Week by week, day by day, hour by hour, and second by second we are constantly reading something, whether that be a book, an ad on TV, a game preview, a letter, or anything. All day every day we are gathering knowledge throughout our daily lives and that’s not a bad thing, is it?? Of course not! Reading is fundamental. Not knowing how to read–or read well–is not healthy. In order to understand the fundamentals of life, or society’s basic laws and concepts, you need to be able to read. Getting a ticket, going to the courtroom, doing taxes, or even reading a story to your children requires being literate.
Literature is a reflection of humanity, and being able to properly speak with or listen to someone else opens gateways to how we perceive one another. According to the U.K.’s Find Course website, “We are easily connected to the psyche of authors through their story. However, literature also reiterates the need to understand modern-day issues like human conflict.” Of course literature is fundamental for our lives considering it helps us understand one another’s emotions like happiness, grief, sadness, and anger. Literature not only helps with the understanding of one another, but it helps with the history of humankind–its conflicts, crises, and triumphs. Being able to properly understand the meaning behind the events we read or are taught about helps open our eyes to the past, present, and future.
Literary fiction opens up a whole new world of perception; being able to empathize with characters in novels is a necessary skill for a student.
According to the National Literacy Institute,
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On average, 79% of U.S. adults nationwide are literate in 2024.
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21% of adults in the US are illiterate in 2024.
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54% of adults have a literacy below a 6th-grade level (20% are below 5th-grade level).
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Low levels of literacy costs the US up to 2.2 trillion per year.
Further, the U.S. ranks 36th in literacy in the world.
Literacy is the bedrock of understanding. Proficiency in reading and writing is a basic life skill, and those most advanced can even give expression to their own experiences through nonfiction, fiction, and poetry, connecting with parts of themselves and with others. The foundation of life is held up by many things, although literature can help the beams of foundation as long as the effort is made.
