Nerd Alert Reading Is Good For Your Health Summary

It allowed me to connect with the author’s thoughts and thoroughly understand the story or novel. Because of this, it caused me to enjoy reading, which I was not particularly fond of before.

Empathy can be defined as making a connection to someone during a situation. In the novel, To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, empathy is a main part in some of the characters’ lives. Without empathy, the novel would lack many components that make the main characters, Jem and Scout, who they are.

Empathy is something everyone is capable of feeling, but not everyone chooses to take action and help.“Harvest Gypsies” by John Steinbeck, is a non-fictional story about two migrant families who lived in unstable and filthy conditions. “Mending Wall” by Robert Frost, is a fictional poem regarding the relationship between two neighbors that come together every year to mend a wall that divides their properties. The reader is more likely to experience more empathy while reading “Harvest Gypsies” than while reading “Mending Wall” because, Steinbeck regards real people who suffer through hardships, Frost, on the other hand, doesn’t involve the characters undergoing any distress or misfortune, thus the reader may not fully understand what is

Literature is known to have a profound impact on people. It can influence their attitudes, behaviours, beliefs and ultimately, their decision-making process. Reading about the thoughts and stories of other people helps one make moral decisions because it develops one's sense of empathy and it makes one learn more about the world, making them a better person in the end.

Younger generations aren’t feeling as empathetic as older generations and this will lead to a dangerous society. Empathy is the ability to understand and share feelings. Teaching empathy at a young age will allow one another to accept and communicate with each other. It is also a necessity skill in life that helps each other to recognize one’s emotions. According to the article, This is How Literary Fiction Teaches us to Be Human by Tom Blunt, he emphasizes empathy can be taught through literary fiction and it is vital that young children feel empathy toward each other.

In my opinion, reading and exploring emotions through fiction is a much better form of healing than prescription drugs such as xanax or prozac. Reading literature builds empathy because it causes the reader to compare the experience of reading fiction to real world situations. It has been said that fiction

“Empathy is about standing in someone else’s shoes, feeling with his or her heart, seeing with his or her eyes. Not only is empathy hard to outsource and automate, but it makes the world a better place.” Daniel H. Pink’s quote relates to Richard Connell’s fictional short story, “The Most Dangerous Game,” where the main character, Rainsford, learns to grow empathy to others situation and feelings. Connell uses this short story for readers to grasp a deeper concept besides just a fun read while connecting with Thomas C. Foster informative literature How to Read Literature Like a Professor; For Kids.

What is it about literature that makes people more empathetic? Empathy defined is the ability to understand and share the feelings of another. Similarly, the word compassion expresses the idea of expressing sympathy or concern for those who are suffering. Literature forms an empathetic compassion in the reader to comprehend others’ life challenges, and it sparks a drive in the reader to conquer their own trials.

Reading can open one’s mind to the imagination of anything to be dreamt of. Poems, short stories, novels, plays, and dramas are all different types of literature that exist today. All of the different types of literature have their own ways and formats that they are written in. Literature has many ways of speaking to us as we read them, it can strike up emotions or memories that we have or it can make us rethink a situation that we are going through. I believe that literature can help a person open up through his or her stories.

Empathy is extraordinarily important for children to understand and eventually put into practice, as it exercises their ability to feel and respect the emotions of other people. Empathy also plays a big role in trust and support- both of which are very important aspects of any relationship, and is necessary for living a healthy, functional life in today’s society. In her article, Dovey describes “A 2011 study published in the Annual Review of Psychology […] showed that, when people read about an experience, they display stimulation within the same neurological regions as when they go through that experience themselves.” (Dovey par. 11). This means that when people, or in this case, children, read stories, their brains react as if they were going through the same situations and emotions that they read about. This is a great way for kids to learn about empathy, why it’s important, and how to apply it to their own lives. One may argue that, while reading may trigger empathetic feelings in the majority of people, those who enjoy reading have greater empathetic tendencies than others, making reading to teach empathy only applicable to those who like to read and have these higher-than-average tendencies. Dovey also addresses this, stating that “other studies published in 2006 and 2009 showed […] that people who read a lot of fiction [tended] to be better at empathizing with others (even after the researchers had accounted for the potential bias that people with greater empathetic

Raymond Mar, a psychologist at Your University in Canada and Keith Oatley a professor An The University of Toronto, they both say that “individuals who often read fiction appear to be better able to understand other people, empathies with them and view the world from their perspectives.” I agree that reading certain types of books can help people further understand and see things from a different point of view. Reading helps to open people's eyes and to teach life lessons or to show there are other things to believe in and know other than what they have always been told to know. Getting different types of books, types that are not always the same as the books that you normally read can help you to view things differently. For example from personal experience a new book can help your imagination grow, readings helps me a lot when I need to come up with new ideas for an art class. The new places a book takes you the new images you see while you are reading the new stores you hear and the happy ending your book might have can change the way you are feeling it can brighten up your day.

As far back as I can remember, being read to and reading has been a part of my life. Before I was able to read, I loved to listen to people read to me. Reading books helps develop a person’s knowledge and vocabulary. It also can help a person become a great writer. In my case, it hasn’t helped. I have never been a great writer. My literary journey has three main parts, reading, speeches, and writing. The biggest one by far is reading.

Reading is one of the most beneficial activities a man can do. Out of reading, man can be able to discover new things, concepts, places and people. More so, reading is a way to relax our mind and soul, going deeply through the world of story and improves our thinking and internalization process.

I believe empathy is formed at home. When we are kids, our parents teach us the golden rule, which is: Do unto others as you would have them do unto you. As we grow older, we are taught that it´s important to care about people’s feelings. We grow up with the idea that we shouldn't only care about ourselves, but always be concerned for others. In my opinion, everyone should desire

Reading develops a person’s creativity. Unlike movies where everything is determined by the producer, writer and director, books allow students to create in their minds how a particular character looks like or imagine how a scene plays out.