Observing another side of his argument, he references Lives on the Boundary, in which the author implies that the working class found knowledge as saving grace, however, Graff takes for granted his education as part of the middle class. Frustrated at his avoidance of books, Graff’s father attempts to force him to read many different types of books, though this ended in failure. Once he enters college, where boys of his background are expected to get serious, he knows not of what he is going to do and thus pursued a major in English. At this
Disliking Books Summary In Gerald Graff’s work “Disliking Books” the author explains how he is surprised that he would become a celebrated writer and literary critic because he formerly despised reading. Graff, who grew up in a tough working class Chicago neighborhood, grew up thinking reading was boring and irrelevant. Graff’s parents brought him modern adventure books and classics that have traditionally interested young men, but it didn’t work. Since he was listless and lacked ambition Graff “chose” liberal arts and majored in English when he started college. Graff struggled mightily through his studies since he still hated books.
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.
This paper makes an exhaustive review of the short story (pages 103-120) to capture what Groff drives at, in placing the readers into the perspective of ordinary life the French white people. In a precise way, Groff offer a painful comparison between ambitions of youthfulness and their later position given the sweet vs. brutal life experiences as one grows up. In the short story Groff directs at young people but drawing examples from adults, arguing that happiness in adult life is only achieved by one’s choices in childhood and youthful stages. Groff suggests that shouldn’t one make good choices a younger age, they would face a dull adult life devoid of enthusiasm and only filled with unending disappointments that fuel regrets. Critique of For the God of Love, for the Love of God Firstly, Groff’s writing style is one that tips towards passiveness of characters.
He also distances himself from an argument by presenting factual information, but reiterating his position as an observer rather than an expert. Throughout the essay, Wallace keeps himself at the forefront of of the argument; he uses names like “your correspondant” to emphasize his position as the eyes and ears of the reader- creating a relationship between the author and audience. “For 56 year the Maine Lobster Festival has been drawing crowds with the promise of sun, fun, and fine food. One visitor would argue that the celebration involves a whole lot more.” David Foster Wallace places himself in the essay before it even begins. The consistent appeal to the audience and their relationship to the MLF affirms their belief that he is a reliable source- and Wallace makes sure the audience understands he knows his own biases and misunderstanding in both the main portion of the essay as well as the footnotes.
In Gerald Graff’s “Hidden Intellectualism” he emphasizes his own personal opinion and thoughts on street smarts vs. intellect or book smarts. He then goes into saying how students do not need to read intellectually challenging writing to become intellectuals. While talking through this he figures out what category he would put himself in. He really notices this about himself when he stopped and listened to himself and realize how much he argued and how he reasoned with particular subjects. Graff then goes in telling a story about Michael Warner who also, like Graff, found out where he would put himself, and it would for the same reason Graff did, by arguing.
With the novel being told in the first person point of view of Huck, we get a first hand experience of the prejudices then. We are able to see just how stereotypical and racist white people were in the past. A majority of the people in the south viewed blacks as inferior, or below them in social ranking. They ordered around their slaves and treated them with little respect at times. Although The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn can make students feel “uncomfortable," it is beneficial for students to read it.
Frost’s ability to appeal to the common man through complex ideas and unique writing style has changed American poetry from an old writing style to a new, modern style. With not only making himself a household name through his many popular works, he also has been awarded four Pulitzer Prize awards for his poetic books. In schools throughout the United States, Robert Frost’s poems are being read and examined today. In conclusion, it is clear that his poems will forever have a lasting impact on not only American literature, but also American
Regarding her potential audience, educated men, as “conservative,” Woolf attempts to persuade them that social discouragement is the real cause of the lack of great female writers without irritating them by proposing “radical” arguments. By using casual diction, simple sentences, and well-known allusions, Woolf is able to shift the audience’s attention from the gender of the
The nature of Frost’s writing reveals the understanding of Frost’s experience with making decisions. Identically, the fork in the road, described in his writing is characterized to explain the significance of decisions. Once Frost does choose his path, the imagery is used to describe his thoughts on the paths. “Frost could also be suggesting, as some critics have noted, that the poem makes it clear that the paths are not different, yet the speaker says choosing one over the other has “made all the difference (Little, 136).” In conclusion all the roads, nature, and fork in the paths are all intensely described so one can visualize Frost’s experience and understand why he wrote “The Road Not