Reading Response #3

Reading Response #3

Teenage boys all grow up differently. Some are raised poor, with a family that always sticks together. They go to school in a one-room school house, making best friends for life, and getting amazing grades with their ambition to be the best. Holden Caulfield of J. D. Salinger’s The Catcher in the Rye, lives the exact opposite, having a rich family that sends him to boarding school, where he has some annoying enemies and doesn’t care about his grades. In fact, Holden failed 4 out of 5 subject in his school. This makes Holden think he isn’t that smart, and therefore illiterate. Holden thinks he is illiterate, but is actually a very good reader and writer.

First of all, Holden is actually literate because he likes to read. Near the beginning of the book, he says, “I’m quite illiterate, but I read a lot.” This is a very important quote because it shows the reader that he thinks he’s illiterate. In the quote, Holden states that he’s illiterate, but then immediately goes on to say the opposite, that he reads a lot. He then goes on to to name many books he’s read and liked, such as Out of Africa, The Return of the Native,  Of Human Bondage, and The Great Gatsby. Holden even says, “I was crazy about The Great Gatsby.” By saying that he was crazy about this book, Holden is saying that he really likes the book. So, by liking the book, and reading being part of literacy, Holden is literate. Without a doubt, this shows that Holden is actually literate because he likes to read.

Second of all, Holden is actually literate because he likes to write and is good at it. Near the beginning of the story, Holden has to write a report describing something. Most boys would think this task is a chore or a pain, but Holden, in his words, “sort of liked writing about it.” Writing is part of literacy, and by liking to write, Holden is literate. But, you can still like writing and be a terrible writer. That wouldn’t make you literate. But, Holden is a good writer. At one part in the book, Holden’s English teacher talking to him, and he calls Holden, an “ace composition writer.” When someone is called an “ace” at something, it means they are very good at that subject. And when Holden is called an “ace composition writer” by his English teacher, an expert in literature, it can definitely be confirmed that Holden is good at writing. Clearly, these quotes show Holden is actually literate because he likes to write and is good at it.

Overall, Holden is a great reader and writer, but even so, he thinks he is illiterate. If we tell students that they are illiterate, or fail them without a good explanation, like Holden’s teachers, it can make the student not believe in him or herself, just like Holden doesn’t. For a student to succeed, they must be told what they do wrong, and be positively told the ways they can improve. That way, they can believe in themselves, unlike Holden.