Dana Gioia's Why Literature Matters

Dana Gioia’s article, Why Literature Matters, is a very informative article, in which Gioia makes the claim that there should be an increase in the amount of literature being read. His main claim is that there is a decrease in literature reading, it would have a negative effect on the society. Gioia utilizes many facts to support his claims and a strong conclusion to let his readers wonder if it’s really important to be reading.
His facts are mostly legal surveys that have been made, as well as magazines and some case studies. The surveys that Gioia refers to, mainly the first survey of Public Participation in the Arts, is saying that the most startling evidence was that there was an increase in the amount of literature in Americans, mainly within the
Gioia refers back to the “Reading at Risk” survey that he cited earlier. The information that Gioia used is that the people who aren’t reading have a much lower chance of being civically engaged in anything, meaning participating in the community or at school. This goes to show that teens in this century aren’t too willing to go out and smell the roses, and will just keep on daydreaming. This lack of social skills and historical knowledge can also affect the economy drastically. These teens and young adults are the future, but with the way things are going, it doesn’t seem to hot; if people want the teens and young adults to do better, than there is the need for the power of politicians and businesses to help achieve that goal of higher literary reading. Gioia’s conclusion is hard hitting to prove the necessity of having the young adults read higher forms of literature, not the small screen that doesn’t have physical pages. The author’s final statement is that this “free, innovative, or productive society” should be able to exercise its usage of this free