Assignment: Insights for “Educating the Literary Taste” by Paz Latorena

The Snow White and the Seven Dwarves, Cinderella, The Sleeping
Beauty, The Three Little Pigs---- These are some of the stories we are familiar when we
were in our childhood years. These are the stories that said to be “inspiring” because of
the lessons they have taught for us but while I’m doing my insights, I just started to ask
myself. “What lesson did I learn from these stories?” I asked my mom about this and
she said that the lesson might be in Cinderella for example, is be obedient regardless of
anything but I realized that you are human, won’t you fight for yourself even your
stepmother hurting you? Will you not ask for a change in your life since you are the real
daughter and the one that must own everything that your father gives to you? Maybe I
do not know about this because I am too young for this? And I guess this thinking that I
have is a product of what I have read about Literary Taste.

Literary Taste, as defined by Addison and mentioned in the selection of

Paz Latorena, Literary Taste is the understanding and appreciating the excellence of
the Literature. It is the ability to see and understand the beauties of literature with
pleasure and its imperfections with dislike. In addition, Literary Taste is different from
Literary Criticism. Literary Criticism is a higher intellectual activity that search for
perfections and imperfections by means of the literary standards that is universally
acceptable. Literary Taste is having a feeling and likeness for what is fine and beautiful
and which is somehow not acceptable in literature. Literary Criticism is like a
mathematical problem that solves and analyzes very carefully for us to find the answer
and uses the given information to solve the problem while Literary Taste is the higher
intellectual of choice---choice for what is good. There are stories that we thought they
are good but the truth is, once we analyzed it we then realize it is just only another
cliché that somehow unrealistic and it will just create a wrong concepts in life.

I remember the book of Bob Ong’s Lumayo Ka nga sa Akin wherein he

discusses the taste of Filipinos in terms of Art which literature is also part of it. He
shows there the shallowness of Filipinos on what they are watching movies, what they
are reading and what they are idolizing. Filipinos watch movies not because of the story
itself but because of the celebrities in the said movie. They read books that are said to
be popular but once you analyze it; there is no essence at all. They are famous but
have low quality that time comes we are blinded by false pleasure that brings
unsatisfied to our taste.

We read because we want to learn or to satisfy our gasping minds but it is

important to make a judgment for what we are reading. Literature is for all. It is a
product of hidden observation, information and maybe vengeance to the selfish world
that a writer experiences in his life. The writer might use the sword of pen in
encouraging and making influence to the success or downfall of lives. For some
reasons we are carried away by the emotions pertain in any literary text that we are not
able to analyze it carefully if the idea leads to correctness and positive influence for
individuals. The good thing is, according to Sir Joshua Reynolds, as mentioned in
Latorena, the taste can be taught and the teachers have a great responsibility for this.

The first thing to remember is the literature must have intellectual value.
This does not mean it must be provided by general information or different equations for
us readers to use our intelligence. This only means that we read and gain wisdom that
may appear and use in our life. Wisdom in a sense that we are challenged to think,
analyze and judge. Let’s take the example of The Cask of Amontilado written by Edgar
Alllan Poe. The story helps us to analyze if why Montresor come up to let him do it to
Fortunato and it takes for him to keep it for 50 years. What does the Amonitillado signify
and the story helps us to think of different inferences. By simply reading we are able to
make a fair judgment for the characters and situation that is given to the story. The truth
that imagination and art transmute from merely dry bones put together into breath and
life. Most of the stories we have read are not really happened but most of them are
based on the reality that happens but they just add information and use different things
that symbolize a concept for what they have in minds and add up creativity for us to
think more. Dry bones in a sense that they are words but once they put together with
the power of creativity and intelligence it forms a life that may be immortalized through
time comes. I have read a short story entitled A Sound of Thunder written by Rad
Bradbury. It is about a man named Eckels that tried the invention of time machine
wherein you are able to transfer and go back to any year in the past. Eckels decided to
go back in time where in the earth there are dinosaurs still alive. They are able to go
back in the past but the only condition is they are not allowed to change anything for
what is meant to be happened and most especially they are not allowed to kill animals
they will see. When Eckels returned to present something happened. The signage he
sees before it was changed---the spelling, everything and he realized that on his shoe,
he was astounded that he stepped a little creature, a little butterfly. This little thing
ruined everything what is meant to be. If we notice the whole thing is really impossible—
the invention most especially but if we read the short story the mood, the situation
happens in reality that we, people wanted and tried to go back in the past to make a
change but we do not realize trying to change something in the past might lead to chaos
of our own lives. Another literary piece that I can say helps me to think critically is the
Sonnet 18 of William Shakespeare. First reading of it made me wondered of his diction
for his sonnet but then by the help of our teacher she explained that the sonnet shows
the immortality of his work that sonnet 18 itself, until the time that sonnet 18 is being
read, being seen by people, that’s how much the life of his work alive that applied to his
love.

Not just only the intellectual value that counts but also the emotional
value. Emotions are important for every literary piece. This keeps the work alive all
throughout. The emotions stand as a connection between the reader and the writer but
as said in the selection, we have to be careful for what emotion we can trust. There are
stories that are actually shows endless pleasure even it is not in the reality. Let’s take
the example of fairytales. They show the idea of happily ever after even in reality life is
inseparable of suffering that is why many of the teenagers or even adults have the
greatest goal in life: to find endless happiness above the world which cannot be
happened. If we take a look the authors of fairytales use happiness and success for
every ending of a story: it is a positive one but the effect is not good for many because
they just confused and misaligned the concept of life. Some stories are actually show
suffer and pain of life like the short story of Ernest Hemingway, A Clean, Well-Lighted
Place. Even though the readers will feel the misery of the old man and the old waiter in
the last part of the story still the readers will attain the positive impact for them from the
story.

Third and last is the Ethical value of literature. The idea forms in the
selection of Latorena are there are some stories use immoral doing but this leads to a
positive influence for the readers. When I read this, I remembered one of the books of
Bob Ong, the MacArthur. The story shows the four teenagers that use illegal drugs.
Using illegal drugs is prohibited but Bob Ong used this for us readers see the impact of
drugs in our lives that even people thought using it may help us escape the anxiety and
agony. The story shows the impact for them through losing their loved ones and having
a broken family and in the end, one of the characters became “MacArthur” in his own
family. Another thing I thought after reading Latorena is endless “Forever”. I don’t know
but for me, some stories not just only in book shows the concept of forever even there is
no forever in the physical world. This idea actually opened and awakens me by reading
different status in Facebook that “there is no forever” after their relationship. I just
wondered how people come out with the idea of forever since there is no really such
thing in the physical world? And I guess people absorbed the idea of forever for what
they have read in other books or have watched in television. Maybe people are actually
aware on it but they choose to be blinded of forever because this is only way to escape
their challenging life but it only shows that people are weak for what reality brings out for
them.

A good literary taste demands that in all literature there should be found a
positive influence that will bring us higher values, both as individuals and as members
of a social order. All in all the Literary Taste gives and helps not only for increasing my
standard for what I must read and what I must encourage my future students for what
they are going to read. This Literary Taste opens my mind that individuals have mind to
use for us to judge and to analyze what things and beliefs we are going to take and
accept us our guidance in our lives. It is for us to whom we are going to believe and say
what his ideas are true and acceptable. It is like taking an advice from your friends or
loves ones. They give you a lot of advice but it is still all up to you who and what you will
believe and accept. In addition this Literary Taste opens another idea to me. It is not
about how many books you have read but it is about your taste that counts …