English majors, professors and other bookworms gathered in Hull Auditorium at 7 p.m. on Monday, Nov. 18 to listen to three panelists as they debated “Why Literature Matters.” This event was the third installment of the Humans Being panel discussion series that has been going on all semester and will continue into the spring.
The event was kicked off with Associate Professor of Communication Studies Dr. Naomi Johnson sharing a story of when she read Stephen King’s “It” in high school. She said that she hid the book behind her textbook and was oblivious to everything that was going on her classroom, including her teacher trying to find who stole a copy of a test. Johnson was so enthralled by “It” that she had no idea anything else was going on.
“A story can really take you to another world,” Johnson said. She then asked the audience if they take a deep breath when they walk into a bookstore and if they buy first editions of books. She also asked about the state of everyone’s bookshelves, whether or not they were cluttered with books they were unable to part with. Her final question was whether or not the members of the audience refuse to see the movie before reading the book.
The panelists for “Why Literature Matters” included Vice President for Academic Affairs Dr. Ken Perkins, Assistant Director of English Dr. John Miller and English Major Matthew Jacobs. Each of these three participants took turns explaining to the audience in their own words what they believe to be the importance of literature.
Miller was the first to speak. He started off talking about his family and his roots, explaining how his family is full of “manly men.” Meanwhile, he can “analyze the hell out of an Emily Dickinson poem.” Miller went on to explain that literature matters because it entertains and it teaches. In his opinion, literature is an escape; it can help readers to realize that they are not alone in this world; he believes that literature encourages critical thinking and change.
Perkins was the next candidate up to speak. The theme of his speech was “Literature adds life to our lives.” He shared how he believes literature to be important because it “compels us to think symbolically.” He also said that literature can be life-defining, sobering and it enables us to act for the good of humanity. However, most importantly, it is “a powerful antidote to boredom.”
Jacobs was the last to speak, and he started off by telling the audience, “I encourage you to take what I say with a grain of salt.” He went on to talk about how he spent weeks trying to decide why literature matters because “I wanted to make sure I haven’t wasted the past two and a half years of my life.” Finally, he decided that literature is important because it is all inclusive in ways other fields of studies are not. He said it’s something that humans do, have always done and always will do.
Jacobs finished his speech by saying, “We wouldn’t have writing without literature, and without literature, we wouldn’t write.”
The floor was then opened for members of the audience to ask the panelists questions.
Associate Professor of English Dr. David Magill, one of the coordinators for the Humans Being discussion series, shared his thoughts about literature, saying, “I think it’s imminently applicable to a whole range of possibilities for future careers and just for your life, but I think because it’s not easily ‘English equals This Job’ we don’t sometimes get the recognition or interest that say Business or Communication [Studies] would. But it certainly deserves it.”
He further said, “English takes everything everybody else does and puts it together and adds value to it.” Magill said that he hopes everyone who attended the “Why Literature Matters” discussion walked away with similar thoughts about literature that he did.
“What I really took away from this was the passion everybody had. Dr. Perkins was just so excited about everything he was reading, and if you can find just one book that does that for you, I think it will change your life,” said Magill.
