Writing is an important skill that both reflects the personality of the author and the reader. Certain styles are used to express what the intentions of an author when writing an essay or even a literature piece. For instance, the type of rhetoric an author uses can shed light on the author’s attitude toward a topic. The two essays “Superman & Me” by Sherman Alexie and “I Know Why the Caged Bird Cannot Read” by Francine Prose have similar messages, but their rhetoric and style are vastly different. Both essay’s messages are about the impact of reading on America’s youth. Prose’s essay seems to be concerned and scornful towards modern schools literature curriculum, whereas Alexie’s essay has more of a hopeful, confident tone through his rhetoric. While Prose’s essay “Caged Bird” a reader can clearly make the assumption that author has a problem with the way literature is taught in schools. Out of the gate, Prose writes in the first paragraph, “Given with the dreariness with which literature is taught in American classrooms, it seems miraculous that any sentient teenager would view reading as a source of pleasure” (Prose, pg.89). This sentence sets off the tone for the rest of …show more content…
On one occasion Prose compares two types of novels together, “ The narrator of Caged Bird is good, her rapist is bad; Scout and Atticus Finch are good, their bigoted neighbors are bad. But the characters in James Alan McPherson's "Gold Coast" are a good deal more lifelike” (Prose, pg.97). This allusion in particular is very important for Prose’s central message; text is meant to challenge the reader and force them to think, instead of a cookie cutter good/bad guy story that is meant to force a specific idea onto the reader. Regarding this information we can understand that the majority of Prose style mainly uses allusions and evidence to back up her
As I grew up learning to read was something I learned in school, yet for Sherman Alexie and Malcolm X can’t say the same. These two amazing authors taught themselves, at different stages of their lives, to read. In Sherman Alexie’s essay “The Joy of Reading and Writing: Superman and Me” and Malcolm X’s essay “Learning to Read” they both explain the trials and experiences they went through that encouraged them to work to achieve literacy.
Meyer, Michael, ed. The Bedford Introduction to Literature: Reading, Thinking, Writing. 5th ed. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin's, 1999.
Tan, Amy. “Two Kinds.” Exploring Literature: Writing and Arguing About Fiction, Poetry, Drama and The Essay.4th e. Ed. Frank Madden. New York: Pearson Longman, 2009. 253-261. Print.
Meyer, Michael, ed. Thinking and Writing About Literature. Second Edition. New York: Bedford/St. Martin's, 2001.
Although the greater picture is that reading is fundamental, the two authors have a few different messages that they seek to communicate to their audiences. “The Joy of Reading and Writing” depicts how reading serves as a mechanism to escape the preconceived notions that constrain several groups of people from establishing themselves and achieving success in their lifetimes. “Reading to Write,” on the other hand, offers a valuable advice to aspiring writers. The author suggests that one has to read, read, and read before he or she can become a writer. Moreover, he holds an interesting opinion concerning mediocre writing. He says, “Every book you pick has its own lesson or lessons, and quite often the bad books have more to teach than the good ones” (p.221). Although these two essays differ in their contents and messages, the authors use the same rhetorical mode to write their essays. Both are process analyses, meaning that they develop their main argument and provide justification for it step by step. By employing this technique, the two authors create essays that are thoughtful, well supported, and easy to understand. In addition, Alexie and King both add a little personal touch to their writings as they include personal anecdotes. This has the effect of providing support for their arguments. Although the two essays have fairly different messages, the authors make use of anecdotes and structure their writing in a somewhat similar
Alexie, Sherman. “The Joy of Reading and Writing: Superman and Me” Writer’s Presence: A Pool of Readings. 5th ed. Ed. Robert Atawan and Donald McQuade. Boston:Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2006. 73-76. Print
By using words such as “mediocre,” and other words, Prose shows that in her own reasoning, the literature is not so much literature, but a waste of time that is taking attention away from actual good books that have content will instill a love for reading. Prose destroys the idea that the books provided to the students in the educational system should be deemed best sellers because she explains that the only reason this books are so well know, is because of the fact that they are forced down the throats of innocent teenagers. She also explains that teenagers are incapable of reading such stories because of the “overuse” of metaphors, and that we cannot read line for line books. If we cannot read a book line for line, than what should we
As a writer, the success of most authors’ comes from their power to convert common thoughts or knowledge into something which can enlighten the reader. An author thrives on being unique and imaginative. With this originality comes differentiation, when one compares two authors who have used the same literary device in their writings, this becomes apparent. J.D Salinger’s writings involve an enormous amount of childhood concepts and loss of innocence. Mark Twain is also known for his use of innocence in his novels, specifically The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. Although the concept behind innocence is basically the same with both authors, each author applies his own interpretat...
... Reading these three sources of rhetorically with the help of Hass and Flower in the role of rhetorical reading. This help me find the key points in these literature about young teenage writers and how they think some agree and some disagree. I believe that a person should be real when they write and be open about life and what it intakes. These permits a lot of people to ask a question why young teenagers write about real life stuff will this help other teenagers or will it promote more violence in the world.
Writing and Reading Across the Curriculum. Tenth edition. Edited by Laurence Behrens and Leonard J. Rosen. New York: Longman Publishers, pp. 371-377, 2008.
Although it has only been 2 weeks that I have been attending in this writing course, I have already expanded my knowledge greatly and gained plenty of courage in a very little time period. I am not an avid reader, nor do I ever bother to take my own time to go out and pick up or buy a book, but throughout the weeks, I have been assigned to read a new article every week, and each article has made me realize the power and potential reading has to a single person. How it can change someone’s life drastically. I mostly enjoyed reading “The Importance of the Act of Reading” by Paulo Freire, “The Joy of Reading and Writing: Superman and Me” by Sherman Alexie, and “All Writing is Autobiography” by Donald M. Murray.
Perrault, Charles. “Cinderella.” Writing and Reading Across the Curriculum. Ed. Laurence Behrens, Leonard J. Rosen. Toronto: Longman, 2013. 236-240. Print.
Prose, Francine (September 1999). "I know why the caged bird cannot read". Harper's Magazine. Retrieved February 18, 2011 from http://www.scribd.com/doc/2315657/HarpersMagazine1999090060648.
In today's society, education and literacy play a defining role in the daily lives of people around the world. The ability to read and write is essential to the development of an individual within a society, a culture, and an economy. Daily activities such as communication through technology (internet use, texting, news sources, etc.) and understanding the world around oneself require a basic education and knowledge of literacy. To thrive in the modern world, to acquire a good job and sustain a high quality of life, it is vital to have adept literacy skills. We see this need put into action, as literacy has a significant influence on the outcomes of the major works studied this semester; namely Animal Farm by George Orwell, William Shakespeare's
This essay will help students better understand the notion of a tragic hero and that not all heroes are entirely good. Miller’s essay will also give students more experience with nonfiction writing, a literary genre that has become the central focus for many Common Core standards. Goodwin and Miller state, “The new Common Core language arts and literacy standards attempt to correct this imbalance by placing more emphasis on reading nonfiction.” When students write their final research papers, they will be able to revisit information from this essay when deciding which characteristics to describe in their