To what extent does literature force us to question the plan laid out for us?
In our colloquy discussion we had a discussion on the topic of success. Justin said that “when I was young I did not care much about success, but when I entered high school my parents expected me to become successful through university. I felt that I owed them for their sacrifices and was influenced by what they expected of me” (Colloquy #3). We tend to obey our parents expectations because we feel like we owe it to them for their investment of time and money in us. When we blindly accept all their suggestions and do not think independently we become desensitized to what we see and hear in the media and in literature. Literature has the power to some extent to force us into questioning our future; it allows us as readers to explore the different perspectives of the world. For example through my ISU novel I was introduced to a way of living different than mine, I live in a family home in Canada with my siblings and parent. Ares the protagonist in my book also has siblings but lives in a trailer in California.
Through the protagonist’s experiences in the course readings, I was able to explore different cultures, lifestyle, and values. In the essay One of Us the protagonist, a woman in her third year of university opens the door into the life of university living. She explains how her parents had little schooling and little money when they had moved to Canada. ”I studied to win scholarships, won scholarships so I might continue to study, and asked no questions as the wheel went round” (Maynard, Par 1). Her perspective of university is that it is an on-going cycle that continues indefinitely, I felt like I could not get out of the cycle once I entered. This made me question whether education is important, and which path I would follow after high school.
Annually thousands of student graduating from high school are faced with the decision to pursue a post-secondary education or to go...