We have all been there: sitting in an English class thinking to ourselves, “Why are we reading THIS book?” Believe it or not, literature is built around natural human experiences and you can learn a lot about life from it.
1. Don’t Judge a Book by its Cover
It may sound cliché, but it is true. Many times the books we read in English class have covers that are plain and boring. This does not mean that the book is boring. Some of those boring covered books are really interesting. Books may have covers that don’t interest you, but, if you read the description, you may find that book is very interesting. The same is true for people. You shouldn’t judge people based on their appearance. Even if you don’t look the same, you may find you have common interests. They may be different than how they seem.
2. Indecision is a Decision Too
It happens to the best of us. Sometimes we just can’t make a decision. But be careful. Sometimes, if we leave decisions too long, the opportunity closes and the indecision leads to a forced decision/situation. In the Shakespearean play Hamlet, Hamlet is indecisive about killing his uncle at a specific point in the play. Since he couldn’t decide, the opportunity left and it resulted in the deaths of many more people, including him, in the end. It probably won’t be to this extent in your life, but indecisions can have their own consequences.
3. When You Go Against Your Morals, Bad Things Happen
A character always experiences his/her greatest fall when he/she goes against his/her morals and lets pride get in the way. This is true in your life as well. Stand up for what you believe in and be true to yourself.
4. Sometimes Things Have a Double Meaning
This is why puns exist. Words can have a double meaning based on the context. Situations can have double meanings as well. Sometimes, in literature, it is meant to be taken using both of the meanings. This can happen in real life as well. Sometimes things need to be taken in more than one way in order for them to make sense.
5. The Way Something is Said Can be More Important than What is Said
In literature, context and tone of voice are very important. Sarcasm and word play are used quite often. If you are not careful, you can miss what is meant. If you don’t watch out for this in life as well, you can miss the meaning of what others are saying to you. Somebody may say something that seems great if you just hear the words, but if that person is using a sarcastic tone, it can change the meaning greatly.
6. You Can Change Fate
One of the major problems characters in literature face is fate. Many times, they believe that they cannot change the fate that they will be given/have been given. There is nothing they can do to change what will happen. But, fate can be changed. It can be changed by the simplest decisions in a lot of cases. The same is true for you. You are not stuck in fate. Take a chance, make a change, and change your fate.
You may never understand the literature choices of your teachers. However, be glad that you did get some valuable information from all those English classes.