many Americans. The “2002 Survey of Public Participation in the Arts” gives staggering results according to Gioia about many young Americans neglecting enjoying reading literature.

In today's generation the American arts has slowly died off; the lack of interest for the subject is starting to become non-existent. In this article, “Why Literature Matters”, Dana Gioia is trying to show the major effect that the lack of interest in American arts, especially literature, is having in our society. Gioia uses Diction and Statistic to show credibility in his writing and the negative affect that it is taking on society. In the article, “Why Literature Matters”, Gioia conveys credibility to the reader using diction.

In this paper, Gioia argues that there has been a major decline in reading among young adults. Additionally he argues that this issue affects not only literature and the arts, but all aspects of life. He creates this argument through the use of relevant facts and examples.

“Why literature matters” by Dana Gionia is an intreging essay about how a decline in reading will have a negative effect on society. “Literaty readers…(are more likely to) perform charity work, visit a museum, or attend a sporting event” Dana wrote, proving to the readers that nonreaders can have a negative effect on society. Dana is using logic to prove how reading will allow people to have a positive effect on society, compared to nonreaders. In the essay many facts are written about nonreaders, like “in the 2002 study, however, is the declining precentage of Americans, especially young adults, reading literature”. Dana is trying to incourge young adults to read so they can put a positive effect on society, instead of a negative one, like

In “why literature matters”, Dana Gioia tries to explain why literature is important in the USA. He is persuasive because he gave important facts and backed them up, Also by looking into the future and see how it might affect our society.

“Why Literature Matters” by Dana Gioia is a brilliantly written essay highlighting the exact reason as to why literature really matters. The introduction to the essay is pulling and interesting, but has a stronger powerful feeling than actual facts. The second paragraph is, on the other hand, mainly factual. Gioia uses a survey to legitimize his claims, and describes the organization that distributes said survey. This provides the reader with a deeper sense of understanding, and builds a trust for the author.

Just like Sam and Willie, I still remember when growing up, the type of interest I had between reading and writing were distinct. I like reading short texts, magazines, the news paper, and even poems. However, when it comes to writing I could stay hours writing stories and often even filling up my note books writing down thoughts, quotes or ideas because of the joy that it brought in me. As it is mention in the article on page 317 on the second passage "-where there was much to be learned about adult worlds as well." This is a strong contrast with the Rodriguez and Freire's articles, they also mentioned similar point of views towards literacy as this one. Overall, reading open minds and eyes to see more than just what is being read but also

four, my grandmother began teaching me the basics of reading and how to write the alphabet. The hours spent working with my grandmother influenced the love I have for literature. Although I have a passion for reading and writing, I feel this passion slowly fading with age. As I get older, I realize that reading does not seem as enjoyable as it used to be for me. Reading and writing has influenced my life in a thankful, a joyful, but also a slightly negative way.

Mandated reading in high school invariably means a look at the past and being educated by the “classics”. The meanings of books are shouted at students. These book have been read countless times by an innumerable people and high school students are expected to regurgitate exactly what these outdated “classics” are all about. Students are expected to figure out these “classics” and are brainwashed to find the importance of select literary terms like tone, mood, and purpose. I find it ironic that as a high school student, I am expected to relate to a middle-aged author from 100 years ago. I am personally sick of being shouted at. I miss simpler times when I could really understand the meaning of a book, it whispered softly at me and did not yell at me and cause me to cringe. But I am not here to tell people what I think about reading, I am here to talk about how it has shaped me. So, buckle up, it’s going to be a bumpy ride.