Why Do We Read Literature - 938 Words

Literature has become an unalienable part of human life for centuries. However, it is worth asking, â€Å"Why do we read literature?† What powers does it have that we prioritize literature in our lives and culture? There can be innumerable answers to this question. I recall a famous dialogue from the movie Dead Poets Society (1989), â€Å"Medicine, law, business, engineering: these are noble pursuits and necessary to sustain life. Poetry, beauty, romance, love- these are what we stay alive for.† Literature is a great source of knowledge through vicarious experience, a powerful tool of expression, and a pleasant form of entertainment. In life, we learn only a few things through our own experience. Where does the rest of our knowledge come from? How do we know what went inside the concentration camps in Nazi’s Germany, how the world war wars looked like, and how it feels to not have ever known our own parents? Have we experienced all of those? Hopefully not. Then how do we know? A more than likely answer is going to be because we have read such things in different forms of literature such as poems, stories, and novels. In other words, we gain knowledge through vicarious experiences that literature provides us. For instance, I did not have to flee my country when I was a kid, nor was I victimized by a gay rape. But, after reading Khaled Hosseini’s â€Å"The Kite Runner†, I have an idea of what I would have gone through, had that happened to me. Similarly, although I wasn’t born as a slaveShow MoreRelatedEssay about Critique on I Know Why the Caged Bird Cannot Read946 Words   |  4 Page sIn Francine Prose’s â€Å"I Know Why the Caged Bird Cannot Read: How American High School Students Learn to Loathe Literature†, the author is trying to explain why high school students are not asked to read more quality pieces of literature now a days. In my opinion I agree with Prose because I think the texts we read in high school are not challenging and not a lot of students enjoy the readings because they cannot relate. Prose uses the rhetorical strategy of degrading the books high school studentsRead MoreWhy We Read Literature918 Words   |  4 PagesWhy we read literature The word literature means ‘acquaintance with letters.’ With literature we can put anything and everything into words and play it like a video for someone else to see. It is a profession where words are arranged in such a way that they describe, feelings, emotions, experiences etc. it describes society and the people living in it, what they think of it and what they want it to be. There are many reasons to why we read literature. We could read it for information which is toRead MoreCritical Analysis Skills Developed Through Writing a Reflection Paper870 Words   |  4 Pagesfeelings down about what I had learned in a class that I had to read literature and then interpret those readings into journal entries addressed to my fellow students. This left me a little intimidated. So to start the ideas flowing, I went back to the beginning. I looked up the â€Å"Week One Letter† to the student and re-read the description and goal of the course. Dr. Doe stated in the letter that, â€Å"we will be reading a variety of literature for a better understanding of the ideals, values, and attitudesRead MoreLiterature and Its Relevance in Modern Times1515 Words   |  7 Pages2013 Literature and its Relevance in Modern Times Before the importance of literature is discussed we must ask ourselves: â€Å"What is literature?† Many individuals that are asked that question will often give a complex answer for it seems to be a complex word. Some of the answers may include â€Å"it involves reading† or â€Å"it’s when you write†. These are both true, but when you actually think about it, literature is so much more than that, especially with how often we use it in our day-to-day lives; we speakRead MoreThe Importance of Literature to Humanity1298 Words   |  6 PagesThe Importance of Literature to Humanity â€Å"Literature speaks the language of the imagination, and the study of literature is supposed to train and improve the imagination† (Frye 134). According to Northrop Frye the imagination is the combination between emotions and intellect in every individual. The more an individual is exposed to literature the better that person is at expanding their imagination, which he calls the educated imagination. Having an educated imagination helps one to think for themselvesRead MoreMy Life As A Writer. From Childhood I Did Not Love Writing1195 Words   |  5 Pagesmoment I remember myself. I think the reason why I didn’t like writing is because I used to like just absorbing information rather than expressing my opinion about it on the paper. I believe that my mom was the one, who flourished in me love to books and reading. My mom is a doctor and she loves to read. She does not only read books connected with her profession, but also books that are not necessarily connected w ith medicine. When I was a child she used to read to me the story books. Most of my memoriesRead MoreEssay on The Importance of Literature vs. Science1196 Words   |  5 PagesThe Importance of Literature vs. Science If we lived in a world without literature, learning only the sciences, would we be the same people? Does the human race need literature at all, does it have any worth whatsoever except as entertainment? Do people actually learn from literature? These are all questions that divide the human race into two separate sections, those who believe in the power of literature, and those who see it as impoverished compared to the social sciences in its abilityRead MoreReading Is A Process Of Literate Thinking1098 Words   |  5 Pagesis a vital skill and important activity for people of all ages. I grew up surrounded by books. I had parents who encouraged me from an early age to read books both with and without them, and they would read to me every night before I went to bed. They wanted to ensure that I was literate and would grow up with a love of books, they succeeded. This is why I consider reading to children when they’re young is essential in ultimately shaping the way the feel about books as they go through life. It is alsoRead MoreClassic Literature and Comic Books1383 Words   |  5 Pagestimeless nature of classic literature, it has a large influence in today’s world. We see movies created and plays directed over and over again based on the same stories created hundreds of years ago. Even though classical literature and comic books differ in m any ways, classical literature has a strong influence on comic books. Teachers have always taught classical literature in high-schools and colleges as a way to help students appreciate literature and vocabulary. People read comic books on the otherRead MoreThe Importance Of Human Suffering1493 Words   |  6 PagesOver the course of this semester we have read several books and plays that have in one way or another tie into the overall theme of human suffering. The Letters of Abelard and Heloise, Prometheus Bound, Women of Troy, etc.†¦.all contain elements of intense suffering, despair, and struggle, which made each of them particularly hard for me to not only read, but digest. The Book of Job in fact, was at first the single most depressing piece of literature I’ve read so far in my academic career, simply