Francine Prose Analysis

Francine Prose is a living author and critic who was born in the 1940’s and has produced multiple works which have been rewarded with grants and honors. Prose wants the reader ask themselves how aware English teachers are about their curriculum regarding literature. It is Prose’s belief that instead of choosing real challenging books, English teachers around the country are choosing books with simpler themes and characters, and preventing deep thought about their meanings, which is stunting the love of books for high school students. Prose believes that books are no longer read deliberately enough (98), she believes books are no longer being written or read by the word, but skimmed over. Teachers sometimes choose masterpieces to assign their children, but simply do not follow it up …show more content…
The characters are simply too black and white, and students have a harder time identifying with characters that do not seem human. Prose wants the reader to be informed of these injustices against literature, and to realize, whatever age they are, that reading is worth another chance; there really are some masterpieces out there, and they don’t have to be high school favorites. The reader could be any age, however, Prose is focusing on a specific group in her essay, English fanatics. She mentions so many books that English fanatics would know, and she is focused on changing English fanatics’ (and teachers’) minds about their curriculum. Prose is frustrated that this ignorance has gone so far. She wants the reader to take matters into their own hands and not just rely on classic novels which are time and time again taught in high schools. Prose is credible because of her reasoning and extensive use of examples, from Of Mice and Men to “Gryphon” (97). She explains every example with a reiteration of her previous thoughts, which further convinces the reader to think like