The word "literature" is derived from the Latin word "littera" meaning individual written character. It refers to a body of literary work including essays, prose and poetry. By reading great literature, such as Shakespeare, Dickens, Voltaire or Tolstoy, you gain a deeper understanding of the human condition and learn from the experience of others without having to actually live through the experiences yourself.
Reading literature stimulates your brain by encouraging you to think. The more you read and write, the better your language and vocabulary skills will be. Good language skills enable you to express yourself with power and authority and will make people take you more seriously.
Literature increases your perspective by exposing you to different cultures and lifestyles. You learn to be sensitive to the problems of others which increases your self-awareness and worldview. You also learn to appreciate other cultures and ideologies that are illustrated in literary texts.
The three models of teaching literature are academic, cultural and language. The academic approach focuses on critical concepts, literary conventions and meta language used in talking and writing about literature; it emphasizes literary texts as belonging to a background of specific historical, social and ideological context. The cultural mode teaches the traditions of thought, feeling and artistic form as portrayed in different cultural literary texts. The language model emphasizes the creative use of language and the way language is used.
Reading literature encourages life-long learning. According to the English syllabus adopted by high schools in New York City in 1922, "The chief aim in teaching literature is to get them (students) to enjoy reading good literature and to desire to read more of it." Other personal benefits from learning about literature include cultivating high ideals of life and conduct, improving self-expression, and deepening the emotional life as you reflect on how the text relates to your own life.
The plethora of self-help literature that tops the bestsellers lists is evidence of the power of literature for personal growth. This mushrooming industry caters to helping you with daily challenges, mental concerns, personal growth and self-improvement. People are interested in solving their own problems such as depression, anxiety, health concerns and relationship problems with self-help literature. Self-help literature offers an economical and anonymous approach to achieving personal growth as opposed to consulting a professional.