Literacy Narrative Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 3

Literacy Narrative - Essay Example The mode of realism that Eliot employs and her focus on the issues of gender has affected the way my fiction has been. This is a literacy narrative in as much as it was a shaping influence on my writing and the ways in which I read and understood literature. Apart from being the reading of a text, it was also the reading of a culture and an age in which that culture was set. The prospect of reading arguably the finest British novel ever was a daunting one. Prior to the reading of the book, I undertook a study of the Victorian age and looked at the general characteristics of this age. Set in one of the most turbulent eras of England, Eliot is able to look at the different aspects of Middlemarch as a town and look at the ideas of tradition and progress in an incisive manner. The process of reading the book in itself was an emotionally draining one as the fates of Dorothy Parker and the other characters in the novel seemed to unfold in front of my eyes. The sheer size of the novel and t he networks that it created was mind-boggling. Apart from this, it was also interesting to read of the ways in which the lives of different members of a society were interconnected and vital for the progress of another one. The process of reading the book also opened up many avenues through which to analyse the position of women even in contemporary society. This was thus, a profoundly unsettling experience. It was also, however, an experience that taught me to value the position of literature in the world. Following the process of reading the book, I was better informed regarding Victorian society and its culture. Apart from this, the intense positivity that comes from the climax of the novel stayed with me beyond the time that I was actually reading the novel. This event remains one that shaped the way I write poetry and prose. I have incorporated elements of the social realist style in my narratives. Also, the focus on women-centric issues is also something that I have tried to i nclude in my writing. The methods that Eliot employs in order to provide a clearer understanding of the society continue to inspire me as a writer. The incisiveness with which she analyses the electoral and social changes that took place during the Victorian era is something that I also look for in other writers. Middlemarch has become a work that I look to as part of the larger canon of works that has inspired me to write and read a greater number of works of literature. The importance given to the lower classes in this work also inspires me to always look at the condition of the subaltern in literature. This has greatly shaped the kind of books that I like. The event was, in the ultimate analysis, one that shaped the very way in which I looked at and analysed literature. Literature from then on was not something that merely was read for pleasure. It was intrinsically connected to the society from which it emerged. Eliot’s commitment to social issues was something that has s tayed with me and affected my love for literatures from postcolonial societies across the world. Her goal of representing the subaltern has led me to a greater commitment to literatures of this kind. However, the effect of this great novel was also to make me realize that the work of a novel was not mere analysis but also to move the audience. The fates of