Session Two- Part A- Essay

My Task:
After you have read the passages and answered
the multiple-choice questions, write a unified
essay about the power of reading as revealed in
the passages. In your essay, use ideas from both
passages to establish a controlling idea about
the power of reading. Using evidence from each
passage, develop your controlling idea and show
how the author uses specific literary elements or
techniques to convey that idea.


GRADE: 4.5


Literature is read all around the world. Reading can affect the way people think in many ways. Reading can also alter the way people think. According to the two passages reading can make one an astute individual. The two passages are superior examples of how reading can affect people in certain ways.

Passage I is a poem called "The reader" writen by Richard Wilbur. In this poem, Wilbur mainly talks about a woman who is captivated with rereading old stories. The passage states that, "she is going back, these days, to the great stories that charmed her younger mind." This quote relates to how the woman in this passage takes interest in reading old stories, that she has already read. When the poet writes, "that charmed her younger mind" I think that he is clearly trying to the characterization of the woman. This line from the passage shows the reader that the woman takes interest, or is "charmed" in rereading old stories, it shows her way of character.



In passage I Wilbur, also describes a setting. The passage states that "bloody field or Tuscan garden." This is a particular setting from the old stories the woman reads, This passage in a way shows the power of reading. According to this passage, by reading the old stories so many times the woman knows the endings of the stories she reads. Wilbur writes, "she sees their first and final selves at once." This clearly states that the woman not only knows the endings of the stories she reads, but also knows how the characters will be like at the end.



Passage II is a short story written by Italo Calvino. In this passage, people start to have different point of views about books. The passage states that "a suspicion crept into the minds of top officials: that books contained opinions hostile to military prestige." This shows that a group of people think that books contain their own based opinions about things. The setting of this passage takes place in Panduria and in a big library in that place. In this passage the military takes total control of this library in Panduria. According to this passage, "the military took over the library." The general named "General Fedina" decided to censore the books in this library. In this passage the comission was to scruntinize the books. Their main task was to eradicate the inapt ones.

This passage ends very dramatically. The lieutenants, including "General Fedina", were all afraid to create a "scandal" They suffered form "nervous breakdowns" from duty. They were on duty for a long time. they suffered in the "course of duty". This passage states "dressed in civilian clothes, with heavy coats and thick sweaters so as not to freeze." This simply creates an imagery for the reader. We can see how the characters are dressed like and also know the season of the time they are in, which might be winter. As far as for the ending the civilians were to "be seen" going back to the old library. So this shows that, "no" they did not return to their duty, but instead returned to the library. Passage two also shows the power of reading. People can make huge deals out of reading. As for this passage people started to think that books contained their own based opinions about the military, so the military reacts to this situation and trys to take away the books that contain wrong things about the military.

Both passages show perfect example about the power of reading. Reading can affect people in many societies. For this case, it can affect the military and a regular woman rereading old stories. Books include their own based opinions about things and also contain a lot of interesting details that make a person want to read them over and over again. Both passages show the power of reading in different societies.