Calvino chose a very influential way to start off his essay. Instead of launching into a long introduction, he started his essay off with a definition. This was a great idea, and is not used much, but Calvino made it work. This way, the author can actually grab his readers’ attention. He defines one essence of a classic by saying this, “The classics are those books about which you usually hear people saying: ‘I’m rereading…’ never ‘I’m reading…’”. (Calvino pg 1 par 1) He then discusses topics that relate to the definition. You see, Calvino uses this to start off his essay because it grabs his readers attention and prepares them for what he is about to say.
The ending of this essay was great. In fact, I thought he said some of the best things toward the end. He ended this essay in a way that made me say, ‘that was really fantastic. I’ll remember that’. The ending of an essay is always the most important part because that’s what the readers always remember the most. In this ending, he brought back all his ideas to one sentence. He summed it all up by saying this: “reading the classics is always better than not reading them.” (Calvino pg 9) This sentence pretty much defines everything he wanted to say in this essay. He then ends the essay by using an example of Socrates. This short story links directly to what he said about reading the classics, and it brings his essay to a close.
Calvino, Italo. "Why Read the Classics?" Why Read the Classics? New York: Vintage, 2000. 3-9. Print.
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