TPO 11

The reading and the lecture both discuss that these days, people are reading less literature than they used to. The author of the reading believes that this trend has very undesirable effects for society. The lecturer casts doubt on the claim by mentioning several reasons that reading less literature cannot affect people and culture very much.
First of all, the author claims that literature can provide the intellectual stimulation which is irreplaceable, so by not reading literature people do not have any way for exercising their imaginations. On the other hand, the lecturer asserts that the book that people want to read does not have to be literature to stimulate minds; it can be science, history, political, and so on. She believes that these kinds of books are often high quality and can have the same effects on people's intellect.
Secondly, the author states that many persons have more tendencies for watching television and music video or reading a Web page which cannot help people for knowing about their culture. However, the lecturer observes that there are plenty of cultural materials which are not written, like music and movies. She notes that culture is changed and there are many forms of cultural expression other than novels and poems.
Finally, the author mentions that there are many talented writers who do not have audience which causes diminish in the number of writers. The lecturer argues that it is true that people less support literature than they used to, but the writers' fault is more than readers' fault; she puts forth the idea that many modern literature are difficult to understand and people prefer to read more understandable materials.