This post is a summary of three articles. The first was published at http://apcentral.collegeboard.com/apc/public/repository/AP_CM_Eng_Lit_differential_instruction.pdf The second with the title above was published in 2009 at http://www.enotes.com/homework-help/why-do-we-need-study-literature- The third was published at http://writingcommons.org/open-text/genres/academic-writing/literary-criticism/28-literary-criticism
iPods, Play Stations, YouTube, TV, Cable TV, Tweeting, Facebook or a good Book? Increasingly books face more and more competition for people's attention. Even who likes to read finds the onslaught of alternative media hard to ignore. Furthermore, if family members do not read at home, then it is likely that, reading literature (or reading at all) may not be modeled at home, a key element to encouraging reading. At the same time, the ENEM Exam is, among other things, a test of how well reader a student is. A well-read student is more likely to have a large vocabulary, respond more quickly to texts and with more eloquence, and have greater familiarity with the various motifs in the poetry and prose passages. This is such an important factor that planning for the ENEM exam must include a reading program for the two or three years of high school. Yet no amount of assigned reading in and out of class necessarily overcome the noise of the distractions seducing the students away from good authors. The exam rewards the well-read booklovers. Yet a love of literature is more likely to happen in the first 17 years of a student's life than in the months they have before the exam. Thus, the teacher has to prepare students for the rigorous reading expectations of university and to turn them on to reading during their months in the preparatory course.
Literature is part of our cultural heritage which is freely available to everyone, and which can enrich our lives in all kinds of ways. Once we have broken the barriers that make studying literature seem daunting, we find that literary works can be entertaining, beautiful, funny, or tragic. They can convey profundity of thought, richness of emotion, and insight into character. They take us beyond our limited experience of life to show us the lives of other people at other times. They stir us intellectually and emotionally, and deepen our understanding of our history, our society, and our own individual lives. In great writing from the past we find the country of our ancestors, and we not only see the country and the people as they were, but we also soak up the climate of the times through the language itself, its vocabulary, grammar, and tone. Literature unlocks the culture of the time period, and in a way can give wisdom to the modern society about life. Literature allows us to interpret our own life and emotions and finds ways to relate to the story so we in turn can reflect. It is also a form of entertainment and allows people to use their imagination to visualize the story within their own mind. But the real point of literature is the story of life, and all people want to do is to connect to other human beings so they find meaning in their own life. Literature allows personal interpretation that reading a newspaper or most magazine do not allow. In literature, there are aspects like metaphors, weaving narratives, character points of view and irony that we have to actively sort through in order to truly understand the text. In essence, literature makes us smarter. Not only do we learn about the subjects that an author is writing about, but we make our mind stronger by putting the puzzle of words into coherent images in our mind. It also expand our vocabulary.
By reading and discussing literature, we expand our imagination, our sense of what is possible, and our ability to emphathize with others. Improve our ability to read critically and interpret texts while gaining appreciation for different literary genres and theories of interpretation. Texts that interpret literary works are usually persuasive texts. Literary critics may conduct a close reading of a literary work, critique a literary work from the stance of a particular literary theory, or debate the soundness of other critics' interpretations. The work of literary critics is similar to the work of authors writing evaluative texts. For example, the skills required to critique films, interpret laws, or evaluate artistic trends are similar to those skills required by literary critics. The genre of literary interpretation is more specialized than most of the genres addressed in this section, as suggeste below. People may discuss their reactions to literary works informally but literary criticism takes place more formally: in universities, academic magazines and websites. Below is a summary of some of the more popular literary theories. Because it is a summary, the following tends to oversimplify the theories. Schools of Literary Criticism: New Criticism - Focuses on "objectively" evaluating the text, identifying its underlying form. May study, for example, a text's use of imagery, metaphor, or symbolism. It is not concerned with matters outside the text, such as contextual information. Feminism: Focused on understanding ways gender roles are reflected or contradicted by texts, how dominance and submission play out in texts, and how gender roles evolve in texts.Psychoanalytical: Focuses on psychological dimensions of the work. Postcolonial: Focuses on how Western culture's (mis)representation of third-world countries and peoples in stories, myths, and stereotypical images encourages repression and domination. Marxist: Focuses on ways texts reflect, reinforce, or challenge the effects of class, power relations and social roles.
