Is Literature DEAD or Has it Just Gone to the Movies?

This is the title of an article I was reading on the Lexis Nexis database. Unfortunately, it got deleted, but it brought up many good points. I'm doing a 8-10 page research paper for my English class and I'm debating that movies and media are not the downfall of our society. Many literary people and not all, but many English teachers and majors believe that media is taking away from the literacy of American readers. I'm debating that that is not always true.

One quote from this article said, "...the education system's support for the classics is all the weaker because we have to recognize that old literature is becoming more difficult to teach. Let's accept that teaching the literary canon is always hard because reading serious literature carefully requires complex skills, out of the way knowledge and a passion for language and the past. But students often resist it for more mundane reasons."

They also brought up Steven Spielberg's 1985 version of Alice Walker's "The Color Purple." It said its success of the film "helped Hollywood realize it could also reinterpret the classics to make them more appropriate for contemporary conditions."

So, there are many points that can be battled on this topic. I just wanted to take the not-so easy path and battle for the good of the media. I'm not saying literature is dead, but people just need to be more open-minded and learn the facts before they judge.

Also, any good and reliable websites and/or books you may know of for information would be gladly accepted. My paper is due Sunday and I'm still doing research, ha.

Until next time...