Write an interpretive essay that analyzes literature from the perspective of a quotation.

Question

Write an interpretive essay that analyzes literature from the perspective of a quotation. In your essay, interpret the quotation and explain how it applies to literature you have read. Support your viewpoint with evidence from a variety of literary texts that you have read. Include precise language and literary terms.

"That's what literature is. It’s the people who went before us, tapping out messages from the past, from beyond the grave, trying to tell us about life and death! Listen to them!"

–Passage,

Connie Willis

Answer 1

Just as Ben Franklin give practical advice with his list of Scottish practical guides to virtuous living during the eighteenth century, the Age of Enlightenment, Connie Williams urges us to read literature, learn from the past, from the people who tell us about life and death and life's essential meaning, and she commands our attention: "Listen to them!"