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| Why do people study literature? What can you gain from the study of literature? It is not a direct way to a high-salaried job - but it won't do you any harm in getting work either. You ought to study literature because you want to know more about books and language. Indeed it would be better to study literature because you like books rather than just to pass the examination. It may even be better for you to read lots of different books, and enjoy them, without taking examinations in literature. An examination pass is supposed to be a sign of knowledge. The knowledge is more valuable to you in the long run than the examination pass. Why should you enjoy reading? The books which people study for literature were written to be enjoyed, not just for study. Reading will do other things for you. 1. From the study of well-written books you can improve your knowledge of the language. 2. The study of something done well can help you to do better yourself and inspire you to want to do well in your own writing. 3. To read good writing in English may help you to write well in your own language. Exploring What can you gain from exploring the country round your house? What can you gain from finding your way round the town where you live? Reading lots of books is like exploring. Books are a sort of world and it is useful to know your way round this world of books. One of the things an educated person should know is how to use books. What is the study of literature You have chosen to study literature in English for the School Certificate Examination. Perhaps you have chosen this subject without really knowing what it is about. So the first question which ought to come into your mind is: What is Literature, anyway? In most other subjects which you can study at school it is easy to see what you are studying and what you need to know to pass the exam. For most subjects it is the facts and the way they go together which is important for exams. But literature isn't like that. Just knowing the titles of books and the names of authors will not be very useful to you. |
Learning how to read Briefly, studying literature is learning how to read. But
you say: I already know how to read. By learning how to read
I mean learning to see all that a writer intends when he
writes, not just the outline, not just the first meaning but
other meanings as well. Good writing can have different meanings
in it according to who is reading it. The more you know before
you start reading it, the more you will see in a book. Of course
this means that those who have read many books find each new
book they read easier to understand. This is the reason why I
advise you to read many more books than just the set books. |
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