7 Ways That Literature Helps Makes The World A Better Place

Reading is great, and so are books. There are plenty of types of books that can each give you a different experience. However, books by themselves can't make the world a better place, but what they can do is influence and inspire. Books teach us how to read and write, use our imaginations and give us experiences that we couldn't have had otherwise.

1. It Teaches Us To Read And Write

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Back when you were a little kid, you most likely learned how to read and write using books. Your parents and teachers obviously helped you to some extent, but you learned how to read using books. They're very useful tools because they are always available for you to use. Once you get older, books become longer and are more detailed. No more picture books, now it's novel time! Novel's still teach us how to read, but just in a different way. With novels you're looking more at the plot, literary devices, character development and the more technical aspects of a book. These are good things to pick up on when reading books because the earlier you learn these things, the easier your English classes will go in high school. Not only do books teach us how to read, but also write. Things such as essays and reports. They allow you to track your progress and get better as you go on. Books are amazing things that many people often forget have so much to do with their learning and daily lives.

2. Literature Can Inspire People

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Obviously books aren't the only type of literature, there are also poems, magazines, articles and a bunch of other media sources. But one thing that all of these types of literature have, is the ability to inspire people. For example, "Theseus and the Minotaur" is a Greek myth that has inspired many authors and film makers."The Hunger Games" by Suzanne Collins was partially inspired by the myth, and shortly after the success of the books came the film adaptations. Literature doesn't always have to inspire other types of literature, or a film. Often times literature can inspire ordinary people. Anything from a cookbook to a poem can be a source of inspiration, and anybody can use them. Literature is so accessible to people, which makes it so easy to use as inspiration.

3. It Teaches People A Bunch Of Different Things

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Have you ever wanted to learn how to play the piano, or maybe the guitar? Want to learn how to cook? As silly as it might be to think of these types of books and manuals as literature, they technically are. They are types of books with a purpose. Many books have a distinct purpose and something specific that is being taught, but others teach moral lessons and can change peoples` perspectives on life. Literature usually teaches people knowledge based things, but sometimes a deeper lesson can be found. A personal example of this is a book called "The Rule of Three" by Eric Walters. The book's core message is that people have always felt the need to help others, and I believe that this could not be more true. I never thought about it before reading the book but I thought about all of the times that I have felt the urge or need to help people. It doesn't even come to mind when I do it, it's just natural. People are social creatures, and will do anything to have someone else with them, even if it means risking their health. It's just how we are wired.

4. Reading Has Health Benifits

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Improving people's mental and physical health can count as making the world a better place right? Well it does not if it didn't before. It has been proven in multiple studies that reading can have actual benefits to your health. Some of these benefits include an increase in sleep, relieving of stress and fighting depression. Mental and physical health are very serious things, and keeping each of them as high as possible is very important. With more sleep and less stress people are much more productive and tend to be in better moods. This also results in higher averages in school, since paying attention will be much easier. Who knew that reading "The Catcher in the Rye" would have health benefits, make me more productive and keep me in a better mood? So do everybody a favor and tell the grumpy guy in third period to read more, it's good for him.

5. Literature Is Everywhere, And For Everybody!

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Your house, my house, the library, your school, Wal-Mart, Chapters. North America, South America, Asia, Europe and Africa. Literature is everywhere. That's one of the things that is so amazing about literature. There are no boundaries, and it can't be contained. It doesn't matter who you are or where you are, you can always end up with a book in your hands. I think that is the most powerful thing about literature. It's yours, min, his and hers. There is no age limit or expiration date to it. Personally, that fascinates me. The ability for something to be timeless and at the same time very convenient. Wow. Thousands of years ago people were writing stories on stone tablets and papyrus. You can probably find the same stone tablets in a museum somewhere. Literature can bring you into the past and show you parts of history you never knew about. As someone who's favorite subject is history, I have a special appreciation for old literature and the ability to learn about the history of how mankind came to be today.

6. Literature Is Our Future

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From the time you learned to read when you were young, up until you graduate college or university, literature has been and always will be apart of your life. Even if you hate books and try your hardest to ignore them, they will be there. People should actually be grateful for books instead of hating them. Books are an important part of our educations. Imagine if there were no books! Some people complain about having to read books. Think about it, if there were no books you would have to take notes on literally everything your teachers say, and I can tell you from experience that reading from a book is a thousand times better than taking notes. See? Be glad that we have books that're so readily available. Books, reading and writing are three important things that prepare us for high school, college and eventually, the "real world". By the way, I never understood that saying. "The real world". As if this isn't already the real world? What other world is there? Anyways, the point is that we get so much more out of literature than we think we do and we should be glad that we can learn with them, and stop taking the for granted.

7. Literature Is Relatable, For Most Of Us Anyways

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I just so happen to be in my teenage years, and the amount of books that include teenagers and all of their struggles is increasing seemingly every year. Most often, the things that people relate to the most in a book are the characters and their situations. It isn't always the protagonist, but it is definitely much easier to relate to a main character than it is to a background character. Holden Caulfield in J.D Salinger's "Catcher in the Rye" is relatable because many people have been affected by grief in some ways. Perhaps not to the same extent as Holden, but nonetheless it still effects them. A very relatable book for myself is "Takedown" by Allison van Diepen. The main protagonist Darren is trying to balance his social life with his school, job and athletics. This is something all to familiar for myself and other young adults. There are millions of people going through the same things as I am, and it's really cool to know that nobody completely alone in their situations, even if they feel like they are. It's the simple things like this that make books interesting. Would you read a book if it wasn't of interest to you? Most likely not. Every character in every book has issues and struggles, but what makes books interesting to us is the ways that we can relate to those struggles or situations. And obviously it isn't only teenagers that can relate to literature, kids and adults can too. I just used a personal example to show exactly how literature can be so relatable.

So, Yeah...

Literature definitely makes the world a better place. Sometimes we notice it, and sometimes we don't. We often times take literature and books for granted, but we should be grateful that we have these tools that can help shape our futures, give us educations and help us throughout our lives. Literature is amazing, and it will always be available for us.