“Arts and Humanities [literature] have an the unique and underappreciated capacity to make us aware of how we can change accustomed forms of perception and action,” Mack, M. (2011). What is literature and how is it capable of having such an impact? Literature is everything people read such as poetry, news papers, books, plays and so much Everything between, Lombardi, E. (2016). How strong can the impact of these materials truly be? Strong enough that throughout history rulers and dictators, such as Qin Shi Huang and Vladimir Putin, have banned and burnt literature that taught ideas that opposed their view points. If it were not for the literature that has been made available to every class of people modern society would be very different. Literature has had a strong impact on everything from the way we view our bodies to the way politics and religion are viewed. What specifically has literature impacted in our lives? What impact could encouraging cultures to share literature have on future civilization?
There are many forms of literature. One of the early forms of literature that had a large impact on society was the original Catholic Bible. “Today virtually every household in the West has at least one, if not more, copies of the Bible. It has been translated into over 1,000 languages, and in only 150 years (from 1800 to 1950) more than 1.5 billion copies were sold,” Spiro R.(2000). The Catholic church took a small concept and spread it like wildfire through Europe and the Middle East converting millions of pagans into Christians in the 4th century. Large political decisions, such as the writing of the of the United States Constitution and whether or not abortion should be legalized, have been based off of the ideology taught in versions of the bible, Spiro R.(2000).
The story “Salvation” is about a young boy who struggles with the fact that he did not have the spiritual experience the church expected him to have, Hughes, L. (1940). Much like the boy in the story many people have had problems with conforming to the ideas taught in the bible. The perfect example of people that have taken the problems with religion to literature and had a huge impact on society is Martin Luther. Martin Luther published literature in the form of a pamphlet that is called 95 Theses. This form of literature lead to the Protestant Reformation and once again a change that affected the entire world, Arkin, M. (2016).
Literature plays an intimate role in our daily lives as well. There is a significant impact on literature and sex. Both beautiful and horrendous sexual acts have come about based upon literature. Members of the Islamic State of Iraq have used the Quran to justify the rapes in women and children. “He told me that according to Islam he is allowed to rape an unbeliever. He said that by raping me, he is drawing closer to God,” Berenson, T. 2015. On the opposite Spectrum writing such as “The mayor meets an American princess” has opened up the discussion of sex that was once a forbidden topic. This short story discusses not only to women living in a same-sex relationship, but the capabilities for these couples to be married with Children, Stores, T. (2010). Literature such as this opens up the potential for people to discuss ideas about sex and relationships and become more comfortable with them. It also gives people the power to read stories that they can relate to and feel less isolated.
Literature has had an exponential impact on politics. During World War II propaganda was used to persuade American citizens to support and join the military. The American people were unaware of the fact that most of what they seen was based upon emotion rather than a factual basis, Fenton, L. (2014). The Diary of a young girl by Anne Frank has hit the list of the top 50 books that have changed the world. This book brought to light what the Jewish community in Germany experience during World War II. It is read in most schools and has been a significant reminder against racial persecution, Staff. (2010).
As read in “A jury of her Peers”, Glaspell, S. (2010), woman were thought of as lesser beings not quite people, and abuse was allowed as a part of everyday life. It wasn’t until 1920s American woman truly earned any equality by getting the same basic rights that men had at the time, such as voting. Before the woman’s right movement could begin woman started publishing stories of their living conditions in a series of articles and books published by Judith Sargent Murry from 1751 to 1820 . The next form of literature that had a significant impact of this moment started just a year later. “The woman’s question” written by Hannah Mather Crocker that stressed that until woman were offered the same amount of education they could not be fairly judged next to men Scott, A. (2009). These articles and books sparked woman’s interest and drove them to fight for change. The “Declaration of Sentiments, Grievances, and Resolutions,” written primarily by Elizabeth Cady Stanton was a piece of literature that helped woman state what they wanted and gave a focal point during the woman’s rights movement, US House of Representatives: History, Art & Archives. (2007).
The Vietnam war is where literature took on an extreme role in Americans views and lives. For the first time reporters were going to war and writing articles and reporting live a misconstrued version of the tragedies of war. This led to the Americans not only losing support for the war but losing support in their troops and a verbal and physical out-lash towards the soldiers fighting, Rohn, A. (2014). The literature published in news papers and reported alike played a key role in the Anti-war movement during this time. Peaceful sit-in and dangerous were reported and thus encouraged amongst students and activist .
The same time as the Vietnam War the civil rights movement was strongly encouraged in all forms of literature including songs, newspaper articles, books, and movies. As people know the black community was vastly mistreated, People such as Martin Luther King Jr. Had their messages of equality and civil rights spread through literature on a daily basis. The Terrible and racist acts that were being carried out were made public knowledge and thus encourage people to stand up for equality, eNotes. (2010).
One of the first thing people teach their children in in modern day society is to read and write. Once they are capable of reading they are handed mass amounts of books in schools that fill their heads with the knowledge to succeed and understand history. These children learn to be doctors, lawyers, and so many more things that keep society running. The fist medical “book” dates to 1950 B.C. the knowledge that was been learned and expanded on form this early literature is mind-blowing WRF Staff. (2016). Now a most individuals have the capabilities of looking up literature about the health issues they are facing and making informed choices on what they want to do to treat it.
Literature has become far more complex in modern society. We can find literature on any view point of any topic with the click of a finger. The Internet is a never ending possibility of literature. People have seen how one book can sweep the world and change millions of peoples culture, one man’s writings can split a religion in half, the way one group of extremist views a book can lead to terrible acts of sexually assault, while making literature available the common man has played a key role in equality for groups of people. Literature has sent countries to war and helped bring them home, made it possible for people to be more informed on health decisions and saved lives. Not only the way literature is written but the way it’s perceived has completely shaped modern civilization.
If the literature we have been offered thus far in our lives has been such an influence in every aspect of civilization imagine the impact opening our children and future World rulers to multicultural literature could have. “I have been working in a preschool for three years and the majority of the children at the school are from a minority culture. I have both seen children being frustrated and been frustrated myself by a simple inability to understand the other person’s language,” Boles, M. (2006). Small children accept people easily. Opening up their world to learning about not only their own history and where they live, but other countries and life styles even those of the handicapped individuals through literature could have an extraordinary impact on the lines of communication and acceptance throughout the world .
etween, Lombardi, E. (2016). How strong can the impact of these materials truly be? Strong enough that throughout history rulers and dictators, such as Qin Shi Huang and Vladimir Putin, have banned and burnt literature that taught ideas that opposed their view points. If it were not for the literature that has been made available to every class of people modern society would be very different. Literature has had a strong impact on everything from the way we view our bodies to the way politics and religion are viewed. What specifically has literature impacted in our lives? What impact could encouraging cultures to share literature have on future civilization?
Americans not only losing support for the war but losing support in their troops and a verbal and physical out-lash towards the soldiers fighting, Rohn, A. (2014). The literature published in news papers and reported alike played a key role in the Anti-war movement during this time. Peaceful sit-in and dangerous were reported and thus encouraged amongst students and activist .
The same time as the Vietnam War the civil rights movement was strongly encouraged in all forms of literature including songs, newspaper articles, books, and movies. As people know the black community was vastly mistreated, People such as Martin Luther King Jr. Had their messages of equality and civil rights spread through literature on a daily basis. The Terrible and racist acts that were being carried out were made public knowledge and thus encourage people to stand up for equality, eNotes. (2010).
One of the first thing people teach their children in in modern day society is to read and write. Once they are capable of reading they are handed mass amounts of books in schools that fill their heads with the knowledge to succeed and understand history. These children learn to be doctors, lawyers, and so many more things that keep society running. The fist medical “book” dates to 1950 B.C. the knowledge that was been learned and expanded on form this early literature is mind-blowing WRF Staff. (2016). Now a most individuals have the capabilities of looking up literature about the health issues they are facing and making informed choices on what they want to do to treat it.
Literature has become far more complex in modern society. We can find literature on any view point of any topic with the click of a finger. The Internet is a never ending possibility of literature. People have seen how one book can sweep the world and change millions of peoples culture, one man’s writings can split a religion in half, the way one group of extremist views a book can lead to terrible acts of sexually assault, while making literature available the common man has played a key role in equality for groups of people. Literature has sent countries to war and helped bring them home, made it possible for people to be more informed on health decisions and saved lives. Not only the way literature is written but the way it’s perceived has completely shaped modern civilization.
If the literature we have been offered thus far in our lives has been such an influence in every aspect of civilization imagine the impact opening our children and future World rulers to multicultural literature could have. “I have been working in a preschool for three years and the majority of the children at the school are from a minority culture. I have both seen children being frustrated and been frustrated myself by a simple inability to understand the other person’s language,” Boles, M. (2006). Small children accept people easily. Opening up their world to learning about not only their own history and where they live, but other countries and life styles even those of the handicapped individuals through literature could have an extraordinary impact on the lines of communication and acceptance throughout the world .
Mack, M. (2011). How Literature Changes the Way We Think. London: Continuum.
Spiro R.(2000, January 10). The Impact of the Bible. Retrieved June 11, 2016, from http://www.aish.com/jl/jnj/jn/48925332.html?mobile=yes
Hughes, L. (1940). Salvation. Retrieved from http://www.centerforfiction.org/forwriters/the-model-short-story/quotsalvationquot-by-langston-hughes/
Arkin, M. (2016) New Criterion. Vol. 34 Issue 9, p66-69. 4p.
Berenson, T. 2015, Time.com. pN. P. 1p
Stores, T. (2010). The mayor meets an American princess. Retrieved from http://www.literarybohemian.com
Dahiya, A. (2015). Feminism in Literature and in Theory. Retrieved June 11, 2016, from http://ugcenglish.com/literary-criticism/feminism-in-literature/871/
Lombardi, E. (2016). What Is Literature? Retrieved June 11, 2016, from http://classiclit.about.com/od/literaryterms/g/aa_whatisliter.htm
Fenton, L. (2014). We Want You: A Rhetorical Analysis of Propaganda from Government Posters to Political Memes. Retrieved June 11, 2016, from http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ysu1403183308
Staff. (2010). 50 Books That Changed the World | OEDB.org. Retrieved June 11, 2016, from http://oedb.org/ilibrarian/50_books_that_changed_the_world/
Rohn, A. (2014). Media Role in The Vietnam War – The Vietnam War. Retrieved June 11, 2016, from http://thevietnamwar.info/media-role-vietnam-war/
How did the media influence the civil rights movement? | eNotes. (2010). Retrieved June 12, 2016, from http://www.enotes.com/homework-help/role-media-influencing-events-modern-american-165829
Glaspell, S. (2010). A jury of her peers. Cicada, 12(4), 33.
WRF Staff. (2016). The Oldest Medical Books in the World. Retrieved June 12, 2016, from http://www.wrf.org/ancient-medicine/oldest-medical-books.php
The Women’s Rights Movement, 1848–1920 | US House of Representatives: History, Art & Archives. (2007). Retrieved June 12, 2016, from http://history.house.gov/Exhibitions-and-Publications/WIC/Historical-Essays/No-Lady/Womens-Rights/
Scott, A. (2009). Nineteenth-Century Feminist Writings. Retrieved June 12, 2016, from http://www.gilderlehrman.org/history-by-era/literature-and-language-arts/essays/nineteenth-century-feminist-writings
Boles, M. (2006). “The Effects of Multicultural Literature in the Classroom” Senior Honors Theses. Paper 62.
Redheaded mommy 
Thanks for your thuhgots. It’s helped me a lot.
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