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Benefits of Reading

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Benefits of Reading
Jessica Bartlein
November 10, 2014
Phase 5 Individual Project
LITR201-1404A-06
Melissa Eidson

Reading can open one’s mind to the imagination of anything to be dreamt of. Poems, short stories, novels, plays, and dramas are all different types of literature that exist today. All of the different types of literature have their own ways and formats that they are written in. Literature has many ways of speaking to us as we read them, it can strike up emotions or memories that we have or it can make us rethink a situation that we are going through. I believe that literature can help a person open up through his or her stories. Even though major racial events are over, such as the Holocaust and slavery, racism is still a big struggle in today’s society. In the short story, Battle Royal by Ralph Ellison (Meyer, 2013), this man struggles to take a stance for what he believes in because he is African American. The setting is back in the 1940’s in the Deep South when slavery and segregation was still a major dilemma. While reading the story, you can feel the tension that occurs between the characters. Although the story does not list many characters, there are many people in the audience and other African Americans fighting for what they believe in. The story begins by explaining when and where it is taking place and this man, he seems invisible to himself and everyone around him. There are the fights and struggles of the man as they increase in intensity, he then finds himself in a ring fighting for money. After the fight, he is given his time to say his speech and he receives a scholarship to go to college. He realizes that this is a huge dream for an African American during this time but he is determined to do it, to show his strength. Throughout this story, there are many things that will go through one’s mind to interpret what is going on. I believe that the theme of this short story is that no matter, do not give up on your dreams. “Invisible man” is


References: Bartlein, Jessica. (2014). Phase 4 Individual Project. LITR201-1404A-06. Submission date of Nov. 3, 2014. Meyer, Michael. (2013). Literature to Go. Retrieved from http://wow.coursesmart.com/9781457697159/?CSTenantKey=coloradotech. ReadWriteThink. (n.d.) The Elements of Fiction. Retrieved from http://www.readwritethink.org/files/resources/interactives/lit-elements/overview/.
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