Dana Gioia's Why Literature Matters

Words: 726
Pages: 3

Literature may be the answer to locating and excelling at a job in the 21st century. Dana Gioia in her paper “ Why Literature Matters” uses appeal to emotion, a juxtaposition and repetition to argue that because of the decline of interest in literature, we're losing advanced literacy skills necessary in a society.

Gioia in an attempt to show the reader how severe the decline of young adults reading in the 21 century is, appeals to the emotions of the reader to set up and demonstrate how severe of an impact not reading has on society. To do this he brings up “that such a longstanding and fundamental cultural activity should slip so swiftly, especially among young adults, signifies deep transformations in contemporary life.” In this sentence,
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Using “Reading at Risk” he pulls out a line saying “that literary readers are markedly more civically engaged than non readers, scoring two to four times more likely to perform charity work, visit a museum, or attend a sporting event.” Using this he convinces the readers of how broad and important literature is in life. Using this line he creates theories and possible effect of a lack of literature in a person's life. The facts and theories given to the reader convenience and pull their full support for the importance and requirements of literature. It also uses their emotions of fear and anger to persuade the reader to talk action and make a difference. This solidifies the readers presentation that reading is essential today. Gioia uses the repetition of facts and predictions to completely support how important literature is.

In “Why Literature Matters” by Dana Gioia, the audience is persuaded through facts, predictions and emotions to come to a realization that literature is required in a modern-day society. Using appeal to emotion, am juxtaposition and repetition he brings the reader to the conclusion that for the future of society we must put a greater emphasis on