tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3377586.post6771611699544197738..comments2024-03-27T02:13:13.079-04:00Comments on Original Content: I Have A Question: Why Teach English Literature?Gail Gauthierhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01673131515563387968noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3377586.post-26468003594322192642010-11-05T20:03:14.838-04:002010-11-05T20:03:14.838-04:00Flo, Actually, I believe that your 1st point is th...Flo, Actually, I believe that your 1st point is the reason that Puritan New England was the most literate society the world had seen up to that point. At least, that's what I've heard.<br /> <br />2,3, and 4 are good points. Now the question is, what types of reading should pre-college level students be doing in order to learn how to survive, and to use critical thinking and imagination? I question whether or not it needs to be a particular literary canon.Gail Gauthierhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01673131515563387968noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3377586.post-15479149443637345842010-11-05T14:47:26.047-04:002010-11-05T14:47:26.047-04:001. Salvation: The ability to read literature means...1. Salvation: The ability to read literature means one has the ability to read the Bible, and hence to save one’s soul. OK, this may sound dated now, but it used to have heft….<br />2. Survival: People need a basic level of facility with reading, writing and speaking English in order to survive in the present economy, and a good way to get those skills is by reading writers skilled in using the language. Plus, a passing acquaintance with matters literary can create a good impression on those with the power to hire, promote and demote.<br />3. Critical thinking: Literature provides a basis for thinking about and criticizing society. In my high school, everyone read “1984” (critical of communism) and “Brave New World” (critical of capitalism).<br />4. Imagination: Literature exercises the imagination, through the reader’s transforming of words on a page into pictures within the mind. This is one of those abstract-good things – promotes individuality and all that, since everyone sees different pictures when they read…. <br />5. Entertainment: People have a lifelong need for good stories, and literature fills that need (as do movies and TV).noochinatorhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12584058407655395128noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3377586.post-11239419789539945712010-11-04T13:54:56.078-04:002010-11-04T13:54:56.078-04:00Did you learn something from reading any of that t...Did you learn something from reading any of that that was so valuable that it justified studying any kind of literature? <br /><br />What was the point? <br /><br />Oh, dear. Do I sound as if I'm suffering some sort of existential crisis?Gail Gauthierhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01673131515563387968noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3377586.post-20900086564472551292010-11-04T11:33:15.747-04:002010-11-04T11:33:15.747-04:00That is a very good question. I know that in high...That is a very good question. I know that in high school, I had to read classics like Shakespeare, but I also read Russian literature and of course American literature. In college, I took a course in black literature, reading the great works of America's afro-american writers. So, I never felt that there was a bias or emphasis on English literature.Trude Withamhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02699314981454340484noreply@blogger.com