Why read literature?

People were once very skeptical about literature. In some places literature was considered wrong and being imaginative was frowned upon. The novel was blamed for “prostitution, immorality, and irreligion”. The reading of literature today has declined in the U.S., but there are still many of those who love to read and talk about literature. Almost all first year college students are required to take a literature course. Literature is essential to learning because it opens up the mind to new things and lets one be able to look at things from a different viewpoint. Reading imaginative literature is a way to learn and enjoy it at the same time. Literature offers a kind of escape from reality that is like nothing else. It lets a person experience things and go places that would not be possible in real life. Literature makes people look at things from a different perspective, and by doing that helps people get to know themselves better.