Reading You Loud And Clear Summary

In an opinion piece titled “Reading You Loud and Clear” to the Aronlea Scutineer on the 2nd of Febuary 2015, J. Rodd worryingly addresses the issue of falling literacy rates around the country, urging people to recognise the issues it may cause and the merits of strong literacy skills.
Rodd’s central argument is that literacy rates are too low and are continuing to drop. She presents the current situation with statistics and accompanying imagery. It clearly explains the key information in a way that is easy to digest; illiteracy rates for high-school graduates, juvenile offenders, prisoners and those in poverty are worryingly high. Stereotypical clothing is used to put each role into a clear group that could be understood without reading the caption. The information is also stated clearly because it is likely to shock most readers, instilling fear. The scale of the problem is further reinforced with the author’s personal experiences. She explains how in response to her son’s poor grades, he argued that “most of the
She employs evidence to show that poor literacy skills may lead to trouble organising, following a line of reasoning and keeping track of instructions. By including that it is the research that has found this information, her argument is given credibility as reader would be more likely to trust experts in the field who have done research than the word of the author. These issues are built upon later in the piece, where Rodd suggests her own extreme situations that may arise from poor literacy in order to inflict fear into readers. She suggests that poor literacy may cause people to be unable to read parking tickets and navigate the legal system, among other disastrous scenarios. The purpose of mentioning the issues with having an illiterate society is to have readers consider the importance of literacy in everyday life and the problems not having it could