What is the significance of taking American Literature class?

gaaraz11: What is the significance of taking American Literature class?
What I want to know is what do we use the American Literature for. I’m taking American Literature high school class and I see no relevance as to why I have to take it. So maybe some occupations that require knowledge of American Literature.

Answers and Views:

Answer by John B
Literature is not directly applicable to any career (except of course for teaching literature). It is studied because great literature concerns itself with great questions, and the study of literature produces thoughtful, well-rounded human beings. You can literally apply it to anything you do, because it addresses the most fundamental human questions.

Answer by Lina
America is significant….America is awesome America is is is Literature

Answer by enypaf
It is not studied because it applies to a particular occupation, but rather because it increases our ability to understand the world and how we impact and interact within that world.

Here are 14 reasons why we need to study literature:
1.Literature reflects human ideas, beliefs, and societies.
2.When we read literature, we discover common human ways of understanding life.
3.When we read literature, we also discover significant differences. This allows us to explore another’s message or life, even those separated from us by time and social barriers.
4.Literature is full of human reactions and reactions – in poems, essays, diaries, narratives, and in the characters of narratives. As we respond to and analyze these, we can gain a greater knowledge of the human psyche.
5.At the same time, we gain a greater knowledge of ourselves and our own responses because we must inevitably compare our lives to those in literature.
6.When we do this, we have the opportunity for discovering pride in our community and culture, for gaining respect for another’s, and for learning humility as we interact across cultures.
7.We don’t always agree with what we read, or we agree in part. We read literature to test the truth of a message against our worldview.
8.We can cultivate wisdom; learn of good and evil; and experience the call to justice. Literature can not in itself make us a better person, but it can assist us in that quest.
9.Literature offers us the beauty of words and stories.
10.Literature can entertain us.
11.Literature can offer us cultural literacy. Literary figures, plots, motifs, movements, and genres are a vital part of our cultural heritages.
12.American literature in particular is associated with influence on American culture.
13.American literature is haunted by questions of faith and doubt. These continue to form the subtext of the literary experience.
14.Literature can open us to our own latent interests and talents.

Answer by Matt S
The real significance is the fact that you have to jump through many hoops in life to be successful. Your teacher would disagree with this statement only because he or she worked really hard to get a degree in literature- not an easy task. Things are going pretty good for me right now in college because I followed the right steps, but do I remember half the stuff I learned in one class of American Literature in high school?… not a chance. (my major is focused on the sciences).

Answer by PoohBearPenguin
There are several benefits. The main one is to expose you to more variations and usage of the English language. Learning about things like similes, alliteration, symbolism, irony, and others will help you become better in both your writing and speaking – skills that you will rely upon heavily no matter what your final career will be.

Other, less obvious benefits are to help you develop an appreciation for good literature. This doesn’t mean you’ll fall in love with Shakespeare’s writings, but you’ll start recognizing familiar themes and stories in other things you watch.