Hao Chen, Period 7, 9/26/2023

Hao Chen

Period 7 

9/26/2023

Modern Mythology 2024

Literacy & Learning

In class on 9/14/23 we are told to read of the three articles and discuss them with our group and to pick out on line from the text that stand out to you. The article that I chose to read is "Why our future depends on libraries, reading and daydreaming" by Neil Gaiman. Before reading the text I didn't take reading fictional and fantasy books seriously and think of it only as a way to pass time. Of course I have read fictional and fantasy books like every person around me and have a fun time reading it. But what does it have to do with how I think or how can it be important to the point of affecting my will to reading. After reading the articles my opinion on the topic have changed. 

Reading the article I have learned many benefits of reading fictional and fantasy books that I never known before like how it will improve our willingness to reading, how it will increase our creativity through imagination, and how it will destroy a children's willingness to read if there isn't a place for them to read any books that they want. But what stands out to me from the article is this line "Empathy is a tool for building people into groups, for allowing us to function as more than self-obsessed individuals." Earlier in the class we discuss about the fairy tale Cinderella and I think that fairy tales is what will make this line true. It is common knowledge that fairy tales express the goods quality of people like hardworking, kindness, honesty, and empathy. As a child reads fairy tales such as Cinderella you would normally feel empathy for Cinderella being treated badly by her stepmother and stepsisters, wearing ragged clothing, and having to work excessively. But we can see the good qualities of Cinderella like the kindness and the hard working nature and these good qualities will later lead Cinderella to a good ending . This empathy children feel for Cinderella is what promote children to help out others forming a group of people are not self-obsessed individuals by following these good qualities that fairy tales display. This line have changed my perception on the effect empathy have on society.  

I can apply this learning to the world around me because I have a brother who is around the age of when children will really get into reading (5th grade) and i think that learning from the article I can apply it to spark the interest my brother have to reading. I can bring him to the public library that is around our house more often and let him pick out books that interest him more so that he will be interested in reading. Another way that I can apply this learning is that in the future when I have children I can read them some fairy tales to help them develop empathy and other good qualities that the characters in fairy tales show. 

Sources 

Gaiman, N. (2013) Neil Gaiman: Why Our Future Depends on Libraries, Reading and Daydreaming. The Guardian.
http://www.theguardian.com/books/2013/oct/15/neil-gaiman-future-libraries-reading-daydreaming