I Know Why The Caged Bird Cannot Read Summary

Francine Prose’s, I Know Why the Caged Bird Cannot Read, proves many points about literature and the effect it has on students. I agree with Prose in such a sense that I believe students should read literature, not to get a better understanding of the “behind-the-scenes” of the story, or because it was assigned to them, but because they want to read it and that they will actually read the story thoroughly, understand it, and apply it to themselves and their life.
I have taken English classes where the literature is taught effectively, in a annotative sense, and we have learned what to look for in a novel, story, or other piece of literature, to determine the position of point of view the author has on a certain topic. We studied the author and the history of the context more than the context itself. We had more of a history lesson than an English lesson. Readings such as this one, I find less effective, less meaningful, and a complete waste of time and effort. Literature is not meant to be put to the side; it s meant to be the main focus of a class and to be the basis of learning and to help, not only with English skills, but with life skills as well.
In every class, in every school, there is a vast majority of students who are not going to pick up a book and read for “the fun of it”. The blame for this attitude towards literature is on the teachers of these students. If teachers gave a variety of books for a student to read for an assignment, and gave more control to the student, the student would be more “gung-ho” about reading it because it seemed intriguing to them. But, since very few teachers actually do that, students are not excited to read because the piece of literature assigned to them does not seem intriguing or worth their time. However, if a teacher can prove themself and their choice of literature to be intriguing and worthwhile, it is more