roman’s blog

The general argument being made by author Francine Prose in her work I know Why the Caged Bird Cannot Read is that American high school students are learning to hate literature. She writes, “my suspicion is that the reason why such texts are not used as often as I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings is precisely the reason why they should be thought — that is, because they’re complicated.” In this passage, Prose is suggesting that “books that are regarded as more complex” are being avoided in schools because they are harder to teach, unlike books such as I Know Why the Caged Sings by Maya Angulou; which are found abundantly on high school reading lists, according to Prose. In conclusion, Prose’s Belief is that high school students are becoming less capable of reading and interrupting complex works because they are being cheating in the classroom. They are taught hard books wrong and simple books too often, which make for easy class discussions.

 In my view, Prose is right, because I feel that the books I’ve read in high school haven’t been challenging at all. More Specifically, I believe that those books I’ve read haven’t taught me anything except simple moral concepts and reveal nothing intriguing about the human nature. Although people might object that learning moral concepts is important, I maintain that I would much rather learn about deeper issues that go beyond visible racism and triumphs of characters. Therefore, I conclude that reading, “uncontaminated selections of literature” in high school will help others and I, develop a desire to read more difficult books for pleasure (Prose 97).