The Case for (or against) Literature

Essay 1, The Case for (or against) Literature: This essay asks you to take a position on the first unit question: Does literature matter? You will build an argument using at least two course readings (or other related), and you will define what matter means (emotionally, culturally, historically, ethically, politically, etc.). Requirements: 9001100 words, MLA citations.

My argument is that Literature does matter because it preserves cultural and historical memory. Literature documents lived experiences often excluded from history. Stories, poems, and essays preserve emotions, language, and community memory that might otherwise be erased. To help argue this claim I will use a piece of writing called Writing with Scissors by Ellen Gruber Garvey and The Holocaust in American Life by Peter Novick.