Preview

Is Reading Fiction is a Waste of Time?

Satisfactory Essays
Open Document
Open Document
479 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Is Reading Fiction is a Waste of Time?
English Diagnostic Essay
Is Reading Fiction is a Waste of Time?

!
!

Reading fiction is not a waste of time. There are many reasons why fictional

books are good to read, but some of the main reasons are: reading fictional literature increases emotional awareness, enhances learning, and reading is good for the mind.!

!
!

Fiction is full of emotion. The avid reader feels many emotions and experiences

lives through the characters in the book. As William Styron said, “A great book should leave you with many experiences and slightly exhausted at the end. You live several lives while reading.” Emotions that a reader feels, when reading about the characters, increases his/her empathy for others. It also makes him more emotionally aware of his experiences and the way it makes him feel. This is just one reason as to why fictional literature is not a waste of time.!

!
!

Fictional books are not all fairy tales. Types of fiction include: comedy, horror,

mystery, romance, sci-fi, adventure, poetry, fantasy, historical fiction, etc. There is a very large spectrum of fiction genres. Some believe that nothing can be learned from fiction.
On the contrary, historical fiction (also known as realistic fiction) can be very informative.
Historical fiction is literature that teaches about the past, but with a few made up or exaggerated details in the story. An example of historical fiction would be the “Dear
Canada” series. It is a Canadian series about fictional girls who wrote about their

experiences, including living through the Great Depression, The Halifax Explosion,
World War II and many more events. This series and many other historical fiction books teach about events in the past, written in a format that is not only interesting but informative for all ages.!

!
!

It has always been said that reading is good for the mind. In certain ways, that is

true. Fictional literature helps transport the reader into a different frame of mind. It

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Better Essays

    MacLeod, Anne Scott. “Rewriting History. (Cover Story).” Teacher Magazine 9.7 (1998): Academic Search Premier. Web. 10 January, 2013.…

    • 1265 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    When you pick up a book, you want to make a connection, to connect with the characters, to experience what they are experiencing. Things that we can relate to in books such as family, friendships, sadness, and fear can help us when we are going through a hard time. Reading can be an escape or way to cope for some people. It could be a fairytale or a parallel world that’s completely opposite than our own. While reading you can see how people feel about love or music, being reassured that you are not the only one feeling how you do. It’s a place to share and laugh out loud and enjoy what you see in the story.…

    • 535 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Better Essays

    Reading allows for one to drift away from reality and opens a new door of an alternate fictional world. Once the reader has developed an emotional connection to the book and finds it intriguing, it is impractical to close the book. Reading allows a person to think creatively and take a break from life's stresses and worries. Whether one is reading for pleasure or for academic reasons, if enjoyable, the difference should be indistinguishable. Gratifying books teach lessons and try to get the reader to think deeply about a topic. Readers look for specific qualities in books such reader's interest, an opportunity for vocabulary, and the appropriate reading level for their age. Romeo and Juliet by Shakespeare Night by Elie Wiesel and Red Queen…

    • 1192 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Why Study Literature?

    • 361 Words
    • 2 Pages

    All these reasons and thousands of other reasons for studying literature academically or personally are self-deceiving answers. Because like many other great questions of human life the exact reason for literature being so much interesting is that there is no answer for loving it. Like the question of God, the question of destiny and the question of death. The most lovable pieces of literature are those which raise a question without an answer. It is the reason that literature looks like…

    • 361 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    mental health

    • 1372 Words
    • 9 Pages

    The historical section is a compilation of narrative information describing past events indicative of an…

    • 1372 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    Cloud Atlas

    • 966 Words
    • 4 Pages

    midpoint in the book only to finish each storyline with a fascinating and exciting conclusion.…

    • 966 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Most people who read are often very smart and literate . You can learn about whatever you want through books, you can learn about nature, political issues, history, anything! And that’s what’s so great about it, you find a book you want to read and you read it. But books are not only used as a tool to learn new things, it’s mostly used for entertainment purposes. People read about terrible crimes, or travelling around the world or meeting people who lived ages ago.…

    • 1235 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    C201 Unit 1

    • 451 Words
    • 2 Pages

    The people that read, their brains will function better. A lifetime of reading might just help keep your brain in shape when you reach old age, according to research published in the online issue of the journal Neurology. Another reason is, Brainy pursuits make the brain more efficient by changing its structure to continue functioning properly in spite of…

    • 451 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Freeman and Levstik in their article Recreating the Past: Historical Fiction in Social Studies Curriculum writes “Historical Fiction can be a very effective source of social data and can initiate the type of inquiry that is essence of good social studies” (Freeman and Levstik, P.334) The inquiry approach moves away from the traditional teaching constructing an environment where students have the opportunity to be more dynamically engaged in the lesson. Using historical fiction gives students’ a perspective on historical events and their consequences. “Children can see themselves as an extension of a living past—part of the community of human existence.” (Freeman and Levstik, P330) Teachers create a passage to a world that they have not seen…

    • 138 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Explore how time and place are used in your prescribed text to shape the audience’s understanding of how knowledge of the past sheds light on the present.…

    • 1870 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Reading heightens a child’s ability to comprehend new things. The more a child reads, the more advanced the child’s capability of fully understanding what he or she is reading becomes. In addition to gaining the ability to better comprehend what he or she reads, reading --whether it be fiction or nonfiction-- exposes and explains new ideas to kids. This exposure to new ideas is intrinsic to helping a child understand the world around him or her. Children can learn more morals from reading than by any other means.…

    • 664 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Reading-Is It Important?

    • 691 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Reading can be such a broad topic in America today. How important is it, why do we read, the questions are endless but to what extent is reading really important? There are so many issues going on around the globe such as illegal immigration, abortion and the new health care reform. Reading is no where near as important as those topics, those issues can change one's life forever and reading is just something we do without even noticing. It comes natural to a human being in the 21st century. In Rick Moody's piece “The Joy and Enthusiasm of Reading” he is arguing that there is no right or wrong way to read. I agree with Moody's opinion that there is no right or wrong way to read something because we all are created differently with different minds which means we all interpret things in a different way.…

    • 691 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    History is a story that can be told and shared in many different ways, from the listing of years and events, like that of the Annals journal, to the more story-like approach to history, like that of Hayden White. This narrative type approach to the writing of history is one that comes with many challenges, but this style may be beneficial to scholars and readers of history. Listing events is still history but Hayden White believes it has gaps, “…this history has no central subject, no beginning, middle, or end, no evident principle of selection, no connections, no indication of the relative importance of events… in short, no narrative.” Narrative history, though has many good qualities and features about it, has many questions on how it is…

    • 1129 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    History, on the whole, is often understood as the simple chronicle of events as they happen.…

    • 1073 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    Books have been a major part of my life for as long as I can remember. I was taught to read both at home and at school, and was given the freedom to choose whatever genre I decided on. My experiences with books were always positive, which allowed me to develop a love for literature. The reading that I did throughout my childhood helped to shape both the genres I enjoy and the amount I read today.…

    • 765 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays