Topic: Why Read Literature?

10-second review: Insights into life. To realize life while living it. Significant sentences.

Title: “Why Read Literature?” Teaching English, How To…. RayS. Xlibris. 2004. p. 380.

Why should people spend time reading literature when they have so many other activities to engage in—work, family, house remodeling, newspapers, magazines, TV, DVD’s, Blu-ray, videotapes, CD recordings, I-pods, radio, the Internet, computer games, cell phones, e-mail, twittering, etc.? One reason that I read literature is to gain insights into life. In fact, I have collected over the years some “significant sentences” from the literature and nonfiction I have read to which I return to reflect again on ideas that I thought were insightful. Recording significant sentences is one consequence of my view about the purpose and usefulness for reading literature—to realize life while living it.

Next: Some examples of significant sentences. RayS.