Analysis Of Dana Gioia's Why Literature Matters

Although Dana Gioia diction and hypothetical illustration was presented well throughout his essay, “why Literature Matters” that isn’t the strength of his writing, his use of  examples/expert testimony,and statistics is the strong suit; his argument that America will be at a societal and economic detriment with the decline of interest in literature. He voluntarily uses these forms of support to strike passion driven fear into readers to push for a literary resolve. 

Gioia throughout his article executes the use of examples and statistics extremely well using evidence for other articles to support his claim, the importance of reading for today's youth. Gioia uses two different sources to integrate a separate piece of evidence, that the part of the youth that are non-readers tend to be at a civil disconnect. Knowing less about historical and political importance for their own benefit. Gioia strategically uses information from the National Conference of State Legislatures to give a compelling expert testimony on the claim that youth now a days are,¨taking its toll in the civic sphere....A 2003 study of 15- to 26-year-olds’ civic knowledge by the National Conference of State Legislatures concluded, “Young people do not understand the ideals of citizenship… and their appreciation and support of American democracy is limited.”. Gioia incorporates this quote to tie in statistical data of  why lack of reading causes a disconnect with today’s youth and civic knowledge. Which is important in today’s society according to the National Conference of State Legislature. gioia quickly transitions from political disconnect to a to how readers are more likely to go to places that would be enjoyable for highly intellectual people. “It is probably no surprise that declining rates of literary reading coincide with declining levels of historical and political awareness among young people. One of the surprising findings of “Reading at Risk” was that literary readers are markedly more civically engaged than nonreaders, scoring two to four times more likely to perform charity work, visit a museum, or attend a sporting event.”. Gioioa elecently incorporates the idea of historical disconnect on top of the civil disconnect due to the lack of literature exposure. He also includes examples of how people who do read are more likely to participate in more social environments. Gioia demonstrates his claim well for the standings of societal disconnects due to the lack of reading;But how will he incorporate the economic disconnect?