Ever since the seventh grade I have been keeping a journal. Even though I haven’t always kept up with it, I always made sure to keep one. It also acted as a way for me to healthily express my emotions; be it anger, happiness or sadness. There was always something comforting about having a place to house all my feelings and thoughts. In moments of despair and in moments of pure unfiltered joy, my journals have been a constant source of relief in my life.
This habit of trying to keep up with a journal then gave way to something I did not expect to enjoy as much as I do right now. I started creating stories, characters, and scenes. I enjoyed writing stories and creating new lives, with interesting perspectives to talk about. In this way I discovered my passion for creative writing. The more I wrote the more I had to urge to read what other authors were writing; more specifically how they were writing. What made it really easy for me to do so was the fact that I was fortunate enough to have had easy access to plenty of reading material. That really helped me investigate my interest further. If I didn’t think I could read something at some point, I always knew that I would be able to come back to it later. That access made me appreciate the value of my reading materials. Stemming from the love of reading slowly I started exploring different aspects of creative writing. In my senior year of high school, I took a creative writing course, and it was one of the best classes I have been a part of. I learned that there are so many ways of expressing yourself. As a requirement of the class we were asked to keep a journal and fortunately, this time around I was more determined to be successful. So, when I wrote in it every day, I would immediately feel a sense of calm wash over me. After a certain point it became extremely easy to put my thoughts onto paper. Journaling had become therapeutic, and I was forever grateful that I had rediscovered it.
While thinking about how to form my guiding question, I knew I wanted it to be something that I am extremely passionate about. After a great deal of thought, I decided to use my passion for creative writing and its therapeutic values as a central idea for my guiding question. While thinking about the different directions my guiding question would take me into, I discovered many possibilities. This helped me expand on my messy question and look at it through many different lenses. To go about researching my question, I picked one question each from my board that would pertain to the five categories that we talked in class: social, political, economic, religious, and media. While researching each of these categories I came across some very fascinating facts, that helped me understand my messy questions better. By the end of my research I learned more things than I expected to.
From a social perspective, I was interested in researching how literature and writing can inspire and better the lives of prisoners. Christina Mercer is a teacher. She teaches at many correctional facilities; one of them being at the Brooklyn Metropolitan Detention Center. She wrote an article for NBC news about how her students read The Epic of Gilgamesh, and how her students were immersed in the story that they were reading and all the valuable lessons they were able to take away from it. She also recounts another experience, where one of her students from the Taconic Correctional Facility, Aisha Elliot, who upon leaving prison published an account that dealt with how important education was to her. In her account Aisha talked about how “reading books” and “discussing ideas in her prison” changed her life and the way in which it allowed her to see herself as “someone with promise”(Mercer). Mercer also says that “the incarcerated people that [she] has taught over the years have been striving to become functioning members of [the] economy”(Mercer). It is findings like this that make me think deeper about the way literature can affect those that are in prison. “76 percent of all inmates end up back in jails within five years” this chilling statistic is only one of the reasons that I think literature should be encouraged in prisons (Hatcher). Just like Aisha Elliot, if prisoners are given easy access to books, they will be able to spend their time doing valuable work on themselves, and be able to view themselves differently. Books and reading will help them better themselves and will offer them a higher chance of being able to survive better once they get out of jail. By providing prisoners with books, a step is being taken towards breaking the vicious cycle of prisoners getting out of jail, committing a crime, and then ending up back where they started. Mercer’s findings also state that “the more literate people become, the more likely they are to take high school prep courses and even college courses, which improve their prospects outside of prison and have been shown to reduce the likelihood of returning”(Mercer). These findings give a glimmer of hope for our communities, because the answer to how to reduce criminal activities lies in between the pages of a book. Lastly Mercer’s research also says that “increased education has been shown to increase income and decrease crime rates” and all of this can be achieved if the people in prisons are provided with books to read (Mercer).
In terms of politics, I wanted to focus on how political views have been incorporated into works of fiction, and what effect it has on readers. There have been many books that have been published, which feature political undertones. Some of these books may even been explicit in letting their readers know that the book is going to delve into the inner working of societies political system. Some of the most famous works of fiction are, Animal Farm by George Orwell, The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood, To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee; these books are only some of the most popular reads, that are loved by many (Writers) They also happen to be very popular as part of the English course in many high schools. This is where one of my questions arises. How does reading these books affect the people reading them. While doing my research I came across an article titled “Does Fiction Have the power to Sway Politics?” This article has been written by Mohsin Hamid for the New York Times. In his article he says that “fiction can say publicly what might otherwise appear unsayable”(Hamid). He covers the topic of how works of fiction have the power to convey radical thoughts in the form of stories. Hamid also believes that “fiction still instigates change” it helps the reader take themselves out of their existing equation; in terms of their own political beliefs, and read with a fresh perspective (Hamid). In this way the reader is being exposed to new ideas and is able to think about things they might not have thought of before. The world of politics is a complex one. All the people involved have their own opinions and beliefs. As a common citizen of the community it becomes easy to get lost in the chaos. This is where I think political works of fiction can act as an aid. In order to deepen one’s understanding of the system, one can read fiction, and understand complex terms through new and innovative ways. After all ,”politics is shaped by people. And people, sometimes are shaped by the fiction they read”(Hamid).
My next concern dealt with the number of people that have access to reading material, or tools that would help them read. I also feel that it is important to increase the audience that literature is available to. So, from an economic standpoint, I looked into how many books are published and how much money the publishing business makes every year. When I talk about reading material, I do not mean books in their physical form. Reading can be done through e-books, online , or even on phones. The point is to make it as accessible as possible for people that wish to read. I also believe that making reading material easily available to people will encourage them to actually read. To look at in terms of the money that it makes and the top contenders in the business, as of 2016 Penguin Random House ranked no. 1 in the most amount of books published. This company leads the race because it has “more than 15,000 new title and 800 million print, audio and e-books sold annually”(“Global Publishing Leaders”). Another study showed that the “book publishing market is forecast to slightly increase in the coming years, growing from around 113 billion U.S. dollars in 2015 to about 123 billion U.S. dollars by 2020”(“U.S Book Industry”). This is promising because it means that more books are being published for people to read. In the U.S the book publishing industry is expected to make $44 billion in the year 2020 (U.S Book Industry”). The study also reports that in 2015 around 2.7 billion books were sold. There are many people that are hesitant to enter into the world of book publishing for the fear of not being able to earn any money, however if these numbers are indicative of anything, it’s that the industry is flourishing and simultaneously adapting. I think that it is important provide people with the tools that they need to read as it can help people grow as individuals and as the numbers show this industry can help the economic growth of the country. This makes for a smart way to make money while simultaneously helping people grow their habit of reading.
While thinking about religion, I thought it would be interesting to ask if and how religious texts effect those that follow and practice their religion. There are roughly 4,200 religions in the world. There are a lot of people that hold religion very dear to them and often resort to it in their time of need. Right now “three quarters of U.S. adults say religion is at least “somewhat” important in their lives, with more than half (53%) saying it is “very” important”(Importance of Religion”). Since this fact clearly demonstrates the importance of religion to people, it is safe to assume that these people also value their respective holy books. There are many, that turn towards religion in times of despair. The religious books, help a lot of people to get through some tough times. This got me thinking about how effective words can be. It helped me understand that there is more than one way of approaching a situation. For some people what they may not understand from reading a book, they might understand from reading a religious text. “Six-in0ten Americans (60%) view their religion’s sacred text as the word of God”(“Importance of Religion”). This is an important fact to note because that means 60% of believers, as mentioned above hold their scriptures close to their hearts. This helps you see how different people read in different ways.
Finally, from the point of view of the media, I inquired about how social media can help to promote a positive relationship with reading and creative writing. As it is already known social media play a large role in the lives of people today. On a daily basis people spend 135 per day on social media (“Daily time spent”). This should be a shocking statistic however, it is not, as so many people these days, spend a lot of time on social media, that it has become a part of their lives. The power that social media has on the general public in enormous. Right now various social media outlets are already being used to promote a plethora of products; ranging from baby food, to make up and household item to even great vacation deals. With the population absorbing so much information, it becomes easy to get lost in the chaos of it all. However, though social media is seen as a curse by many, I believe that it’s large reach and millions of users, could have a positive impact. The platform could be used as a way to promote reading and writing habits. There are so many people on these platforms that are willing to publish their art. A lot of writers have gotten their fame form being recognized by their works online/ I think that social media is a great platform to bring together people that love to wrote and those that love to read together.
The habit of reading and writing as since stuck with me. As I am completing this paper I realized that there are so many different ways to incorporate small meaningful tasks into my everyday life. Be it reading a few poems online or even writing at least 20 words a day; the creative arts have given me a medium to express myself better. I am a firm believer in being able to express all your thoughts and emotions freely. I believe that reading more and writing more gives you the tool that you need to express yourself better, and truly understand yourself. With the world constantly changing, I like that there is a constant in my life. I think that it is very important that people all around the world have access to tools that can help them do so. Reading and writing, helps people exercise their minds, and makes for a more interesting and developed community.
Works Cited
- Fuller, Steve. “Topic: Book Industry.” Statista, www.statista.com/topics/1177/book-market/.
- “Global Publishing Leaders 2017: Penguin Random House.” PublishersWeekly.com, 2017, www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/industry-news/publisher-news/article/74544-global-publishing-leaders-2017-penguin-random-house.html.
- “Global Time Spent on Social Media Daily 2017.” Statista, www.statista.com/statistics/433871/daily-social-media-usage-worldwide/.
- Hamid, Mohsin, and Francine Prose. “Does Fiction Have the Power to Sway Politics?” The New
- York Times, The New York Times, 17 Feb. 2015, www.nytimes.com/2015/02/22/books/review/does-fiction-have-the-power-to-sway-politics.html.
- Hatcher, Marian. “‘76% Of All Inmates End up Back in Jail within 5 Years. Here’s How I Broke the Cycle.’.” Vox.com, Vox Media, 8 Aug. 2017, www.vox.com/first-person/2017/8/8/16112864/recidivism-rate-jail-prostitution-break-cycle.
- Mercer, Christina. “Opinion | Reading Gives Prisoners Hope. States Want to Take It Away.” NBCNews.com, NBCUniversal News Group, 2018, www.nbcnews.com/think/opinion/reading-gives-people-prison-hope-some-states-want-take-their-ncna840806.
- Quintana, Ross. “How Social Media Influences People – Infographic.” Social Magnets, 17 Apr. 2018, www.socialmagnets.net/how-social-media-influences-people/.
- Writers, Staff. “50 Best Novels for Political Junkies.” OnlineUniversities.com, 17 Oct. 2016, www.onlineuniversities.com/blog/2010/08/50-best-novels-for-political-junkies/.
