Literature is important for three reasons according the book; First books hold quality information. Secondly they require a time commitment, and the final and most important reason is we have the ability to react to our world based on what we as readers gain from the read material. The scary part is this book doesn’t seem too far-fetched from our world today! How close are we to a world without…
Through the switch of perspectives the reader gets inside views of most of the protagonists.…
Neil Gainman told us that reading fiction is reading for pleasure that is one of the most important things everyone can do (Gainman, 2013). For him the fiction has two uses , first , “It’s a gateway drug to reading” (Gainman, 2013, p.8), and second, “to build empathy” (Gainman, 2013, p.15).…
Francine Prose’s, I Know Why the Caged Bird Cannot Read, proves many points about literature and the effect it has on students. I agree with Prose in such a sense that I believe students should read literature, not to get a better understanding of the “behind-the-scenes” of the story, or because it was assigned to them, but because they want to read it and that they will actually read the story thoroughly, understand it, and apply it to themselves and their life. I have taken English classes where the literature is taught effectively, in a annotative sense, and we have learned what to look for in a novel, story, or other piece of literature, to determine the position of point of view the author has on a certain topic. We studied the author and the history of the context more than the context itself.…
* In literature this helps the character become more relatable as well as more easily create a connection with the reader…
It takes us away from our everyday lives. It’s all about living an experience through someone else's eyes. We learn to see the lives of others. It can refresh our mind from reality. Literature can be a stress reliever to students.…
“You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view.” (Lee, 39). Authors have the power to show us others point of view, they can put us in their shoes. Literature teaches empathy, gives us a deeper look at things. To Kill a Mockingbird and “A Bronzeville Mother Loiters in Mississippi. Meanwhile a Mississippi Mother Burns Bacon” shows us things very differently than what we initially thought it would was. Things aren’t always what they seem, the truth is mostly being overshadowed by what others want it to be.…
Literature helps people experience things they would otherwise never be able to experience. Liam O 'Flaherty’s “The Sniper” is a great example of this. When O’Flaherty is explaining the scene where the sniper is on the room lighting a cigarette and a bullet whizzes past his head is a great scene that helps explain what it would be like to be in that position (O’Flaherty page 474). Most people have never been in a war, even fewer in a sniper fire fight, and therefore most people will never know what it is like for those few that have been in that position. But by reading this story, people can almost visualize what it must have been like. The adrenaline pumping through their veins and the terror as a bullet almost hits you seems like an almost impossible thing to understand if you weren’t actually there, but O’Flaherty uses literature to help explain what it was like. Literature can also help explain what it was like to live in a totally different environment. In “Warring Memories” by Kandi Tayebi, she does just that by show us what her husbands like was like in the Middle East. She explains how he would watch CNN and comment on how men should take their rings off or their bodies will be looted and mutilated once they are dead (Tayebi page 510). This again is a life completely different then life in America and by reading about it, it helps spread awareness of what other people’s lives are like. History is another reason to study literature. Many pieces of literature do a great job of explaining history without boring the reader with nothing but facts like a history textbook. “Like a Winding Sheet” by Anne Petry does a very good job of doing just that. It isn’t nearly as boring as reading a civil rights textbook but does a great job of showing how hard life could be for an African- American in the 1960’s. She showed how you could have to work extremely long hours of manual labor without breaks just to…
The power of literature really has no limits: it enables authors as well as readers to make significant revelations and, in turn, embarks us on a journey that leads certain meaning, often in the form of a powerful enlightenment because we are obliged to see the world from the author’s perspective and this leads to the reader’s questioning of meanings.…
Novels are mainly based around the author’s ideas, but numerous people don’t comprehend that these ideas include the point of view and perception of the story. For instance, the novel A Dog’s Purpose by W. Bruce Cameron, contains an imaginative storyline; however, what creates a truly unique effect is that the novel is narrated by a dog and his journey through different lives. Because the novel is told by an animal, it appears as if the novel is just an entertaining story, but the depth of the novel is actually astounding. One doesn’t anticipate learning important lessons from a dog, yet the lessons taught in the novel are refreshingly taught from a new perspective that they become more insightful. For starters, Toby/Bailey/Ellie/Buddy is a…
According to BJ Epstein, Senior Lecturer in Literature and Public Engagement at the University of West Anglia, “books can serve as a first introduction to the outside world” (Epstein, 2017). In other words, exposing children to different genres of books helps expand their horizon by introducing them to different types of characters that reflect today’s society. So, literature plays an important role in providing children with the knowledge they need to be successful in the real world.…
Alexander Isayevich Solzhenitsyn once said that, “Literature transmits incontrovertible condensed experience… generation to generation. In this way literature becomes the living memory of a nation.” In saying this he is verbalizing one of the fundamental functions of literature, to have the author’s thoughts and emotions preserved for generations to come. As the author writes the reader can essentially put himself in the position of not only the author but of the characters as well. Part of the Brain’s job is to make connections, so in short the reader tends to put himself/herself in the place of, or even parallels their own experiences to the characters and author of the text being ingested. Literature provides the writer with a place where…
Readers invest themselves in characters' stories because by doing so, they embark on a journey that presents new knowledge and endless possibilities. For instance, "The Scarlet Letter" manifests the idea that guilt and the keeping of secrets negatively affects a persons conscience. The reader is aware of this when Arthur Dimmisdale exclaims that he has found "nothing but despair" due to his failure to confess his wrongdoing (p. 185). Because the struggle the characters face is so common in the real world, the reader can't help but become actively involved in the novel, and create a new meaning based on their personal experience.…
Literature is a form of art contrary to the belief that art is solely captured through visuals, music, or dance. Throughout civilization people have used literature to express forms of thoughts through poems, prose, novels, or essays. In the article, Reading is Fundamental by Charles M. Blow, he expresses his strong opinion on the importance of literature. During the article, it emphasizes the power of literature, how literature is recognized in society and finally he expresses his opinion through his tone and writing style. The text demonstrates genuine support that conveys the authors strong belief that literature is fundamental.…
Literature in of itself trains imagination, and training this imagination keeps an individual’s mind happy.…