In the passages selected from Jonathan Franzen's essay "Why Bother?," which you have read and annotated, Franzen explores issues related to the question, "why bother reading and writing fiction?" Take forty minutes or so to plan and write a short essay in which you analyze the strategies--such as but not limited to allusions, selection of detail, personal anecdote, expert testimony--Franzen uses to develop his perspective on reading and writing novels in our time.
Do this before class on Monday.
Throughout his essay, “Why Bother”, Jonathan Franzen explains how fewer and fewer people are reading and writing novels due to modern technologies, such as movies, replacing the need for them. However, through logos, and allusions Franzen supports how novels offer more for the general public than the new technologies do.
ReplyDeleteFranzen uses logos to support his thesis. In the essay, Franzen mentions how since movies are more prominent, less people are reading books. This makes sense because today, we see many people going to watch the movie adaptations of books instead of actually reading the books. Some people may see the movie because they enjoyed reading the book, however, most people may see the movie and ignore the book all together due to lack of time in their schedule or perhaps, they just want to see their favorite. However, Franzen argues that movies only offer the audience superficiality and offers no in-depth perception of the characters. For example, on the screen, we can only see the expressions the actors convey while in books, the authors are able describe what really is running through that particular character’s head.
Franzen also uses allusions to support his thesis. Throughout the essay, Franzen mentions famous authors, such as Dickens, and Darwin, and the profound affect they had on society and its beliefs. This supports Franzen’s theory that fiction and novels are an important factor in life and should not be completely removed from society.
Although new kinds of media have become more popular than novels, Franzen states that we should not abandon them because of the profound affect they have had on society and in depth perception they offer that movies and other media cannot.
In the essay “Why Bother?,” Jonathan Franzen explores why fewer people than ever before are reading and writing fiction novels. People find less of a need for books when entertainment is literally right at their fingertips. Franzen wants to explain to his audience that reading and writing are not past times. One way Franzen explores the issue is by discussing his own experience of constructing a character from a novel. A second way he explores the issue is by addressing the theory that there are two different types of people who read.
ReplyDeleteFranzen was introduced to a character named Sophie Bentwood when reading a novel. Using the details he was given, Frazen constructed her from his own imagination. His image of her was different from anyone else’s. It belonged to him. When Franzen later saw the video of Desperate Characters staring Shirley MacLaine, Franzen no longer felt the intimate connection between himself and the character, Sophie. On the screen, Franzen was viewing Sophie the same way as everyone else, causing him to feel disconnected to the character. By sharing his own experience, Franzen tries to relate to his audience, in hopes that they will feel the same about reading versus watching a movie.
According to Shirley Brice Heath, an English professor included in Franzen’s essay, there are two types of readers in this world. There is the type that has reading instilled within them since childhood, and there are those who feel different from everyone else therefore turn to reading for comfort. Franzen includes this section in his essay to show that these types are the people who are still reading today. So what about the other children who do not feel socially out of place and do not have reading instilled within them? Those are the people who do not read. Living in the age of technology, people become absorbed into their phones, almost as it is comforting. This leaves less people reading. And if today’s parents encourage watching TV rather than picking up a book, than there aren’t many people left who enjoy reading and writing.
Although technology has become more popular then novels, Franzen shows his audience that there is still a reason to read. A deeper connection can be made with books because the reader develops a unique character, that no other reader will experience other than themselves.
In Jonathan Franzen’s essay “Why Bother?” he examines the declining amount of people in our society that still take time to read books. Franzen remembers his own childhood and referneces a character from his own experience to make a point. He also brings up the impact of modern technology on the dying enjoyement of written entertainment. By using these two different examples and many more Franzen is able to create a complex, cohesive argument and explanation regarding the loss of literature as an entertainment source.
ReplyDeleteWhen Franzen speaks of his childhood reading he uses it to examine two separate parts of his argument. Franzen explains an intimate connection he felt with a character that he created in his mind while reading a novel. Sophie Bentwood was not in fact his own character but was created and explained in a novel which Franzen read. This is one part of literature that is not included while watching the movie instead. When you read about a character there is an aspect that you are alowed to create in your mind and the story and characters are seen exactly how you want to see them. This eventually leads to a greater satisfaction than being told what the characters look like and seeing them in two dimensions which nothing is left up to your decision. Franzen uses his own personal experience in losing a connection he felt when he eventually saw this character on screen to show how reading may be more satisfactory that watching movies. He also uses this experience to show why people choose to watch instead of read. While creating your own characters you are required to think, and use logic and your imagination. A scary situation for many people in todays world.
The availableness of technology is also hurting literature. Watching a movie is so much easier and more readily available than reading a book. When you go to watch a movie that takes 2 hours, how long would it have taken to read the same story in a book? Franzen also speaks of satisfaction. While the end result of a book may be more satisfying than a movie, you can gain a lot more shallow satisfaction in shorter time periods. You can watch 10 stories in the time it would take to read one book, yet bringing up another problem. It is becoming harder to find free time, so why should you spend it reading a book? While Franzen answers this question through his own personal experience he also demonstrates why noone chooses to read books anymore.
In Jonathan Franzen’s novel, “Why Bother,” he explains his beliefs dealing with the idea that technologies have helped to make reading fiction novels nearly obsolete. Franzen delivers his point of view by making comparisons to watching television and reading novels. He also accomplishes this by agreeing that there are only two types of people who actually read. Each tactic plays an important role in in expressing how fiction novels grow less and less necessary and relevant for people in our society.
ReplyDeleteFranzen made it clear that there are many more people today who are only interested in watching television rather than reading a fiction novel. He brings up the concern that novelists do not generally speak of the current issues that have impacts on people’s lives today and how that may be a contributing factor as to why there can be so much more interest in television. Any type of media is available immediately at any time or place for most people, especially though television. This kind speed and accuracy in events is something that novelists will never be able to accomplish. Franzen states, “Just as the camera drove a stake through the heart of serious portraiture, television has killed the novel of social reportage.” He express that people do not have much use for fiction novels anymore and that they will soon simply become outdated, just the same as so many other things in the past that have become completely obsolete today.
In his novel, Franzen agrees with the concept presented by Shirley Brice Heath that there are simply two types of people who actually read and who may still take the time to conquer a fiction novel today. It is believed that either you are surrounded by people who read when you are growing up and that they strongly encourage reading so you become a reader yourself, or when growing up you are perceived more of as a social isolate who may turn to reading as a comfort or distraction. This concept presents the idea that there is such a significantly small amount of people who actually are readers and why fiction novels are so irrelevant to most people today. Others are perceived to not be able to truly find enjoyment thorough this type of reading and only find enjoyment through the technologies that are now so much more prominent than books. This concept presents an interesting way in looking at why there really is such a decline in reading fiction novels.
Technology in our society has taken the place of fiction novels ever being read for enjoyment. Reading is something that cannot really be learned later in life but is an interest picked up at a very young age in most cases. As the distractions that technology presents for us continue to become more and more indulging and constantly surrounding us, there is even less of a need for anyone to enjoy a fiction novel or even become a reader. There are ways of getting the same message or entertainment that fiction novels bring in a much more convenient way with todays technologies.
In Johnathan Franzen's excerpt " Why Bother", he discusses the issues he has with the development of technology and how it has made the souplike actually reading and language disappear. He mostly talks of the influence of movies and television and texting. I find the excerpt very interesting because after reading it, it made me appreciate how. Lucky I am to have such developed writing and reading skills.
ReplyDeleteFranzen talks about how he watches movies and that he feels like can't personally relate to characters like he can through books. This is an interesting point because I disagree. Sure, it may be hard to relateto characters or people through television and movies but you can see their reactions. Seeing their reactions can help firm bonds or understaning. A book is easy to feel like you know the character as well. The book you feel like you get to know he real person. When you see a movie, all you can think about is the actor or actress that is playing the character you thought you had a bond with. It is not the same as a book but not as bad as Franzen thinks.
Late Ron the excerpt he talks about how a child having a mother that can read is no-good enough to produce a lifelong and dedicated reader. Young readers next a friend their age that can read as well. It is more fun for a child to share the gift of reading with a friend rather than a parent. He is saying that nowadays children don't find anger hat read too until college. This society has cut back on enforcing the skill of reading that now it may take kids until college to find someone that is at their reading level. What is not true for menus that reading is looked down upon in highschool. Here at GHS it is a good thing to be able to read but there is a chance that that's not the case everywhere.
Reading is a good thing for gong children and adults to have as partno their lives but there is nothing wrong with television. If television and books were two different things and that they had their differences explained, I don't see a problem with it. Personally though, reading is the better way to go. It opens up a world of imagination and creation. Everyone should have a chance to experience those.
In his essay “Why Bother?”, Jonathan Franzen discusses the issue of the decline in people reading novels and why this is occurring. Then he uses information he's gathered to sum up the big question: why should we read novels? He uses a variety of ways to argue for the reading of novels, namely the use of his own anecdotes, as well as referring to other people who have studied relevant topics (particularly Shirley Heath).
ReplyDeleteShirley Heath's own research and quotes pop up often, a fact that Franzen even points out at one point in his writing, and then justifies this by saying she has “bothered to study empirically what nobody else has.” This, I found, was an exceptional good decision because her studies backed up what would have been just an educated opinion had she not been referred to at all. It also helps because it's not just one person saying something anymore. It shows the reader that this isn't some isolated idea about novels someone decided to type up and publish. Instead, we now see that many people are aware of this problem, and further more there are studies that can support these claims. The information she gives us isn't all technical and uninteresting either. In some ways it sucks us even further into the issue, like when she talks about what makes a reader in the first place. And there is always a feeling of it somehow tying into the rest of the argument being made by Franzen, so there is no feeling of losing sight of the original topic.
Franzen's own personal stories show up frequently throughout the essay, and similarly to the quotes taken from Heath, when they do they always flow perfectly so he can highlight a particular point he's making at the time. Mainly they're useful for demonstrating emotions. Reading them I got a strong sense as to why I should care that people aren't reading as many novels as they have in previous years, an idea that is very important to get across since the title of the essay is “Why Bother.” At times, his stories can be both humorous and dark, but they're always captivating. Hearing about his experiences teaching at his school for instance, I felt for him when he talks about how “depressed” he was when he heard some of his students never wanted to take another literature class again, especially since he made it clear at the beginning of that particular anecdote that he wanted to hep the students, and do a good job while doing it. The stories made the essay more readable overall, because instead of a factual paper published solely to relay information, we hear the firsthand accounts of someone who's faced this problem in his life.
This essay is effective in demonstrating the importance of reading. It points out holes in the society of readers and shows us why they are happening. It also in some ways makes you look at yourself and make you wonder, “what category do I belong to?” which in turn makes you want to strive to become a better reader.
Danielle P
ReplyDelete(part 1)
Reading is both a hobby and a skill that has outlasted even the greatest of civilizations. It is an art that allows even the most contrasting of individuals connect. It allows us to explore worlds far beyond what our physical self will ever get the chance of seeing. Reading allows the individual to do a lot, yet the question still remains, "why bother?" Why do we bother reading? And even more so, why do we bother reading fiction? Jonathan Franzen explores this question thoroughly, and refuses to let anyone believe there is no reason to read. Reading makes us who we are, and without it, we would lose part of our-self.
Jonathan Franzen is an expert with creating arguments. He understands with every piece he writes, he will be facing the hard cynicism of critics. He knows this, and tackles their counterargument in the very beginning of his excerpt. We do not read because we no longer have to. We are offered a variety of sources that produce entertainment similar to that of reading. Press releases for a new movie make headlines, where a new book release might not even turn a head. Why is this? I personally believe it is because movies are easier than books. They offer the story upfront to their audience, and in most cases, very little mental exercise is done. Movies are easy, and the average American is lazy. What's even worse is the fact that more and more books are being turned into movies. This offers no incentive for a person to read, where they can watch. A person has to look deeper to realize the superficiality of film, and realize they can't get the same connection with the story as they can when they read it. Movies offer the same played-out actors whom have taken part in hundreds of roles, which makes it harder for the average person to view them in only one movie. The entire time, our subconscious is relating their acting to another role they have done, and we never get to truly know and understand the character onset. Novels, however, are created by one's own mind. We begin to grow a personal connection with the characters, such as how Franzen has with Sophie Bentwood. He even claims that, "If I knew her only through a video of Desperate Characters, Sophie would remain an Other, divided from me by the screen on which I viewed her, by the superficiality of film, and by MacClaine's star presence." Movies offer no interaction, which is one reason we should continue to broaden our perspectives with novels.
Danielle P
ReplyDelete(part 2)
Fiction has always been characterized by a character's inner struggle. It is within this struggle that a reader can connect, and even begin to learn more about oneself. It is also this very struggle that offers an answer, a happy ending. This struggle is just that, though, and nowadays we are too preoccupied with our own superficial struggle to even begin to explore what is beneath us. "The real problem is that the average man or woman's entire life is increasingly structured to avoid the kinds of conflicts on which fiction, preoccupied with manners, has always thrived". Jonathan Franzen offers this to his audience as answer to America's laziness. We do not read novels just because we are lazy, but because we no longer have the time and mental exuberance to tackle them, and their conflicts. This is why we simply set ourselves in front of the television, so it can do the work for us and give our minds a "mental vacation". If we were to take the other route and read a novel, then I believe we could benefit just as much. We would be thinking more, but by doing so we would be strengthening our mental capabilities and in the future we would be more ready to tackle our own battles. Reading is beneficial for our minds, and we should never take the easy way out.
In this excerpt, Jonathan Franzen discredits many counterclaims and begins to persuade the reader to believe they should keep doing exactly what they're doing, reading. If his perspective is not enough, he brings in an outside source. He introduces his audience to Shirley Heath, who has conducted numerous polls and surveys as to see who still reads. By incorporating her and her research into his argument, Jonathan Franzen is acting on his audience's sense of logos. Numbers do not lie, and they are forced to believe that Franzen makes a valid argument. He begins to explain that Heath has found there are two types of readers; those who do so because their parents did and those who do so because they were able to relate to a friend or peer. Regardless, these situations bring forth relatonships between two readers, and they are able to hold intellectual conversations because of it. Reading not only strengthens your mind, but it also strengthens your relationships.
"Why Bother" proves not to be such a ridiculous question. By reading this argument, I have learned that many people do not read as much as they should. Franzen explains why this is so, and also why it should be changed. Reading allows one to strengthen their mind and personal relationships, and helps one understand themselves more fully. Reading proves beneficial in every aspect, and is a habit that should never get the chance to die.
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ReplyDeleteIn his essay “Why Bother?” Jonathan Franzen argues that modern media and technology is causing many people to watch movies rather than read novels. Throughout his essay he explains how this is becoming an issue of destroying our language and literature using logos, giving specific examples and making comparisons to support his theory.
ReplyDeleteThrough logos, Franzen uses his own personal experience. From a novel he had read, he created his own interpretation of the character Sophie Bentwood, from his own imagination and felt an intimate connection with her. After seeing the video of Desperate Characters with Shirley MacLaine he no longer saw the character the way he did when having read the novel. By watching the video, he was viewing the character Sophie through someone else’s depiction of her. The point that he makes here is that in movies, you are watching someone else’s view of the character versus your own when reading. Also, when you are watching the movie, you are seeing the character’s expressions and reactions, but through reading the actual novel the detail given by the author allows the readers to get inside the characters head; allowing us to understand and be able to connect to the character more accurately. By sharing his own experience of how technology is decreasing the number of readers with the readers, he creates a sense of trust with them.
Franzen mentions that “simply having a parent who reads is not enough../to produce a lifelong dedicated reader,” and that in order for a child to be a reader is for him/her to be surrounded by people with the same habit. According to Heath, a child must find a peer to share his/her’s interest with and finding that peer can take place as late as college. I agree with this statement because as technology is increasing, the lower generation is being allowed more access to it, which creates a lack in reading at an early age, destroying literature and language as we know it. Children are more likely to enjoy watching TV than to read a book. Modern technology is developing a need for entertainment.
Due to the fast development of technology, people are becoming lazier and lazier. With access to entertainment from a click of a button, we are able to receive fast and easy entertainment. For many people the problem is time. Reading is a long process and it can be hard for people to fit it in their schedules. Franzer explains the negatives of technology when there are some positives as well. Thanks to modern technology we have access to devices such as Kindles and IPads witch allow people to read online or on the go.