To what extent can literature have an affect on the way we judge society? Humans are naturally able to make a first impression on countries, religions, and people based upon their own beliefs. Writers are grown up in different societies and express their own beliefs on countries, religion and people through their own life experiences. Writers have enough power to change the reader’s preconceived ideas by the writers sharing of their own perspective on their beliefs. Through analyzing different forms of literature such as White Tiger by Aravind Adiga, Joseph Brodsky’s “A commencement Address,” and watching Chimamanda Adichie’s “The Danger of a Single Story” I have realized that reading literature has the ability to change our thinking which in return affects the we judge different society. There have been controversies that media is a huge factor in altering the mind of humans. Literature can be also viewed as a type of media because literature helps the readers understand the conditions of certain societies. Often times, literature has enough power for the reader to generate their own reality through the writer’s beliefs although most of the times the reality generated by the readers are not correct. In a TED talk called “the Danger of a Single Story,” Chimannda Adichie discussed about how literature affected her views on people, and then through life experience she had figured out that the reality she was creating was all false. She had grown up in Nigeria where at young age she was able to come across western literature. She was an inspired writer, and had realized all her inspirations came from British and American literature because most of her pieces were based of British and American literature such as having her characters... ... middle of paper ... ...ruly realize the false reality that literature made. The reader also has a huge role into expressing these false realities to the public, which can cause prejudice in the near future. People need to be open and understanding of different people and situations. Perspective plays a huge role into the thinking of a human mind, and readers should be more aware of the information’s brought upon different ways. Readers should not come up with a preconceived idea based upon the beliefs of other people perspective but should experience these different societies. Works Cited Adiga, Aravind. The White Tiger: A Novel. New York: Free, 2008. Print. Brodsky, Joseph. A Commencement Address: Joseph Brodsky. N.p., n.d. Web. 28 Mar. 2014. "Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie :The Danger of a Single Story." Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie: The Danger of a Single Story. N.p., n.d. Web. 30 Mar. 2014.
The uniqueness of our minds and our cognition is irreplaceable. Beauty, and reverence of the voice lie in the opinions it resonates. We take aesthetic pleasure in the speech of those who motivate us and adopt from them a number of values and beliefs that we agree with. The likelihood of individuals basing their ideals and decision making process off of accessible and prolonged exposure to certain influences is great. These underlying unidimensional prejudices cause us to be biased in our opinions. Various forms of literature are able to help their readers to become more aware of their prejudices. Though the messages we adopt from these texts, we are able to realize the importance of basing our opinions from multiple sources and perspectives. Literature has traveled great lengths to help me become more cognitive of my prejudices, and encourages me to seek different perspectives before formulating an opinion.
readers a dose of reality and human experience. People read literature and end up learning
A poem that incorporates the oppression of the people living in Martinique, and the political uprising of Martinique during French colonization would be “Out of Alien Days” by Aime Cesaire. Cesaire especially uses examples of imagery and tone to express the ideas of oppression and political revolution to focus on the forms of literature he describes. Along with examples of the literary elements, there should be an explanation of Cesaire’s usage of image and tone that explains the author’s main message in “Out of Alien Days.” In “Out of Alien Days,” Aime Cesaire uses the concepts of imagery and a revolutionary tone to illustrate the problems of the French colonization in Martinique. Cesaire constructs a definitive path in his poem where he is calling for change in Martinique, and rallying his people against the French empire. This paper is about introducing the concepts of imagery and a revolutionary tone along with examples used by Cesaire in “Out of Alien Days,” and an interpretation of the literary elements in connection to Cesaire’s theme in the poem.
In Alice Walker’s story “Everyday Use,” symbolism, allegory, and myth stand out when thinking about the characters, setting, and conflict in the story. The conflict is between the mother and her two daughters (Maggie and Dee). There is also the conflict between the family’s heritage (symbolized by the quilt, bench, and butter chum) and their different ways of life. Dee chose a new African name, moved to the city, and adopted a new way of life while Maggie and her mother have stay behind. The quilt (the most important symbol) represents the family’s heritage in that it is made of scraps of clothing worn by generations of family members. The quilt has been sewn by family hands and used on family beds. It has seen history and is history. Maggie and her mother see that that history is alive but Dee thinks it is as dead as her name. Dee does not see that name as part of her heritage. By analyzing these symbols, a number of possibilities for a theme can be seen. Walker could be suggesting that to understand the African-American heritage, readers have to include the present as well as the past. However, the theme could be that poverty and a lack of sophistication and education cannot be equated with ignorance. Lastly, she could be telling her readers that dignity or self-respect rise from and are virtually connected to one’s entire heritage- not just a selected part of it.
In “Why Literature Matters” the author, Dana Gioia, argues that literature is very important in today’s society. He talks about the decline of reading over the years and the effects it has on different companies and communities. Gioia uses many persuasive techniques, such as evidence, jingoism, and diction, to try and persuade the reader that literature is important.
Each person can identify him or her own self with some type of belief system or religion, even if that belief is not based on a higher being. Each person’s way of thinking affects his overall outlook on life. This statement reigns especially true in literature. Every author’s belief system is reflected through his or her writing. People are also affected by the events occurring around them. The time period in which an author lives will have an impact on his writing. If a devout Christian was writing a documentation of life in early America, the reader would not only be able to recognize his God-fearing characteristics, but would also recognize the current historical events occurring around the author.
In “Oxford Concise Dictionary Literary Terms” by Chris Baldick, characterization is defined as the representation of persons in narrative and dramatic works which include direct and indirect methods in inviting the readers to infer qualities from characters’ actions, speech, or appearance. However, modals in literature context serve as an eye opener to the personality and traits of the characters in short stories. It enables the readers to learn of the characters’ abilities, capabilities, prohibitions, obligations and so forth. The appearance of modals in literary texts serves its own specific purposes in accordance to the author’s wish. In David Leavitt’s “Territory” which describes the relationship between a mother (Mrs. Campbell) and her son (Neil) who is a homosexual, gives me an interest to explore and find out more about the characters. Through the use of modals found in the extract, it enables me to go in depth and examine the characterization in the story.
Literature is a mirror of life. In order to reflect their views on the problems in society, many authors of fiction, including Sir Thomas More of Utopia and George Orwell of Nineteen Eighty-Four, use parallels in character, setting, government, and society to link their works to the real world.
According to Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, author of the speech “Dangers of a Single Story” and the recipient of many literature awards, one such way that media influences us is through the painting of a ‘single story’. According to Adichie, a single-story is a closed-minded preconceived idea or story about a specific person, place, or thing (Adichie). The closed-minded part comes from all the things that have you have experienced or learned about that certain idea or story. The main influences for these preconceived ideas would have to be the media such as: television, films, music, books, etc. The example she gives in her speech is one that can be tied to the lives of many people. She gives the account of when she was going to college for the first time and she had just met her new roommate. Her roommate assumed Adichie didn’t know how to use the stove because she was from a poor, poverty-stricken country. Here, her roommate had fallen prey to the single story of Africa and how people from Africa are usually backwards because they come from a certain part of the world. With single stories, we are usually influenced to feel or think in this way by media. With this painting of a single story for Africans, homosexuals, or any other group that they would like to target, film-makers, advertisers, and other media
Literature reflects communities because in communities there are people of all nationalities with different values, morals, beliefs and custom cultures. Literature is used to describe how people in communities communicate, live, feel, and see differently. The content in the short story “Shiloh” by Bobbie Ann Mason noted examples of how literature uses langu...
Literature is a very powerful tool that is used to make a huge impact on society or in someone’s perspective. Literature comes in different forms and each literature form fits in a certain category or role to help understand the true meaning of it. From playwrights to short stories, each one has moral lesson, a message or a reflection of the author. I have witnessed the power of literature several times. Literature has moved teens to better being; it has motivated unfortunate people to fame, used as an educational process of teaching and most of all, entertainment. Back in the day, plays were on of the most famous forms of entertainment. Without television and radio present, plays served as a substitute to entertain certain groups of people like the royal family or just for the whole public. This was one way of making money by the actors and the authors that wrote the play. Also present during those times were the poem recitals. This is similar to a play but fewer people are present in the stage or sometimes solo performance. Today, Literature is still being used as a form of entertainment and educational intentions. Hollywood made a lot of money by revising the great masterpieces of famous authors such as “Rome and Juliet” by William Shakespeare. Also, they made movies out of hundreds of literary works for educational purposes and better understanding of the literature piece. Each form of literature has its own style. The style determines how it influences the audience to absorb the true meaning and moral of the story or poem. William Shakespeare and Benjamin Franklin were truly persuasive while Washington Irving and Edgar Allan Poe mixed mystery and adventure to their works. The style touches the readers which really makes a good relationship from the reader to the author’s literary masterpieces.
Literature has many purposes, and opens doors to unique worlds. Through Literature, we discover ourselves and world time and again.
Literature has had a major impact on society, and, also our history. Literature has reformed and shaped civilizations, changed political systems, and has exposed injustices (3). Our literature has changed and developed as we have, keeping up with our society. “...literature is crucial for the advancement of society (3).” With literary works, we can convince others to view things a certain way, share our opinions, and more. Literature is greatly intertwined with our society and everyday lives, and they would not be the same without it. Literature plays an irreplaceable role in our
Popular culture consists of the cultural patterns and expressions which are recognized and reflected by the society. Speculative fiction which includes genres of speculation like science fiction, fantasy, horror, futuristic utopia/dystopia, alternative history and cyberpunk is a staple of popular interest and consumption. In the wake of advanced breakthroughs in science and technology, the speculative explores the ‘what if?’ through its exploration of life in its myriad forms. It is a combination of art and recreation and is comprised of a variety of elements that attract the fancy of the people. As an integral part of popular culture, it reflects the values of the society and draws from the common beliefs, shared values, fears and superstitions.
The main form of literature, the book, has had a great impact upon the formation of our society today. Before the 1940’s TV had not come into being yet and there was not much else to do other than read books. Thus books formed my grandparents and to some extent my parents and, although I grew up in the generation of TV, books as literature have indirectly formed me as well.