'The act of taking on the perspective and feelings of others is one of the most profound, insufficiently heralded contributions of the deep-reading processes.’
- Maryanne Wolf, 'Reader, Come Home: The Reading Brain in a Digital World'
In a hyper-stimulated world where digital texts overwhelm us all, reading literature is an invitation to focus the mind on the aesthetic power and possibility of the written word. We cannot place too high a value on the teaching of literature.
Whilst it is true that texts from the past and the present require time and patience to understand, the benefits are immeasurable. Literature is an art form honed over millennia that provokes emotions from joy to despair, and in doing so, allows us access to the perspectives and feelings of others. In classrooms everywhere, teachers of English share their love of literature, inviting students to see into the heart and art of humanity.
