I Know Why the Caged Bird Cannot Read – Francine Prose
How American High School Students Learn to Loathe Literature
Questions for Discussion
3. Prose is implying that the “new-model English-class graduate” is less likely to question orders or think too deeply about current events, and that they are conditioned not to read too closely or to ask too many questions.
5. I think Prose would be able to partially make her argument today because curriculum on the literary works could be taught in a better way so a change would benefit students, however most teachers are very well rounded about keeping a balance between teaching what the writer has written (style, tone, etc.) and who the writer was when writing the piece.
Questions on Rhetoric and Style
Prose begins her essay by establishing her role as a parent and then introduces her role as a educator and English professor which becomes a stronger persona. She establishes this ethos by the way she presents the research she has done, paragraph 29 is a good example. She also speaks as a reader, where she presents someone who loves books, especially fiction and learns a lot from them. In paragraph 30 and 31, the section on her reading of King Lear, is relevant to the her persona of a reader. In the last few paragraphs, Prose speaks as an informed citizen as she makes a case for the long-term impact of commercialism and commodification of literature on our culture.
Prose starts out her opening paragraph with such strong language to deliberately dramatize the opening to take the reader by surprise and shock the reader. Prose does risk putting off readers who do not share her views due to the fact she is attacking and criticising famous works of literature and is questioning the worth of them, however Prose carefully builds her argument through specific examples, which appeals to the more thoughtful reader even if they disagree.
Some of the key assumptions Prose makes are:
Reading challenging and well-written literature provides the reader with ideas and perspectives that better their lives
School, especially the English classroom, is where we develop our lifelong reading habits
Assigning poorly written literary works leads to a lack of interest in reading
Serious literature deserves to be read for its language, not just for the content
Prose appeals to logos by building her argument with numerous examples to support her claims. Her use of her sources is her strongest appeal to logos, even though she was presenting herself as a parent and a reader. Prose does a very well job of backing her ideas with her research-based knowledge and includes many direct quotes.
Prose assumes that her audience would be familiar with many of the primary sources, such as To Kill a Mockingbird, the Great Gatsby, etc., that she refers to due to the article being published in Harper’s. She provides brief explanations when she mentions a lesser-known work. (In Paragraph 5 she refers to Ordinary People, “a weeper and former bestseller by Judith Guest about a ‘dysfunctional’ family recovering from a teenage son’s suicide attempt.”)
I can not say whether I agree or not because I have not read the novel myself. However, she does attack the novel harshly in her article, even though she had mentioned that teachers and other adults are very passionate of these books. Prose does not include a lot of figurative language, however, the examples she does include are: “as is everything that constitutes style and that distinguishes writers, one from another, as precisely as fingerprints or DNA mapping.” and “In classes that sound like test screenings used to position unreleased Hollywood films.”.
By the end of the essay, Prose has made her case and might be seen as asking the reader to confirm what has become obvious.When Prose uses the rhetorical questions, she has provide the answer in the paragraphs above. The question solidify these ideas in the reader’s mind because they are being hit the with the questions right after reading Prose’s proposed answers. Also in paragraph 39, she embeds in her questions the very point she is making. When she asks “Why not celebrate the accuracy and vigor with which [Twain] translated the rhythms of American speech into written language?” she is making the case for such celebration.
No, Prose would not have made her argument stronger by including the interviews, because it would have limited her to only a few people. Without the interviews the argument is more general rather than limiting.
American high school students are learning to loathe literature because:
Teachers stay away from teaching novels that require higher levels of thinking.
The books are being taught in a way that emphasized the writer’s background rather than the actual writing.
Teacher are using literature to teach students to look at themselves instead of looking deeply into the characters.
English classes are being used to discuss morals and ethics rather than the English itself.
Students are not allowed to think for themselves. They are instead being taught what to think and how to feel about literary works.
Prose does not provide an exact solution but rather keeps it an open-ended answer, which does not weaken her argument. Her not providing an answer makes the readers think about the problem and how it applies to them so they can come up with their own solutions that can benefit them in their own ways.
Education – Ralph Waldo Emerson
Questions for Discussion
7. Emerson was not actually biased, but rather he was following the norms of the writing style of his period. His ideas were actually applicable to women also. He makes references, in paragraph 14, to the power of the feminine “sympathetic” nature of good teaching and, in paragraph 8, to the powerful nature of the mother’s teaching connection with a child. These show that Emerson was less biased.
Questions on Rhetoric and Style
Emerson means that teachers should “wait and see” (Paragraph 1) by guiding the student, however not with the goal of encouraging repetition. Nature is the guiding force and nothing in nature is the same, but could be similar in many ways. Analogies are what Emerson uses for rhetorical strategies and he believes that analogies are the most important goal.
A paradox is a statement that sing in the defies logic, but many have improving true up on later inspection. Emerson description of the relationship between genius and drill is paradoxical because of how Emerson describes genius. Emerson define genius as a natural enthusiasm for learning that is not related to drill. Drill is the repetitive practice in accumulation of basic knowledge. The paradox is that while genius is supposedly antithetical to drill, genius in fact requires drill. A base level of knowledge must be established through repetition as a springboard into the area of genius, which uses the basic “tool” to craft new ideas.
Emerson try to make a point of how to learn and what it means to be educated and so to do this he makes an example of his friend Sir Charles Fellow. Sir Charles Fellow is a great example because his story tells the readers what he accomplished, how he accomplished it, and what he achieved.
The metaphor quote from paragraph 11 suggests that some things that are true and theory or not so easily put into practice. This is one of the few metaphors he uses in this essay. Emerson uses analogies a lot more. Some examples of figurative language are:
Paragraph 10 – “The college was to be the nurse and home of genius.” Emerson is suggesting that the college was expected to serve two conflicting goals, to nurture genius and to provide a place for existing genius to further develop.
Paragraph 10 – “you must lower your flag and reef your sails to wait for the dull sailors” Emerson utilizes sailing as an analogy to emphasize that a teacher should focus on the students where improvement is needed and not to just focus on the students which are meeting all the goals.
Paragraph 14 – “But smuggle in a little contraband wit, fancy, imagination, thought”
Rhetorical Strategies in Paragraph 13
Rhetorical question – Emerson uses the rhetorical question when, discussing the frustrations of a teacher pressed for time, he asked, “How can he please himself with genius, and foster modest virtue?” Emerson encourages his readers to think for themselves but at the same time implies the correct answer.
Sentence variety and pacing – “So to regard the young child, the young man, requires, no doubt, rare patience: A patience that nothing but faith in the remedial forces of the soul can give. You see his sensualism; you see his want of those tastes and perception which make the power and safety of your character. Very likely. But he has something else.” In this example, by creating variety in the length of his sentences, Emerson prevents them from seeming boring or monotonous. He also gives an emphasis to the short sentences to seem forceful and to leave a point.
Analogy – Emerson writes that a teacher hampered by unruly students “know as much vice as the judge of a police court.” Emerson includes this comparison of the school, which is a place for education, and a court, which is the place for punishment, is striking and he intends to imply that these two places should not resemble each other at all.
Allusion – Emerson alludes to an eminent reformer, of whom it was saidz, “his patience could see in the bud of the aloe the blossom at the end of a hundred years.” Emerson includes this authority to present how he is well read and that he has given serious thought to his topic.
Imperative sentences – “Try your design on the best school.” This sentence is effective because it is brief and to the point. This sentence issues a command rather than Emerson just making a statement. It also stimulates the reader’s interest by directly addressing the reader.
Emerson appeals to pathos throughout the entire essay with emotional language. In paragraph 13 he describes the method of the naturalist with a lot of detail and basically sets a scene. Also in paragraph 8, he describes the child so open to ideas and inspired by them, “ The joy of our childhood in hearing beautiful stories from some skillful aunt who loves to tell them… the boy wished to learn to skate, to coast, to catch a fish in the brook.”
Emerson is basically stating, “However, based on what we often see, it is probably less damaging to carry on with this negative act, than it would be to suddenly stop.”
This line it ironic because Emerson had already spent 13 paragraphs explaining the proper way to teach and why and will continue on with many more paragraphs. Even though he doesn’t give specific ways to change the way of teaching he has done a lot to describe the proper way to lead, inspire, support and guide students.
Emerson believes that the “male power” will be of less benefit to a child than the “female force” because he feels the “male power imposes and controls while the “female force” invites and accepts.
Emerson’s purpose in shifting among the pronouns is to make the audience feel apart of his views in education.
Emerson’s tone in the essay is persuasive but not forcefully, he opens up new views of education and the way he feels about the modern education. Emerson was authoritative yet encouraging about his views on education.
A Talk to Teachers – James Baldwin
Exploring the Text
In the opening two paragraphs Baldwin establishes a persona of a teacher and creates a common relationship of a teacher and a parent. He establishes his ethos by connecting with the reader by presenting common opinions and referencing historical events.
The “crucial paradox which confronts us here” is the idea that children learn from and follow in the footsteps of society while they are taught in school to be individuals, to divert away from conformity, and to create their own original ideas, thoughts, and opinions.
4 appeals to pathos in paragraph 3-5:
“Any Negro who is born in this country and undergoes the American educational system runs the risk of becoming schizophrenic.”
“his past is nothing more than a record of humiliations gladly endured.”
the African American child is born “in the shadow of stars and stripes,” a symbol that guarantees liberty for all and the possibility to improve one’s social standing “He is part of a country in which anyone can become president, and so forth”. Yet, on the other hand, he is also consistently revealed by mainstream America as part of a race with no cultural or social heritage
“ He is assumed by the republic that he, his father, his mother, and his ancestors were happy, shiftless, watermelon-eating darkies who loved Mr. Charlie and Miss Ann,that the value he has as a black man is proven by one thing only – his devotion to white people.”
These examples shows that an African American child living in the land of opportunity is not really what we think it means and Baldwin appeals to pathos by showing that every time an African American child sees and experiences the prejudices and stereotypes of people that he encounters closing his or her doors to opportunity.
The effect of emphasizing his personal experience is to appeal to pathos by evoking the sense of shame in his audience by including his first impression of segregation.
Baldwin’s purpose for alternating between first and third person is to show differences in views. One view of himself as kid in the streets and how he perceived things, then switching to himself as an educated adult and how he perceives it now.
Baldwin’s perspective on history is that interpreting the plight of African American is based on fact as it relates to factual events. The effect of using the historical events to support his argument is an appeal to logos which causes a person to reconsider what one knows about history and causes the audience to see history from a different perspective and leads to an appeal of pathos.
Baldwin utilizes the term ni**er to evoke a feeling of disgust for the people that would use the term and to show teachers how language can affect the child’s self worth and future. If Baldwin were to use a less provocative term, he would not have received a strong reaction from his audience.
Baldwin means that so many people believe the country was founded by a group of heros who wanted to be free but that was no the case. What happened was that some people left Europe because they couldn’t stay there any longer and had to go someplace else. Many of these people were hungry, poor, and convicts.
The effect of the short paragraph 17 is to connect to his audience with the allusion to the Bible. Baldwin is also making an appeal to logos because many believe the Bible to be truth in its words. Baldwin inspires his audience to action, and to have a vision of equality.
Examples of parallelism and repetition
“I would try to teach them – I would try to make them know – that those streets, those houses, those dangers, those agonies by which they are surrounded, are criminal. I would try to make each child know that these things are the result of a criminal conspiracy to destroy him. I would teach him that if he intends to get to be a man, he must at once decide that he is stronger than this conspiracy and that he must never make his peace with it.”
This is an example of Anaphora. Baldwin uses this rhetorical device to emphasize the points.
Baldwin uses parallelism when he parallels the concept of worth related to the worth of the educated black student to the concept of the worth of the “standards in this country…”. Baldwin is saying that the black student may decide what “they are worth” while saying that “very few standards” in America “are worth” respect. Baldwin is presents a black student’s worth as an individual against the standards that keep him oppressed by “criminal” behavior
Baldwin appeals to logos when he talks about African American schools and the fact that the students go back home after a few hours at school to return to their homes and the streets.
Baldwin’s tone is one of admonishment and foreboding. He is admonishing his audiences for the sins of their ancestors, providing the audience is white and warning them that their society as they know it will perish if they don’t change their ways and empathize and educate with equality African american children. Baldwin is convincing the teachers that they have a duty to change the curriculum that will change the future and then society will not perish as he predicts if there is no change.
Superman and Me – Sherman Alexie
Exploring the Text
The line is a zeugma because it suggests that they loved off of fear and hope however these are non-tangible concepts that we do not need to survive. The effect of this metaphor is to show you how poor Alexie’s family was and how unpredictable his living conditions were.
The description of Alexie’s father plays against the stereotype because Alexie’s father was a “smart Indian” when Indians were expected to be “stupid”. Alexie’s father was smart. He enjoyed reading, and going to school.
The effect of his analogy was describe what a paragraph was and how a paragraph held words together that grouped ideas together. Alexie had begun to simply everything down to paragraphs to help understand different concepts easily.
Alexie means that he speaks about his childhood in third person because his society looked down upon him because as a child he loved to learn and was very talented. He believed that if he talked in third person it would make him look modest and less talented.
Alexie uses short, simple sentences along with anaphora to emphasize that he basically read anything that he could read and that he was very knowledgeable.
The essay is divided into two distinct sections to separate his childhood from his adulthood. Alexie arranged his essay in a chronological order. This suits Alexie’s purpose because it showed how as a child we went against society’s rules for Indians and when he became an adult he chose to change society to improve the lives of the Indian children, to make sure they got the education they deserve.
Alexie uses parallel structure and repetition to show that Indian people are not uneducated and that many are now willing to learn. He uses phrases like “I read.” And “I learned.” He shows how he conquered the stereotypes and is now helping others to conquer theirs and save their live
The audience is pretty much anybody who is willing to learn and would like to become educated. In the last paragraph Alexie states, “I’m trying to save our lives.”
My first memory of reading is very faint because I was very young, but i do remember it had to do something with a dog. I associate it with my mom because growing up it was my mom who stayed home with me and encouraged me to read unlike my dad who would be at work. In my opinion my early experience encourage me to enjoy reading and learning new things.
Yes, I do believe reading and books still have the power to open up new worlds and new opportunities because reading and books make us more knowledgeable and help understand things in the world better.
I actually will read paper books to my children because I personally understand and comprehend what I am reading if its on paper rather than electronically. I do not think books will become a lot less important because many people prefer to read paper books.
Eleven – Sandra Cisneros
Exploring the Text
Cisneros chooses to tell the story from a perspective of an 11-year-old because it is a very sensitive age and there is a lot of emotional sensitivity. The effect of this is that it helps Cisneros connect with her audience on a more basic level and adds a sense of helplessness and an a emotional roller coaster to the short story.
The source of Mrs. Price’s authority is the fact that she is older and the teacher so she had the mindset that she has to be the leader, and therefore, be in the authority.
Her juxtaposition show that home life and school life could be so different. The audience is able to connect to the character by showing her day at school and her home life and it also expresses her emotion.
The figurative language used by Cisneros helps emphasize the main idea that even when you get older and you gain a year you still have all the other years and the characteristics of the other years. Similes used in the article show how the child feels about growing up.
The classroom is one of the first playgrounds of the child to practice how well they speak and how willing they are to stand for their beliefs. This is presented in the piece.
The Spirit of Education – Norman Rockwell
Exploring the Text
In the image the book represents an essential piece of education and the wreath and the torch to represent the Statue of Liberty, which represents freedom and the United States. The torch symbolizes the freedom education gives and that the young students do not yet understand, which is shown by the frown on the child’s face.
Other races than white and females were excluded from Rockwell’s ideal vision of education because they aren’t as superior as white, males.
What I Learned – Roz Chast
A Sentimental Education From Nursery School through Twelfth Grade
Exploring the Text
The boy is questioning the purpose of education and if it would be important in the future. It also makes the reader think about how education has affected them and their lives. “It wasn’t until junior high that I really started to wonder about the whole set up” and “Why do we have to learn this? Who said?”
“Why do we have to learn this? Who said?”, Here she suggesting that all that she has learned isn’t important.
Chast’s critique is that education is overrated in the student’s perspective. The teacher fails to convince the students that education has many benefits and that it is important for the future because the boy is uninterested and frustrated.