Summary Of I Know Why The Caged Bird Cannot Read

English is the New Ethics

The values of each individual person are formed by what they have been taught and experienced. One of the simplest ways to make a person experience situations that can shape their values and morality is through books. In the essay, “I Know Why The Caged Bird Cannot Read,” by Francine Prose, she challenges the practice of teaching students values through books designated by teachers. She explains that the books for students are being taught only as moral lessons and not something worth examining closely. Ethics class should not be taught as a substitute for English, instead, English class should be a place where books are picked for substantive material and language, not the moral lesson it teaches. From the mere unengagement of students, to the death of critical thinking, teaching ethics in the guise of an english class is harmful, additionally, a real world example of morals

English class should be a place of imagination and creativity, where great works of fiction are read and not reduced to a moral value. Prose states, “Only rarely do teachers propose writing must be worth reading closely. Instead, students are informed that literature is principally a vehicle for the soporific moral blather that they suffer daily from their parents” (93). Books should be enjoyed and not feel like punishment. Many students today are feeling exactly that, that books are just assignments that need to be completed and not enjoyed. The time students have for reading independant books that interest them is dwindling to none. Instead, as Prose explains, the only reading material for students is just the “moral blather” that uninterests them. Prose also took issue with the fact that books were chosen based on what social issue it addressed, not on the quality of plot or language. One of these books Prose took issue with was To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper