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Thinking About the Effects of Literature

Chapter Thirteen. Thinking About the Effects of Literature. Effect of the Work. Short-range emotional responses “I really enjoyed this.” “I burst out laughing.” “It revolted me.” Long-range effects “I have always tried to live up to the line in Hamlet, ‘To thine own self be true…’”.

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Thinking About the Effects of Literature

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  1. Chapter Thirteen Thinking About the Effects of Literature

  2. Effect of the Work • Short-range emotional responses • “I really enjoyed this.” • “I burst out laughing.” • “It revolted me.” • Long-range effects • “I have always tried to live up to the line in Hamlet, ‘To thine own self be true…’”

  3. Immediate Emotional Response • What about the consequences of the effects of literature? • Does it shape our character and therefore influence our behavior? • If so, then the question remains, what of the negative consequences?

  4. Critical Questions • Can we see a literary value in a work that offends us? • Should some works be censored? • Should some kinds of literature be prohibited because they offer the wrong kinds of pleasure?

  5. Quotes for Commentary • The pen is mightier than the sword. • Writers are witnesses. • Poetry makes nothing happen. • Literature is without proofs. • Life is amorphous. Literature is formal.

  6. Plato’s Republic: adult influence • Think of a children’s story (even in film) that you know that, on reflection, may have been appropriate—perhaps damaging—to you or other children. • Think of the same story—or one like it—that seemed inappropriate or damaging that is in truth not damaging, but good for chidren.

  7. Children’s Ability to Discern • Could one say that the censorship of some children’s reading matter or tv shows underrates their ability to think for themselves, and recognize the dangerous, obscene, or tawdry?

  8. Plato on the gods • He says that allowing poets to say what they please about the gods is “inconsistent.” What might this mean? What is your considered opinion on the matter?

  9. Parental Censorship • Should parents censor what children read, listen to, or view? • Should the community censor what adults read, listen to, or view? • For instance, should adults be discouraged from listening to rap, watching X-rated film, or telling ethnic jokes?

  10. The issue of inconvenient truth • Should children be taught that some of our Founders were human, and flawed? • Should children be taught that our nation has ever acted wrongly in its international affairs? • If they should, what is the appropriate age for informing them, and how does one inform them so they are not “damaged?”

  11. Government Funding for the Arts • Should tax dollars support the arts? • Do any social benefits come from supporting the arts with government money? • Should government-supported art be ap0litical? • Is refusal of support a form of censorship? • Who should decide the merits of an artist’s application for government funds?

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