"Your Brain on Melville."

A recent article in Upfront titled, “Your Brain on Melville,” stated that, literary fiction helps improve “social perception.” In a study, by the New School for Social Research in New York, participants read the literary fiction, pop fiction and nonfiction or nothing. According to the results, “those who read literary fiction did better at decoding facial expressions.”  Literature requires the reader to use his/her imagination, which makes the reader better at reading cues. Outside of literary fiction, this skill is helpful in reading a person’s expression.

I agree with the findings because literary fiction requires one to think more deeply then pop fiction. In schools, we analyze characters and symbols in literature. We take what’s on the page and find meaning in it. In real life, we learn to read body language. The writer Louise Erdrich, she loved science because “the researchers ‘found a way to prove true the intangible benefits of literary fiction.’” Most people find pop fiction more interesting than literary fiction makes you think more. Thus, pop fiction may seem more entertaining, but it plays off to read literary fiction.

Revised Argument Essay

In the book, "Just Breathe” by Heather Allen is about a teenage 18 year old girl; Ever that just got dumped by her boyfriend. It has been three whole years that they were dating.  She is miserable and seems to miss him even though she doesn’t admit it. She doesn’t know what to do. She doesn’t know if she should look at him anymore. This book has many serious topics about problems in the world and how the characters feel in the moment.

            One example is breaking up with someone. Ever, the main character just faced this problem and it isn’t going so well. She just got dumped by her boyfriend, Michael. He is a guy that everyone wants as a boyfriend. In the middle of the book, we find out that he already moved on and found a girl. If I was her, it would feel terrible dating someone for three years and then getting dumped. It makes you think what did I do wrong? They would be millions of things that would be going in my brain for a while. “I was very hard to live with for a while, to say a least.” I could imagine the tempers some people would have in this type of situation. I would want to be alone for a bit, until I got back to normal. Especially, when you have that feeling that “he’s the one.”

            Another example would be struggling for power or being the one on the top.  After the break up, Ever just wanted to get payback and make Michael feel jealous. One reason was that she felt embarrassed that he already moved on. Of course in the book, she thought of the idea and then the very next day she got a date with this boy named Jack. Surprisingly, it went very well. In the middle of the book, he turns out to be friends with Michael. It turns out to be a very hard decision for Ever to make. Jack is always hanging out with Michael that there is no space for Ever. She learns that she has a life and she should use it wisely as she can. She shouldn’t listen to what people think or say about her. Just do what is right for her.  

This book teaches teens to forget about one bump in the road because everyone’s life has a bump in the road. But, you have to forget about those and just live your life.