The Surprising Power of Reading Fiction: 9 Benefits.
Essay Sample: The six major elements of fiction are character, plot, point of view, setting, style, and theme. 1. Character -- A figure in a literary work (personality.
As we read the text, we also “read” ourselves reading the text. We observe the elements of plot and character, but we also begin to observe the processes that we use to make meaning of the text. The more that we read (and the more we can draw on past reading literature experiences) the better we become at both of these forms of reading.
The question of why we read and what books actually do for us is as old as the written word itself, and as attractive. Galileo saw reading as a way of having superhuman powers.For Kafka, books were “the axe for the frozen sea within us”; Carl Sagan held them as “proof that humans are capable of working magic”; James Baldwin found in them a way to change one’s destiny; for Polish.
In skilled hands, the factual history makes the character’s story feel real, and being immersed in that story makes history come alive for the reader, sometimes in surprising ways. Human emotions are timeless; relationships, social status, age- and gender-appropriate roles and issues are fluid and ever-changing.
In an age where science fiction television shows like Doctor Who and Battlestar Galactica are huge favorites among teenage audiences, it's a bit silly to keep on thinking that young adult readers have no interest in science fiction. If anything is, and always will remain, relevant and important for young people to read about, to talk about, to dream about, it's the future.
There are so many reasons that I'm not certain it can be summed up. Let's begin with the fact that literature is the collection of human wisdom throughout history--psychology, philosophy, theology.
It makes sense especially since there is a section of writing, known as literary non-fiction or creative non-fiction, that employs the literary techniques usually associated with fiction or poetry. Under this non-fiction umbrella falls the subjects of travel writing, nature writing, autobiography, interviews, memoir, and autobiography or personal essay.