Assignment 1. Summary and Annotation. Literature & Language

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Summary and Annotation
Summary
The Humanities are not a luxury: A manifesto for the twenty-first century is an article by Smith Martha Nell. In this article, Smith seeks to explain the fate of humanities and starts the article by noting how poetry is not a luxury. She goes on to say that poetry is a necessity and one that helps to give perspective and meaning at times. Well, the use of metaphors is a major part of poetry and the author appears to reference this noting that metaphors are good especially when one is trying to induce thinking in people.
The author then continues to showcase how metaphors can be skewed or can incline one’s thinking. So, the author cautions that it is crucial to mind our metaphors lest we get or we elicit the wrong implication. Here, Smith references Yudof whose comments about the humanities irked him because Yudof sought to drive the notion that humanities are costly and often do not attract research funding and have fewer revenue streams. Well, apparently, Yudof’s comments are commonplace and the author notes that they have indeed been repeated severally.
Humanities have indeed been under siege with people like Yudof noting that they are a luxury. To Yudof, the author notes, humanities are not indispensable and they are costly. However, Smith references Watson’s study which indicates that humanities do indeed pay and often more than the other departments.
In the subsequent section, the author denounces the notion that humanities are in a crisis and appears to note that humanities have been under attack for a long time now but have managed to stand the test of time. However, there is another point that Smith introduces which appears to imply that there could be people who are fighting the American education system. Well, the truth about this is not known but the presence of these forces that fighting humanities call for a closer scrutiny.
Finally, Smith offers recommendations which she believes can help ensure that humanities remain alive. She asks that humanity lovers dispute the notion that humanities do not pay, champion the humanities actively, resist the casualization of humanities jobs, carefully consider the ethical burdens of technology, and avoid assuming antagonistic relations with scientists and administrators who are welcoming to the idea that humanities are essential.
Annotation
1st paragraph
Do: Introduces the article’s main idea or discussion point.
Says: Poetry is at the center of humanity and through it, we have been able to give voice to the voiceless and mind that or those which can be easily forgotten.
2nd
Do: Indicates the importance of poets and poetry.
Says: There is a difference in the way people use metaphors and juxtaposes metaphors in poetry to that of politicians and advertising agencies use of metaphors.
3rd
Do: Claim
Says: Metaphors can be used the wrong way or...