Name: Piper Curda

General Purpose: To inform

Specific Purpose Statement: To inform the audience about illiteracy in the United States among
adults and children and how it affects the rest of society.

Introduction
I. Attention Getter: Let me set the scene—it’s 2001 and little four-year-old Piper is
enjoying her first year of real-life school as a Kindergartener. I loved playing house and I
loved playing on the playground, but above all, I loved to read. This continues to be one
of my all-time favorite activities to this day. Now, at my elementary school there was this
competition among all the grades and all the classrooms of who could read the most
books. For every book a student finished, their classroom got a marble in a jar and at the
end of the year, whichever class had the most marbles got a pizza party. This had me
beyond stoked and I was ready to take everybody down. However, I soon became
frustrated to realize our class jar held a measly five or ten marbles. One day I went home
extremely upset at this realization and couldn’t figure out why my classmates were
dropping the ball on this whole pizza party thing. My parents had to sit me down and
explain to me that the only marbles in the jar were marbles that I had earned. No one else
in my class could read. Back then this was a horrifying realization and I marveled at the
fact that no one else could enjoy the magic of a book all by themselves yet. Reading, both
back then and today, is able to transport me to worlds I could never dream of. It removes
me from my current situation and takes me somewhere I might rather be. It sparks my
imagination and urges me to learn about the world and the people around me.

II. Relevance Statement: Reading, in my opinion, is one of life’s greatest pleasures so it

deeply saddens and affects me to know that not everyone gets to experience it.

III. Credibility Statement: Nowadays, there are an abundance of organizations and

foundations that are committed to aiding the problem of literacy in the United States and
they are full of information and frightening statistics on the issue.

IV. Thesis Statement: Illiteracy, though not seemingly well-known, is a prominent problem
in the U.S. and affects a large amount of adults as well as children, which, in turn, affects
the rest of society and its future.

Directional Transition: Illiteracy in the U.S. starts with adults, as their literacy levels inevitably
affect their children and subsequently, their children’s literacy levels.

Body
I. Illiteracy is a prominent problem among adults
A. Illiterate parents affect their children in negative ways.
i. Parents with low literacy levels put their children more at risk of poor grades,
behavior issues, and high school attendance problems (Adult Literacy Facts).
ii. Parents pass along their illiteracy to their children (About Us – Literacy Inc).
iii. 44 million adults in the U.S. are unable to read a simple story to their children
(Literacy Project Foundation – Statistics, 2008).
 B. Adults with lower literacy rates are more at risk of poverty.
i. 43% of the adults with the lowest literacy levels live in poverty (Adult Literacy
Facts, nd).
ii. Adults with the lowest literacy levels experience lower wages and higher
unemployment than the national average (Adult Literacy Facts, nd).

Directional Transition: While adults affect their children, illiteracy in children is just as
important since it determines the quality of the future of society.

II. Illiteracy is also a prominent problem among children.

A. Children illiteracy/literacy is dependent upon their at-home reading experiences.
i. Having books around the house is twice as important as the dad’s education to a
child’s literacy (Arterburn, nd).
ii. One of the most important aids to a child’s literacy is being introduced to books
and read to by a parent before going to school (Arterburn, nd).
B. Children who have low literacy levels are at risk of less promising futures.
i. They are more likely to drop out of school
ii. They are more likely to end up in prison.

Directional Transition: Illiteracy is not just an issue among those that are illiterate, illiteracy has
just as much of an affect on the rest of the nation.

III. Illiteracy does not only affect those that are illiterate, it also affects the literate.
A. Illiteracy in the U.S. affects the rest of the nation economically.
i. Illiteracy cost taxpayers about $20 billion yearly in America and, globally, will
cost about $1.2 trillion.
ii. It cost the nation around $240 billion in social service spending and lost tax
revenues because of school dropouts (Literacy Project Foundation – Statistics,
2008).
iii. The overall long-term GDP rate becomes significantly slower as the
population of illiterate adults increases.
B. Illiteracy in the U.S. affects the rest of the nation socially.
i. “Seventy-five percent of state prison inmates did not complete high school or
can be classified as low literate” (Adult Literacy Facts, nd).
ii. Many job positions remain unfilled because of the lack of people that are
educated enough to fill them.

Conclusion

I. Restatement of Thesis: While we may think it doesn’t have much to do with the rest of us,
illiteracy in the United States is an issue that severely affects adults, children, and the rest of the
country.

II. Clincher: The average American reads about 12 books a year—some read more, some read
less. You might be in the middle of reading a book right now. It might be your choice to read it
and you’re thoroughly enjoying it or it might be a book you have to read for class and you’re
thoroughly hating it. However, there’s millions living in this country that can’t do either.
 References

About Us - Literacy Inc. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://literacyinc.com/about-us/

Adult Literacy Facts. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://proliteracy.org/Resources/Adult-Literacy-

Facts

Arterburn, P. (n.d.). 18 Facts about Children's Literacy « Bernie's Book Bank. Retrieved

September 10, 2016, from http://berniesbookbank.org/18facts/

Kozol, J. (1985). Illiterate America. Garden City, NY: Anchor Press/Doubleday.

Lattier, D. (2015, August 26). 32 million U.S. adults are "functionally illiterate"... what does that

even mean? Retrieved from http://www.intellectualtakeout.org/blog/32-million-us-adults-

are-functionally-illiterate-what-does-even-mean

Literacy Project Foundation - Statistics. (2008-2016). Retrieved August 27, 2016, from

http://literacyprojectfoundation.org/community/statistics/