The choice between if this essay gave me a logical or emotional reaction is a tough decision. It could easily be both, but because I have to choose, I’d say this gave me an emotional reaction. I chose this for a couple reasons. First because I realized the reason Calvino wrote this essay. He didn’t write it just to inform, he wrote it to use his words to tell others about what the classics really are. He didn’t just say “a classic is a book of the highest quality class and rank”. (Which is the actual dictionary definition) He actually defined them. Told us everything about the essence of a classic work. This is why I had an emotional response. This essay stirred my feelings. It made me think about what he was really saying. Calvino used his words and definitions to get to the audience. He also used examples, like the one at the end of the essay where he’s comparing reading classics to Socrates learning a song on the flute where he says, “At least I will learn this melody before I die”. (Calvino pg 9) These touches are what made me think. I also found myself in awe of how he used his words. To me, his definitions almost were like poetry. I really liked this essay and had an emotional response to it because of the way Calvino used his words and his examples. They were different from the other essay because he put his opinions and his voice into it. You could see more of his writing voice in this essay rather than in Nabokov’s essay. Also, Nabokov wrote his essay to teach us about how we should read classics, while Calvino told us what a classic really is.
Calvino, Italo. "Why Read the Classics?" Why Read the Classics? New York: Vintage, 2000. 3-9. Print.
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