Effectiveness of Literature in Promoting Critical-Thinking Skills

It is sometimes said that we should try to see the work of literature as the author intended it. But, to take only one objection, for most literature we do not know what the author intended. We have only the work itself.

Although it has been taught to try and decipher what the author wanted to say; sometimes we have not the slightest idea as to what it is. All we can do is to focus on the work itself.

- An Introduction to Literature (Barnet S., Berman M., Burto W.) 1989. Glenview, Illinois Boston London. Scott, Foresman and Company.

The individual selections are intended to provide examples of good writing that will not only enlarge the student's mind and vision but also incite him, as a mature doctor, lawyer, merchant, or chief, to continue to find in literature an aid toward expanding the inward worlds of reason and imagination. - The Modern Age Literature (Leonard Lief, James F. Light) 1969. Holt, Rinehart and Winston Inc.

If recognizing a symbol can be done by most experienced readers, understanding its meaning requires critical analysis. The temptation is usually to make the symbol mean too much or too little -- to limit it to one narrow association or else to claim it summons u...

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