Menuhin who started to play the violin well at a very early age. Such people are known as Child Prodigies and are probably to be found in all societies - though no doubt in a society where all efforts have to be put into finding food and shelter there are fewer opportunities for such people to do well.
Not all societies recognise young artists. In some, a young child with talent may be encouraged; in others he is sent to a school where the teacher doesn't allow the children to do anything outside the syllabus. The ability to be an artist can be killed if it is not encouraged. This may be why some societies have more artists than others.
What has this to do with literature?
The true study of literature is the search for the work of the artist. Most books are written by people with a little, but not much, talent and are not literature. The same is true of wood-carving. Most wood-carvings on sale to tourists are not carved by artists and, as sculpture, have no interest. Most music we hear is played by people with enough talent to make them a living but not enough to make them remembered after they are dead.
As long as there are people willing to buy things which are not the best there will be people willing to make them. The business of the student of the arts is to distinguish the best from the great quantity of things available, most of which are not much good.
In literature we are looking for the good novels, the good poetry, the good plays and the good films and trying to distinguish them from the merely ordinary or the downright bad. A person who has learned to do this has learned to be a critic.
One of the signs of educated people is that they can distinguish between good and bad art.
How do you know a good field of maize when you see one (or a rice field, or a cocoa tree, or a cotton field)? A farmer who knows about how to grow crops is the best judge of these things. He will judge them by comparing them with his own work, and with fields he has seen in the past.
How do you know a good bicycle? You compare it with bicycles you have had. Of course if you have never ridden a bicycle you may not be able to judge a bicycle when you see it.

General Reading

Read lots of Books
So, how are you going to study for Literature examinations?
There are two kinds of activity you need. Both are important. These are:
1. Read lots of books
2. Study the Set Books.
Many students think they need only read the set books, but they are wrong. As I mentioned at the beginning you should think of literature as an exploration of the world of books. Therefore you need to read and be aware of as many as possible.
Literature study is about comparisons. You should compare each new book you read with those you have read before. Only after you have read a lot of books by different writers can you begin to make comparisons.
Suppose the only kind of food you had eaten was rice. If someone then asked you what was the best food, how would you answer? Would your answer be worth anything?
Things to do
Make a list of the books you read.
Title Author Publisher Classification
Write a short review of each book you read. Say what you liked or disliked about it. Compare it with others.
Set yourself a target of one new book every week.
Example of a review
Title: Tom Sawyer Author: Mark Twain Publisher Longman
This was a novel about the life of a boy living in America. I enjoyed reading it because the author made me imagine what it was like to live in a village in America a hundred and fifty years ago. The main character, Tom, did not like going to school and preferred playing with other boys and going fishing. I think he was very silly to do this. I liked the book better than another book by the same author I have read, Huckleberry Finn.
Comment
This is the sort of review you should be able to write by about form two. When you have read only a few books you may not be able to say much more about a book than is in this review. However by the time you begin the WASC literature course you should be able to say more. It is useful to get