When reading Jonathan Kozol's "The Human Cost of an Illiterate Society" I was shocked. It's always kind of been an unexplained assumption of mine that in a civilized society, the majority of people are literate and those who are illiterate are few and minimally affected. Reading this essay, it is painfully obvious that it is a much larger issue than I originally thought.
The essay is meant to shock the literate population who was hardly phased by reading the article itself. To reinforce this idea and to convey the severity of the problem, Kozol utilizes a repetition of the phrase "Illiterates cannot." Obviously, illiterates cannot read however the author explores the broader expanse of things that illiterates cannot do because of their position. Many paragraphs begin with this phrase and provide examples for simple things that the majority of the population take for granted. The phrase suggests that because they cannot read, illiterates are disabled in a society which is created for those who can read. The repetition suggests that the list of problems is endless and this is only a small portion of the examples that makes illiteracy such a serious problem in society.
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ReplyDeleteI agree about the importance of repetition in this passage. The fact that the word "illiterate" is used multiple times allows us to understand how truly disadvantaged non-readers are.
ReplyDeleteAnna-Your shock to this essay brings up another interesting point. Being literate only matters if you read consistently. As Mrs. G.'s Mark Twain quote in her room says "The man who does not read has no advantage over the man who cannot read." Kozol describes all the advantages of being literate as in making an informed decision to vote. However if we can read up on voting but choose not to, our vote is no better than that of an illiterate's. It is our responsibility to usse our literacy to form an enlightened citizenry. -E
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