Analysis Of Disliking Books By Gerald Graff

Gerald Graff grew up loathing books which is ironic because he majored in English. Graff is an English professor at the University of Illinois and wrote the essay “Disliking Books.” Graff received his PhD in English and American Literature from Stanford University. He feels that his childhood struggle with reading gives him an advantage as a teacher to help his students who struggle in reading. Graff grew up as a middle class Jew who lived in a racially blended Chicago neighborhood. His dad, who loved reading, tried to impress this habit upon his son, who refused to read anything but comics and sports novels.

The dictionary defines Regret as “feel sad, disappointed over” but, the short stories The Scarlet Ibis and The Sound Of Thunder give it a new meaning.Regret accomplishes nothing, it only brings you down more than you have ever been.The Scarlet Ibis shows regret when Doodle’s brother teaches him to walk.Also, The Sound Of Thunder it shows regret when Eckles wants to hunt big game.Often times we regret things that we do But have an irreversible effect. The Scarlet Ibis shows many ways of regret. First, when Doodle’s older brother taught him to walk. He taught him to walk because he was embarrassed about having a crippled brother. This relates to regret because he realized that he wasn't teaching him to walk for Doodle he was doing it for

Marquez’s characterization of the creature makes the reader sympathize with him because the locals do not know how to care for him. Since the creature is so diverse, the community treats him like “…a science experiment, a holy figure, and a freak show.” (p. 150) Likewise, when I was a child, I was illiterate until the third grade. Being a late bloomer in life can affect a child’s self-esteem because I was reading the first-grade book in a fifth-grade class and automatically was subjected to bullying and isolation like the creature in “The Old Man with Enormous Wings”. For example, When Pelayo and Elisenda discovered the creature, they tried to rid of him on a raft, but the creature had been discovered in the chicken coop, and the villagers were tossing food for him to eat “…as if he weren’t a supernatural creature but a circus animal.” (p.150) Objectively, the experience I encountered as a child allows me to perceive this story with deeper understanding and created sympathy for others that considered “freak shows” in

He was strong mentally with his abilities. Douglass thought that him learning how to read was more of a curse than a blessing. He had only read books about slavery and that discouraged him. This made him feel beaten down by his abilities. He faced great hardship due to his mental image of himself.

The books he reads and knowledge he’s gotten has made him angry at other slaves with a lack of knowing what is going on. The life of slavery really just ruins your mind and thoughts, and makes you feel discouraged, but Frederick had the education piece in his life. In the text Frederick says, “I often found myself regretting my own existence, and wishing myself dead; and but for the hope of being free, I have no doubt but that I should have killed myself, or done something for which I should have been killed” (Douglass 54). With his newfound knowledge he starts to contemplate his existence. The hope of being free still pushes him, even if it may lead to death.

When an individual excels at something others usually tend to be jealous of that individual. Greatness causes others to feel incompetent and affects the way that they think. In the novel A Separate Peace, written by John Knowles, two school boys exhibit this. The boys attend a private school, Devon School, during World War II. Gene Forrester and his friend Phineas (Finny) battle through their hardships throughout the book and go against each other.

Amir’s guilt in The Kite Runner is constantly discussed throughout the novel from beginning to end about how he did not stand up for Hassan in the time where he needed him most. In the novel, Amir says, “That was a long time ago, but it’s wrong what they say about the past, I’ve learned, about how you can bury it. Because the past claws its way out. Looking back now, I realize I have been peeking into that deserted alley for the last twenty-six years.” (Hosseini, 1), describing how he has been feeling guilty and full of regret for over twenty years, leaving him to feel personally confined from that guilt. The Guardian's review of the novel also states, “In fact, from Kabul to California, where he and Baba make their home in the 1980s after an arduous escape from Afghanistan, Amir is never free from the burden of his sin.

In the beginning of the book when George and Lennie were walking down the sidewalk heading to their new job Lennie asked, “Where we goin’, George?” (4). After George heard that he began to get angry because he then knew Lennie had forgotten. George then said, “So you forgot that awready, did you?” (4). Which George knows it is not Lennie’s fault, but he still gets mad at him anyways. Another time George got angry with Lennie was when Lennie lied to George about saying he does not have anything in his pocket.

“A bookworm with strong homoerotic urges, a fascination with guns and crime and a natural inclination to break every rule he could find, there seemed to be no way [William] Burroughs could ever fit into normal society” (Asher). The Midwestern (St. Louis) and upper class lifestyle did not fit who Burroughs really was. After graduating from Harvard, Burroughs’ parents accepted their son’s need to find his place in society, so they “continued to support him financially as he experimented with various lifestyles” (Asher). Burroughs was a rebel figure who had trouble finding his way. He traveled around a lot and fell into drugs and substance abuse to free himself from the built-up conventions of society.

He quotes books and keeps them in a hidden library in his house, but he blames books for all the problems in the world. Beatty must hate books because he took a job where the only purpose is to burn books. Beatty says that he is a romantic, and he thought that life should be like a love story from a novel. When his life didn’t go the way he wanted to, he turned to books to get insight from them. Beatty found no books that could help him and this is why he turned on books.