Taking Advantages of Literature

The main purpose of the essay is to present the benefits to use literature in education, and how literature has helped me to grow up as a person and future teacher. First, I will start commenting my learning experience in the course. Second, I will describe literature. Then, I will talk about literature and its benefits in education. Then, I will describe some of those benefits and why they should take into consideration at the moment of learning. Finally, I will conclude my essay giving my personal opinion about the importance to bring literature into education and students’ lives.

Since my brother showed me how interesting, magical and useful books could be for; literature has been an important part of my life. For this reason, I remember clearly the beginning of our literature class. I felt curiosity to know how the course was going to be developed. I was highly enthusiastic to learn more about old English literature but poetry specifically. I really appreciate poetry and I consider it the most attractive genre of literature, because it involves not only feelings but a particular and deep way of seeing the world. One of the first topics we saw in classes was the oldest epic poem called Beowulf from 19th century. It was, however, rather difficult to read but interesting to see how literature has been crucial for human beings to illustrate the way they perceive and feel the world. And, this was the fist thing I learned from this course.

Later on, we studied other texts, letters, poems and tales where we could discuss important topics that are still contemporaries such as love, truth, discrimination, racism, religious, and the role of women in society, etc. We were able to discus, differentiate, tolerate other opinions, share knowledge, experiences and, of course, give our point of view. All of we learned was thanks to literature that covered attractive topics to the class. The idea of including literature in my career, as a future teacher, had a clear purpose. It was to make up my mind about how important the benefits to apply literature with our future students are. However, what do we understand by Literature? Probably, there are many definitions, but I am going to refer to a definition given by some English pedagogy’s students from 4^th year, “Literature is the expression of culture using language to express it, such as writing, speaking and listening.”

From this definition, literature is certainly an interpretation and a way to understand the world where the writer’s intention is to reflect, show and invite the reader toward his inside. The invitation is showing his feelings, thoughts and even a perspective of the culture and world. According to an educational context, while a child reads, this one is involves into another world dimension with a different perspective of life. Therefore, this fact is mainly important, because there is an interaction between the reader (child) and the writer that I call it dialogue. Related to this, Tzvetan Todorov states, “Literature opens to the infinite this possibility of interaction and thus enriches us infinitely. It brings us irreplaceable sensations through the real world become more furnished with meaning and more beautiful”( 17). In this sense, the child could feel identified with the text or writer, linking certain facts from his own experience of life, creating a magical and meaningful interaction with the text.

What I have mentioned before gives us a clear idea to confirm strongly that literature is clearly a tool of Education which can be use for many purposes by its benefits and teachers should bear in mind those at the moment of teaching. We can mention literature helps to develop Language, as a first benefits. The language learners have heard and read from wide texts forms the language they will use to speak and write. In other words, Bernice E. Cullinan, an important American educator, in her book called “Invitation to Read : More Childrean `s Literature in the Reading Program” mentions, “language shapes thought just as thought shapes language”(13). In this sense, children enrich their vocabulary and knowledge of grammatical aspects through exposed them by reading books aloud and in silence. In addition, pupils acquire different vocabulary (formal and informal). As a way to illustrate, Cullinan explains, “this is so because the language of literature differs from the language of daily conversation: literature contains a richer vocabulary and more complex sentence s5rtucture” (13). Consequently, students are more capable to handle suitable vocabulary to manage and express their thoughts through a clear and accurate way.

Secondly, literature allows learner’s emotional development. What I said before, about writer’s intention is to reflect, show and invite the reader toward his inside; it is closely related to the fact of developing reader’s emotional side. Referring to this issue, the same author states, “The emotional impact of literature is a major reason it serves us so well in handing down the magic of reading. Because literature deals with the range oh human emotions, it portrays feelings we all experience” (15) Many times reading Sense and Sensibility and Chaucer’s poems, I had felt almost the same writer’s emotions as if they could feel the same as me. Moreover, many people have felt compassion, angriness sadness etc when they read about characters. Bernice E. Cullinan comments. “Sometimes we clarify our own emotions when we read about another’s experiences in a book”. This is really helpful for children. Using stories, tales, and poems in the classroom can help them to realize that problems or difficult situations are part of the life and should know they are not alone. In this way, students are able to get courage to face and deal with reality.

On the other hand, the third advantage is that literature helps students to develop their critical thinking. In fact, the more we read, the more we learn how to think. Hence, the importance to foment reading with our future students it is crucial to perceive and appreciate diverse ways of seeing the world that enable us to reflect on what we read. In this sense, we develop the ability of being critical people. In Bernice E. Cullinan book, she denotes, “Graves (1983) and Hansen (1987) among other believe that reading and discussing trade books helps children to become more critical readers and increases their awareness of choices they make as writers.” (14) Lastly, we cannot forget to mention teachers need and have to encourage learner to love or at least appreciate literature as a manner to expand their minds and their lives in a meaningful way.

Throughout this essay I have tried to present a general overview about some of many benefits to use literature in education and I also have related this with my learning experience in the course. Furthermore, I have given a brief definition of literature and how the idea of including literature into the classroom could be seen as an excellent vehicle to teach and increase students’ knowledge, among other things, such as improve child writing, reading, vocabulary, to explore children’s emotional side, to develop their creativity, to teach children values, etc. Undoubtedly, there are many other benefits to use reading in effective language program but I just developed three of them that from my point of view are the most important and indispensably to bear in mind.

Works Cited

Cullinan, Bernice E. Invitation to Read : More Children `s Literature in the Reading Program. Delaware: International Reading Association, 1992.

Todorov, Tzvetan New literary History. Volume 38, Number 1, winter 2007, p17.

The Merchant of Tragedy

The Merchant of Venice is al film directed by Michael Redfort. It is basically based on the famous William Shakespeare’s play.

Basanio was a liberal merchant without money that decided to captivate Portia´s love, who was the princess of Belmont. The liberal young merchant, in his desire to get this purpose, decided to lend Antonio´s money, who was his loyal and best friend. Antonio was an important and wealthy dealer of the epoch. Nevertheless, this dealer did not have the amount agreed. Antonio decided to talk whit Shylock, a moneylender Jewish, to help his friend. The Jewish took advantage of the situation and decided to take revenge because of the discrimination and mistreat he used to suffer by Catholics of the epoch. Shylock finally accepted lending Antonio the ducats, but with a particular conditions, which was to take a pound of Antonio’s flesh, if he can not definitely pay what he had borrowed.


A remarkable point of the film is the way it portraits the values, behavior, beliefs and customs of that epoch. I was really impressed watching the film by the manner how men used to kiss each other in the mouth. In fact, it represented a natural or common way of greeting or expressing love in those times. Besides, if we compare this situation with our modern times, it is apparently different or less common.

On the other hand, something that is fairly important to mention about Merchant of Venice film, is the discrimination as an important theme or issue of the film. As an evidence of this, is the opposition between Shylock and Antonio. These characters play the most important role in the movie, because of the reason both represent the confrontation among two different cultures such is Catholicism and Judaism. The director of the film tries to portrait on Shylock that he, as a Jewish, had the same rights as every human beings. In fact, it is demonstrated in Shylock’s words when said; he suffered and loved as every single people. For this reason, he should be treated equally as others. However, from Antonio`s point of view, he despise and looked down on Jewish, not for a personal reason, but mainly as a consequence of the cultural pattern of the epoch. In other words, his behaviour is a clear demonstration of the cultural background.

Concluding with the review, I would definitely say The Merchant of Venice is a wonderful and interested tragedy film, because we can appreciate the different human conditions such is discrimination, revenge, ambition, suffering, sadness, which has not changed through the time. Moreover, the quality of the actors is excellent. They make a well done performance portraying the customs, beliefs of Shakespeare’s epoch.

Outline: The Merchant of Venice

The Merchant of Venice

1- Title

2- Introduction

3- Summary of the movie

4- Relationship between Shylock and Antonio.

5- Opposition in terms of religion, money or beliefs?

6- Conclusion

The Faerie Queene

The letter to Sir Walter Raleigh written by Edmund Spencer is mainly an allegory of the values of that epoch. The author tried to portray in King Arthur the twelve moral virtues. In fact, to him, Arthur “is the representation of the virtues of Magnificence. This is to say, he is the perfection of all the rest, and contained in it them all”. King Arthur was seen by the author as “a gentleman, a noble person in virtues and gentle discipline”.

Spencer’s book is an allegory, because he describes in a figurative or symbolic way, the representation of moral virtues through some characters such is King Arthur in this case. In his work, tried to emphasize through his different characters certain characteristics or virtues such are Holinesses which is represented by The Knight of the Red Crosse, Temperance expressed by Sir Guyon and Chastity by Lady Knight.

Having expressed all of this, I truly believe the author’s intentions to write the letter was to protect himself, mainly because was poor and was against some of religious concepts. The letter was a mode to defence in a certain way, his moral values.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Faerie_Queene http://www.english.cam.ac.uk/spenser/main.ht