Literature Essay

To acknowledge a growing problem in America, Dana Gioia composes an article titled “Why Literature Matters” to inform the young public of how literature is a crucial tool in many aspects of life. While the young population in society seeks higher levels of education and formal jobs, the most essential device, literature, is one most often forget to practice. In a world of constant change, literature will forever be the root of knowledge for the future of the citizens. Knowledge extends greatly…

written in a book if only for a moment. Literature allows us to go places we could never see or places maybe even somewhere we could never even imagine. It allows us to experience things that we may never have the chance too. As I grew older, I began to see that the many literary authors I read from where doing more than simply writing stories. I found that many where expressing emotions, opinions, and maybe a piece of their heart. Not only does literature allow us to experience the creations…

This piece of literature truly interested me because it was so easy to read for me. Although the vocabulary was quite advanced, the flow of the sentences and what it was talking about made it very easy to follow along to and get interested in. It was almost as though I was right with the main character and going through the same difficulties he was when he had to leave his mother and his sweetheart for going across the sea to conquer new land, but then had the difficulties that came with…

In “Reading Literature Makes Us Smarter and Nicer”, Annie Murphy Paul claims that old fashioned reading from a book is more beneficial for our “capacity for empathy” and intellectual development, rather than the “superficial reading we do when scrolling through TMZ”. Specifically, she believes that “Deep reading’ is vigorous from the brain and increases our real life capacity for empathy”. Disagreeing with Paul is difficult, simply because of her immerse use of factual evidence that supports her…

Literature is a mirror of humanity and its condition, but additionally, as said by literary critic Roland Barthes, “Literature is a question minus the answer”. The questions posed in literature keeps the reader wanting to know more and makes the reading experience more enjoyable. People would not have to think about what they are reading if they are never forced to try and find the answer to an unanswered question; however, which questions the author presents often separates the decent writers…

Introduction Jonathan Earl Franzen, an American writer, is one of the most acclaimed novelist and essayist of today’s era. Born in Western Springs, Illinois on August 17, 1959 this prolific writer has contributed greatly in the industry of literature by producing number of creative pieces of work throughout his writing career. Franzen was brought up in Webster Groves, a suburb of St. Louis, Missouri. In 1981 he graduated from Swarthmore College with a degree in German. His father…

Once Upon a Time, Literature. Now What? James Salter is the author of the article, “Once Upon a Time, Literature. Now What?” He asserts that literature is a valuable necessity to the human condition. Salter expressed that literature has been trivialized and that pop culture is held responsible for literature’s diminishing value to society. He believes that human society would not exist without language; he extended the idea by implying that without language there would be no religion, and that…

Salter Analysis In James Salter’s essay, “Once upon a time, Literature. Now what?”, he explains how language and literature are essential components to society. He continues to highlight the importance of literature by stating how much knowledge can be shared through reading. In addition to this, Salter begins to highlight how changes in modern culture have negatively impacted literature. Similarly, he goes on to state that literature is becoming less and less popular especially to the masses.…

Rationale My task is related to Part III: Literature-Texts and Contexts section of this course. My written task are a series of journal entries in the point of view of Meursault expressing his feelings and actions based on explicit and implied events from the novel, The Stranger, by Albert Camus. In writing the entries, I wanted to show the character development of Meursault prior to him leaving school (first entry), then when Maman is placed in a nursing home (second entry), and finally before…

In the novel “How to Read Literature Like a Professor” by Thomas Foster, the reader is taught a myriad of different aspects, trends, and habits used by authors in writing their novels over the years. We, the readers, are taught how to identify these characteristics and what we can learn from a piece of literature after we have examined it thoroughly. In the first chapter titled “Every Trip is a Quest (Except When It’s Not)”, we are shown how to identify when a character is sent on a quest, even…