“Darkness Too Visible” Response

In the article, “Darkness Too Visible”, by Meghan Cox Gurdon, is about the negatives of young adult literature and why they are not appropriate for teens. In the article, Gurdon provides excerpts from many “gruesome books”, including The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton, and The Marbury Lens by Andrew Smith. Additionally, the author expresses her dislike for the millions of young adult books that are being published each year. Finally, Gurdon compares authors such as Judy Blume and Lauren Myracle, saying Myracle was “this generation’s Judy Blume”.

Meghan Cox Gurdon uses loaded words to try to make me feel disapproving of the current young adult literature and their content. For example, she says, "The argument in favor of such novels is that they validate the teen experience, giving voice to tortured adolescents who would otherwise be voiceless" (Page 3). This quote alone has two loaded words, which are tortured and voiceless. By reading these two words, Gurdon paints an exciting picture, where teens who are usually afraid to speak up are no longer afraid because they read a book about it. She wants us to feel that this idea is silly and that you can't get helpful support from reading a book. Another use of loaded words is when Gurdon talks about Amy Freeman, a mother of a 13 year-old, who was trying to get her a book, but decided against it because she felt that the books were "all vampires and suicide and self-mutilation, this dark, dark stuff" (Page 1). This quote is designed to make you feel that all of the young adult books are too advanced for teenagers to be reading. The author mainly supported her own opinion, giving only quotes that supported her side of the argument.

In conclusion, I believe that the article "Darkness Too Visible" is an argumentative piece, however, stating only one side of the argument. I disagree with the author on most notes, such as how all of the books on the shelves are all vampires and suicide and self-mutilation. In fact, many of the books I read are not about any of those topics. From reading the article, I realized that there are many people who are stubborn and who refuse to look at the other side of things. Meghan Cox Gurdon is one of those people who forgets or doesn't realize that there is another side to their argument.