Chris Pasion

HNRS3074

Kevin Grace

1 December 2017

Culture of Books & Reading Reflection Essay

The global study of literacy allows for the recognition and examination of common

themes and values among the many different cultures that span the globe. Most universal among

these themes is the idea that every culture uses story to make sense of the world around them.

This idea can be seen in every culture no matter the time or geographical location. Storytelling

began with the oral tradition, as language was generated and people developed new ways to

communicate. The Greeks created gods and demigods to explain natural phenomena around

them that science could not yet describe; people generate religious master-narratives to explain

creation; children enact fantasies such as cops-and-robbers to simulate real-life scenarios. No

matter what walk of life one comes from, every person uses storytelling in some capacity to

interact with their world.

After establishing these ideas early in the semester, several important issues were put

forth regarding countries that place limitations on their people’s access to literature in one way or

another. This can be anything from not allowing women to read to abolishing certain religious

texts. Arguably the most pertinent topic relating to the class is what the United States’ role

should be in helping to dismantle these limitations, particularly in third-world countries that need

access to literature and better education. Is it our place to help these countries at all? If so, how

do we choose which issues to tackle and which ones to leave up to the country? Conducting

discourse on these important issues is where I gained the most insight into the global scale of
literature and how other cultures value education and written works. The main takeaway was that

each country understands the significance of literature, they just have differing opinions on

whether literature should be available to everyone regardless of sex, class, and religion.

Countries that limit their people’s access to information often do so to keep the current class

system in place without upsetting the balance of power.

The United States is seeing a similar phenomenon occur in the current issue of net

neutrality. Current legislators are attempting to repeal certain laws that ensure everyone with

access to the internet experiences optimal internet speeds no matter the service provider they use.

Repealing these laws would give service providers the power to slow down internet speeds on

other, rival services. For example, say Verizon owns the Yahoo search engine. The company

would be able to slow down their users’ access to other search engines such as Google, requiring

a hefty fee of their users if they want to use other services. Studying global scale versions of

censorship and limitation to information have been beneficial to me in reflecting on similar,

current issues that the United States faces, of which net neutrality is one.

This course also challenged my ideas about the future of literature and how it is

presented. The e-book revolution is one that threatens to replace the written word as we know it,

swapping out books for cold, hard, plastic screens. Prior to taking this course, I have always had

the mindset that books are the proper way to consume traditional literature. The idea of replacing

every “analog” facet of society with a digitized counterpart just puts a bad taste in my mouth.

This has already happened in other mediums such as music becoming digitized and with

photography moving from being shot with film cameras to digital ones. Discourse on this topic,

paired with Jason Merkoski’s Burning the Page, gave me a deeper understanding on the inherent

value of consuming literary texts in this way. For example, an e-reader offers a much more
seamless way of annotating, allowing the reader to jump directly to the desired passage and even

organize the annotations into notes. There is no denying the value of this in a college setting, as it

makes the process much more conducive to studying specific passages and ideas at a quicker

pace. While I refuse to betray my beloved printed books by switching to an e-reader, it is nice to

know the benefits to owning and using one are valid, offering useful alternatives to the time-

tested, printed word.

Leaving this class, the theme I see having the greatest effect on my everyday life is the

idea that one must empathize with others no matter what preconceived notions one has. This is

an easy conclusion to arrive at when conducting global studies, but I feel that it is one that it is

one that will benefit me moving forward in my attempts to be more understanding of others.