Last night I had to turn off The Simpsons. I did surprise my husband
by this action. My husband knows exactly how I feel about the literature. I refuse
to watch any show that is going to be offensive to my chosen profession. The comment
made by a weak representation of the literature field was that manuscripts were
chosen by “pill popping literature students.” This comment felt like nails
being scratched on a chalk board in the olden days. I was horrified by the
comment.
Perhaps I am too sensitive. Perhaps nobody else has stood up
against The Simpsons. I do have to wonder how many impressionable young minds have
been influenced by last night’s episode. After I heard the comment, I had to
turn off the television. I have worked so hard writing each morning and in
literature courses for readers to feel the complete opposite of the message
from The Simpsons. Basically, my interpretation is that only idiots in our
modern world write literature and pill popping literature students choose to edit
their work. Also, literature is meant for marketing purposes only. The aim is
to sell literature.
I chose to enter the literature field simply because I was
vulnerable to its power. This is not a bad thing to admit. When I was a child
reading Zoo Books and other hand-me downs from my older cousins, new worlds
opened up to me. When I read a story about a young girl around my age tried to
grow her hair into a ponytail, the message from literature provided hope. Literature
has been the best form of coping in my life. When I read a piece of literature,
I feel happier. I feel that expressing myself through words is acceptable. Literature
provides me with power. Literary characters who have been victimized by the
cruel wrath of their world have been dear to my heart. I love the writers’ pens
whose minds have created them. I am able to run further with their creations. This
brings joy to my life and world.
When I took Composition I, Composition II, and Responding to Literature
in my early adult years, these courses were extremely challenging. My Composition
II course and Responding to Literature were during the summer of 2001. Why I
chose to take two literature courses during an eight week time frame is still
something I will never understand. This provided me with a sense of discipline.
My professors expected me to pay attention in their courses, think hard about
the content I was writing over, and use skills I had learned. I am able to
reflect on these courses with fondness and love. I still have my first literature
textbook that nobody touches.
I have literature textbooks in my home that are sacred to me next
to the Holy Bible. I have had to tape the cover of my English literature
textbook. Literature textbooks represent a piece of who I have become today. When
I first took English Literature and American Literature last year, I can
honestly say I used the experience as a test. I wanted to see if I still had a
burning passion and desire for the literature field. I wanted to make sure this
was still my divine calling. I needed to see if everything in literature still
made as much sense as in my early adulthood. The more literature courses I have
taken, the more everything makes sense. I receive answers to life from
literature the way I do from my Bible. I am able to evaluate the world’s issues
and environments in the same manner.
For a media outlet to condemn a profession that began in caves and
eventually onto pen and paper is uncalled for. Impressionable young minds can
be affected if this message is sent in a harmful way. If I had a human child of
my own, she would not be watching this negativity. I would be trying to teach her
to love literature while this media outlet would be going against my parenting.
I do not want the field of literature to
condemned period. This was done a demeaning and disrespectful way. I am able to
walk away from The Simpsons the way I did with Dr. Pepper and sweets. None of
these man-made products point straight ahead toward my goal of leading a happy,
healthy lifestyle.
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