The Negative Impacts of Illiteracy

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

Taking things for granted is a very common practice in society, the ability to appreciate the smaller things in life is a trait not commonly found in many. Be it having the ability to attend a university, or having the proper use of all of one’s limbs, many don’t fully understand and appreciate the gifts they have. In his work, The Human Cost of an Illiterate Society, Johnathan Kozol relates this idea to the importance of literacy, and the implications and struggles that are imposed on society and those who lack it.

Since good language promotes strong literacy, then it is only logical for language deficiencies to cause problems with literacy. This paper will discuss some key factors that influence literacy development. When properly obtained the skills can lead to successful literacy abilities. When not properly depicted, these same skills can cause a negative impact, or deficiencies in literacy development.

Envision being limited in a world full of opportunities and advantages due to illiteracy. In this society, it is unfortunate that there are individuals who are illiterate, which ultimately affects their democratic lives. Many other citizens do not face this issue, and may not recognize the disadvantages that illiterates face. In Jonathan Kozol’s text, “The Human Cost of an Illiterate Society,” he discusses the various issues concerned with illiteracy, one of them being how it affects democracy. Democracy is a type of government where power, that involves human rights and values, is held by the people. According to Kozol’s text, illiteracy undermines democracy in the United States because people are oblivious of their right to equality,

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.

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.

In society today, people are judged by their level of education. Education is the key in society today. According to begintoread.com, today in the United States 1 out of 4 children grow up without learning how to read. Also at early stage of life the brain start developing and adjusting to the environment that they were raised in. In addition, books and education helps develop the brain especially in early age. According to the National Center for Education, Statistics shows that the majority of people who don’t complete high school have basic or below-basic literacy skills. 26% of prison inmates nationwide had parents who had not completed high school, and 37% of inmates had not completed high school themselves. Literacy is powerful in times of development because it leads to success in life and helps with solving a problem.

Imagine not being able to read this essay. Many Americans do not posses the ability to do what you just did. In Jonathan Kozol’s essay titled, “The Human Cost of an Illiterate Society,” he exposes the complications of being illiterate as well as how it affects a person on a social, personal, and financial level. He brings to light the troubles illiterates go through right from the beginning, and takes repeated stabs at the way they function, and how it brings extreme troubles. Kozol effectively educates and exploits the overlooked troubles of being illiterate, by providing examples of their embarrassment, using repetition emphasizing on their limitations, and making assertions to explain how they survive.

How does ip survive? How can ip get to places without having the ability to read and write? How can ip use medicines, without being able to read the description? How can ip help kids with homework without having an education? Which employer would hire ip for a long time? How can ip get involved in the community and be a part of our society? How can ip express inner emotions to anyone without having someone sit and listen? How can ip vote in official elections without reading articles about the candidate? Illiteracy is surely a curse on the human race; as Jonathan Kozol’s views towards growing illiteracy in America are mentioned in the introduction of the essay “The Human Cost of An Illiterate Society,” that, “Illiteracy in America is not an

Throughout life, we have experienced moments of helplessness that have left us feeling anguished and defeated. It’s only in these moments that we realize how crucial communication is. We are most vulnerable when we are not understood or when we are unable to comprehend a given issue or situation. Of course, for some, the feeling is short-term, but for illiterates it is a chronic sensation. The tragic inability to read or write has become a crisis in our nation as millions of illiterate Americans fall victim to their own insecurities and ignorance. Jonathan Kozol addresses these concerns in “The Human Cost of an Illiterate Society”, where he warns us about the dangers of illiteracy when it coexists with democracy. The notion of an illiterate society is one that affects our nation as a whole. With the alarming rate of illiterates across the nation, the incapability to read or write may compromise our democracy. Because an illiterate society lacks the knowledge or education required, they are highly dependent on others, susceptible to danger, and risk creating ill-informed decisions that could be detrimental to democracy.

The essay “The Human Cost of an Illiterate Society” written by Jonathan Kozol and published in Readings for Writers in 2013, conveyed an extremely important message throughout. Illiterate American’s struggle with simple daily tasks which many of us take for granted. The amount of illiterate people in our society is much higher than it should be. According to the essay, there are millions of Americans who fail to excel in the ability to read and write. Such a large number of people have a problem with this that evidence has shown that if those people were able to read and write and could consciously make a decision to vote for the president of the United States, there would likely have been a different outcome to the 1980 presidential election.

In this article, ‘The Human Cost of an Illiterate Society’ by Jonathan Kozol. The author mentions that illiteracy in the United States has undermined its democracy. He explains the negative aspects that illiterate people have. He demands that since 60 million people in the U.S. are illiterate, about one third of the illiteracy could vote, and that is U.S. government is “the government is neither of, nor for, nor by, the people,” which is very basic meaning of democracy in the United States; whether government in U.S. they support this one third of illiterate when other two thirds of privilaged literate people advantage from all different kinds of chance informed from the ability to read the words. Then, he begins with various examples of problem

Since literacy evolves with changes in cultural communicative practices and technological developments, so too do definitions of what literacy is. There is some agreement on what literacy involves, and most definitions include reading, writing, speaking and listening, and sometimes viewing or visual literacy. The Early Years Learning Framework for Australia [EYLF] (DEEWR, 2009, p.38) defines literacy as “a students’ capacity to access, manage, interpret and reflect on written texts in order to achieve their goals, to develop their knowledge and potential, and to participate effectively in society”. But why is literacy so important? Research shows that people with good literacy skills are more likely to have greater self-esteem, improved health, better jobs and higher wages than those with poor literacy skills. They are more able to take advantage of the opportunities that life may offer them. In order to acquire and share an important text, teachers need to consider a number of variables relating to students’, as according to Larson and Marsh in Making Literacy Real (2014) “literacy is grounded in social, cultural, historical and political practices”. In addition to appropriate literature, the NRP (National Reading Panel, 2000) noted that phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary and comprehension are crucial for effective reading instruction. The recommendations were that all students be explicitly and systematically taught these five key components.

“It is not enough to simply teach children to read; we have to give them something worth reading. Something that will stretch their imaginations-something that will help them make sense of their own lives and encourage them to reach out toward people whose lives are quite different from their own.” - Katherine Patterson. Literacy is a right. It is implicit in the right to education. It is recognized as a right, explicitly for both children and adults, in certain international conventions. Literacy is the ability to read and write, and also refers to having enough reading and writing ability to function in society. People who cannot read and write are called illiterate. People are called functionally illiterate if they cannot read or write well enough to do activities that are common in social settings they encounter. Such activities may include employment, schoolwork, voting, or worship. The power of literacy is something that can change the world. How far has literacy come since the beginning and what is its history; what are the causes of a lower literacy rate; what effects can lower literacy rates have; what about higher rates; what are some ways to improve the literacy rates and; what are some of the benefits to a higher literacy rate?

In today’s society illiterate people are looked at as “half-citizens” (Kozol 190). They are dependent on literate people to function daily. Think