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I Know Why The Caged Bird Cannot Read Analysis

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“I know why the caged bird cannot read” is an essay by Francine Prose that examines the way America’s school system teaches literature to high school students. Her purpose is simple, to teach our children better literature in a more meaningful way. Prose believes that the disgustingly repetitory and plain way novels are being taught to American high school students doesn’t prepare them for college nor challenge their minds to see beyond the obvious. They’re given books and asked the same questions over and over. Instead of learning new styles of writing, high school students are learning how to perfect one specific style, in turn making writing more procedural than creative. In no way does our current school system challenge student’s minds. …show more content…
At the start of her essay, Prose gives off the impression of being genuine and caring, connecting with adults that have children. This immediately establishes a bound with those who relate, or those with the ability to see her kindness. Following this, Prose uses harsh language in a way to convey her utmost disgust at the way literature is being taught to America’s children, our children. Words such as “dismal”, “appalled”, and “dreariness” are used right off the bat. The title itself, a play on I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, is a sign of her strongly rooted opinion. It is one mere example of her passion, something that is easily passed on to the readers. Later in her essay, Prose uses her two sons as a way to connect with the readers more, as well as validate her argument with hands on experience. Francine Prose’s use of brutally honest tone and pathos reasoning creates an unbreakable connection with the readers the carries throughout her essay.
The Inspired Twelve Seconds of “I Know Why the Caged Bird Cannot Read” are when Prose shows the readers how writing should make them feel, saying, “Shakespeare’s genius… managed to persuade me that I could be that mythical king-… very different from whatever result I might have obtained by persuading myself that my own experience was the same as Lear’s… mere words on the page, had raised that howling tempest”(). Writing can be analyzed, it can be picked and prodded at, but good

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