Friday, February 27, 2009

Why Literature Matters

"It is difficult to get the news from poems,
yet men die miserably every day for lack of what is found there."
William Carlos Williams

Williams reminds me again about why I believe there is power in literature, even texts from centuries ago. Some authors have their fingers squarely on the pulse of humanity. Williams would probably be sorely confused to hear he was commenting on the preponderance of Internet skimming, but his wisdom gives us much to think about in this world of Web 2.0 overload. As much as I know skimming is a skill we all need (I went to college pre-web-2.0 days and still had to rely on skimming for those 1000 poli sci pages I was to read every week!), slowing down to ponder and connect is what feeds our minds and souls. I hope, by the end of my time with my students, that they have found something in their lives they enjoy reading enough to slow down and live by and through and with ...

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