getting a bit nostalgic for some parts
of high school I am soon to lose and
when I get nostalgic one quote always
comes to mind it is from the book 100
Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia
Marquez and it goes as such he thought
about his people without sense mentality
with a strict closing of his accounts
with life beginning to understand how
much he really loved the people he hated
most as the man Marquez is describing is
about to be executed
I do not situationally relate to this
quote however after reading it it struck
me greatly and I have not been able to
get it out of my head ever since for me
it has come to define nostalgia this is
one small example of many that
demonstrate the way that literature has
affected the way I think as an aspiring
English teacher there is no question to
me why students in high school and
middle school should be exposed to
literature however for those of you who
may not share my passion it may beg the
question why should literature matter to
everyone before I attempt to answer that
question however I feel is important to
make a distinction between genre and
literary fiction it is considered that
genre fiction provides an escape from
the world through a story and literary
fiction provides a means of
understanding the world better through
an emotional journey the way I see it in
a genre novel the plot affects the
characters while in a literary novel the
characters affect the plot now the book
shown on my slide are fairly well known
they are probably not the genre novels a
high schooler would prefer to read in
their free time I can’t remember the
last time I heard someone say I can’t
wait to go home and read the Old Man and
the sea but they are the novel’s
taught in schools due to their literary
value a loose definition of literary
value is a piece that has aesthetic
thematic or historical value this is a
vague definition but to give an example
The Great Gatsby by f scott Fitzgerald
is a highly considered American classic
because Fitzgerald is said to be the
voice of a generation capturing the
societal beliefs of his time in his work
as well as illustrating universal themes
through beautifully worded prose the
novels that we read in middle and high
school as a part of the English Creek
our novels guaranteed to be high in
literary value what I think is most
important is that novels with literary
value can build empathy within their
readers there have been many conclusive
studies on this subject in 2013 the
American Psychological Association
discovered that imagining the scenes
occurring while reading and mentalizing
defined as inferring the thoughts and
feelings of the characters caused an
increase in empathy and behavior
categorized as beneficial to society
researchers at the new school published
an article claiming that only literary
rather than nonfiction or genre pieces
improved this ability to understand
others as a culture I believe that we
have started to cease to view literature
as significant as it becomes an
increasingly esoteric field of study the
studies I have cited prove that it is
not necessarily that as a society we
should be reading more although we
should but that’s another talk entirely
the studies that I have cited prove that
we should be paying attention to
literature as the art form that it is we
should be reading books like beloved
that prompt difficult conversations
about race and gender roles we should be
discussing characters thinking about
characters feeling with characters who
are people we never would have crossed
paths with in real life like Holden
Caulfield or Tom Joad literature and the
study of English give us the
opportunities to learn in these ways to
confront and discuss situations and
concepts that may be unfamiliar yet
equally as important to our own
experiences if reading in a classroom
setting you learn how to form support
and express thoughts and feelings about
pieces of text this forces you to
analyze characters musings and actions
as well as teaches you how to properly
express your viewpoints these are skills
that will be useful for years to come
improving both your communication and
writing skills for writing is heavily
learned through examples of good writing
and of course being able to empathize
with those around you will improve your
relationship with friends and family and
enable you to be careful judging those
you do not know as well we seem to have
entered into a time where harsh words
come before the consideration of their
consequences where total
assumption of infallibility prompts
anger against those who
and we’re empathy and understanding fall
lasts within a list of ways to interact
with those who think differently than us
now when we are wilfully forgetting
literature deeming it irrelevant or
old-fashioned or boring god forbid now
is the time that we need it the most as
a society we need to know how to
empathize and mentalize there are many
examples that can be found throughout
history of novels changing the world
with these concepts Uncle Tom’s Cabin
written by Harriet Beecher Stowe
published in 1852 was called by Abraham
Lincoln the book that started this great
war referring to the Civil War the book
shocked the public with this description
of the horrors of slavery at the time
spurring on the abolitionist movement
and aiding the beginning of the war this
is one of many novels that have had a
great effect on society others of which
are shown here literature is a means of
immersion into another’s life allowing
us to see what someone else might be
thinking and feeling and allowing us to
work our brains and hearts
simultaneously this gives it the unique
power to reform society true works of
literature will always retain this power
in AP latin this year I translated the
Aeneid a book written in the b.c that
still has themes like legacy and
heartbreak relevant to our culture today
exposing students to work such as these
encourages the discussion of these
themes to continue and produces adults
who are able to put themselves in
someone else’s shoes thanks to my
English education I will be leaving high
school with a greater understanding of
myself and humanity to me that proves
that literature has not gone out of
relevance just out of style it’s time
for us to bring it back thank you you