Defeating Challenges at Work with Literary Masterpieces

Argumentative Writing

Chi-Chien Huang June 10th 2022

Homer’s Iliad, Shakespeare’s Hamlet, and Charles Dickens's Great Expectations are some of the most divine literary works that have been prevalent in the world for ages. Those literary masterpieces are crowned by literati as “classic literature” or “classics” due to their prominent contributions to the study of culture and human intellect. While the significance of classics in the literary world is indisputable, the practicability of reading classics in the modern world has been severely doubted. Numerous university students in Taiwan have been questioning the necessity of studying classic literature in school because they believe classics do not provide applicable benefits to their future careers (Huang). However, the practical value of the grand literary works will be revealed as time goes by. In fact, reading classics regularly elevates one’s adaptability to challenges at work because it cultivates soft skills such as concentration, empathy, and mental flexibility that can be applied to various working circumstances. Since the industrial world has been growing in challenges due to the springing of new industries and diverse working patterns led by accelerating technology, it is essential for students to strengthen the capability of coping with unfamiliar or difficult situations in the workplace through engaging in prime literary works. Therefore, university students should develop habits of reading classics to prepare for the challenging working fields.

For starter, engaging in compositions of polished literariness cultivates the tendency to be focused, allowing people to remain productive in disturbing working conditions. The process of reading classics can be seen as attention training. Classics, unlike other books, contain high literariness. That is, writers of classic literature tend to employ literary devices such as metaphor, wordplay, and symbolism in their works. Readers are required to pay high attention to the details of vocabulary, plots and narrations in order to identify literary devices, and then try to unveil the meanings behind them. Since students with habits of reading classics practice frequently to interpret difficult texts with considerable attention, their powers of concentration will be improved. Concentration is the key element to productivity at work. However, maintaining full attention to a task can be challenging, especially when distractions occur in workplaces. In a disturbing working environment such as a store with customers chattering relentlessly or an office with phones ringing constantly, people are likely to find themselves easily distracted, and fail to deliver their best working performances. Even though people usually cannot eliminate the noise from their workplaces, they can certainly learn to overcome the disturbance by cultivating high-level concentration through engaging their minds in the literary world. Therefore, reading literary masterpieces consistently improves students’ tendencies to be focused, and allows them to maintain their utmost productivity in unfavorable working conditions.

Additionally, engaging in the scenarios of supreme literary works develops an empathetic mindset, enhancing the team working ability of students. Reading classics such as literary fiction is believed to be effective in developing a person’s empathy—the ability to understand the emotions of others. Research has proven that imagining the experience of characters in literary fiction increases people’s abilities to perceive and understand others’ emotions (Oatley 618-628). When people read literary fiction, they are taken on a journey with the characters in the story. Readers are able to take a closer look at the reasons behind some characters’ decisions and walk through the consequences with them (Worth 51). Oftentimes, readers would put themselves into the characters' shoes, wondering how they would have behaved in the scenarios. In other words, readers would empathize with the characters when reading. Another study shows, the empathy developed from engaging in fictional scenarios can be projected onto real-life situations because fiction and real relationships are processed through the same psychological system (Bury). Hence, readers would naturally transfer their empathy for fictional characters to people they encounter in reality such as co-workers. Nowadays, numerous companies have required employees to work in teams. However, teamwork can often lead to quarrels and an unpleasant working atmosphere if team members are unable to empathize with one another. By cultivating empathy with literary fiction, people will be more likely to understand the feelings of their team members and avoid offense, leading to harmonious cooperation. As a result, students need to cultivate their empathy by participating in the world of literary masterpieces in order to overcome the challenges of teamwork in their future careers.

Furthermore, the process of discovering extended meanings in classic literature improves mental flexibility, easing students' anxiety from dealing with changes at work. Changes are inevitable in one’s life, and may lead to great anxiety. Nicholas Carleton, a psychology professor at the University of Regina, believes that uncertainty is a crucial element of anxiety (Robson). Since people can’t predict the consequences of most changes, they are likely to feel anxious when changes happen. New working conditions, such as a decline in economics or transfer of jobs, can bring about uncertainty, and thus lead to anxiety which jeopardizes people’s working performance and mental health. To reduce anxiety due to changes, it is crucial for people to develop flexible mindsets. Mental flexibility is the ability to shift thought patterns according to given situations (University of Liverpool). People with mental flexibility find it less stressful to abandon their previous thoughts and actions to cope with new circumstances. In the workplace, flexible people are more likely to adapt to unpredictable circumstances, adjust to various tasks at ease, and stay mentally healthy. Research has proven that mental flexibility can be improved through discovering new meanings in classics. University of Liverpool’s research team has conducted a series of experiments to analyze how literature reading impacts brain activity (University of Liverpool). Participants were asked to judge whether the pieces of work have extended meanings. During the process of thinking, increased blood flow is detected in brain areas related to switching thoughts. The research found that fixed thoughts can be challenged by the process of interpreting literature, leading to the development of mental flexibility. Additionally, the mental process of accepting new thoughts activates the brain areas providing a sense of reward. Such brain areas are particularly inactive in patients suffering from depression. Classics, as the highest form of literature, allow people to discover new meanings in every reading. Therefore, reading classics regularly helps cultivate mental flexibility, allowing people to switch from negative mindsets to more positive ones, bringing about less anxiety when changes occur, and thus improving people’s resilience.

Some may argue that softs skills such as concentration, empathy, and mental flexibility can also be developed effectively with other methods, so it is not necessary to spend time reading obsolete classics that are detached from reality. Undoubtedly, soft skills can be cultivated through various methods besides reading classics. For example, concentration can be practiced through meditation; empathy can be developed through interacting with different people; mental flexibility can be cultivated through seeking out new experiences. However, such abilities are usually developed respectively with different methods. Reading classics is proven to be the most efficient soft skills training method among the others because it provides a chance for students to sharpen various abilities all together at the same time in the same space. Usually, to build concentration through meditation takes about 10-20 minutes per day. By spending the equal amount of time engaging in the world of refined literature, students will not only increase their tendencies to concentrate but also enhance empathy and mental flexibility simultaneously. Therefore, it is unnecessary to waste extra time on various methods to achieve different soft skills, when spending a small amount of time reading classics will attain the goal. Moreover, while it is true that classics have been prevalent in the world for generations, they are not obsolete. To be crowned as "classics", literary works should pass the test of time, and hold considerable impact on people in different generations. That is, the value of classics is timeless. Classics allow readers to undergo different experiences in their minds, offering advice on real-life situations. Perhaps, finding out how Achilles died in Iliad doesn't seem to benefit people at work, but when people understand that Achilles' tragic ending results from his rashness and pride, they would learn from his journey, and thus try to avoid making the same mistakes. Therefore, students shouldn’t undermine the importance of reading classic literature.

Given the benefits of reading classics, students should engage themselves in literary masterpieces regularly to develop soft skills including concentration, empathy, and mental flexibility that will elevate their adaptability to numerous circumstances at work. Focusing on the refined literariness in classics cultivates students’ concentration so that they will remain productive even when required to work in disturbing conditions. Additionally, students who go through mental journeys with fictional characters in prime literature will develop higher empathy, acquiring better team working abilities. Moreover, engaging in the interpretation of supreme literary works improves students’ mental flexibility, building resilience to manage difficult situations at work. Some may argue that soft skills can be developed with other methods, and it’s unnecessary for students to learn from the outdated classics. However, except for reading classics, there is hardly any method that can develop various soft skills all together. Therefore, university students should maintain a habit of reading classic literature to carve out future success in the challenging job fields.

Work cited

Bury, Liz. “Reading literary fiction improves empathy, study finds.” The Guardian. Guardian Media Group, 8 Oct. 2013. Web. 10 June 2022.

Huang, Qianchun黃千純. "Chunqiu zuo shì chuán” yuèdú xin shìjiao zhi yánjiu—yi xuéxí fenggé zhi sì gè xiàngxiàn wéi fànchóu"《春秋左氏傳》閱讀新視角之研究—以學習風格之四個象限為範疇[A Study on the New Perspectives of Reading Zuo Shi Zhuan in the Spring and Autumn Period—Categories of the Four Quadrants of Learning Styles].” Airitilibrary. 2010. Web. 10 June 2022.

Oatley, Keith. “Fiction: Simulation of Social Worlds.” Trends in Cognitive Sciences 20.8 (2016): 618-628. Elsevier Ltd. Web. 10 June 2022.

Robson, David. “Why we're so terrified of the unknown.” BBC. BBC Worklife, 26 Oct. 2021. Web. 10 June 2022. University of Liverpool. “World Book Day: Reading can improve your mental flexibility” University of Liverpool. 3 March 2016. Web. 10 June 2022.

Worth, Sarah E. “Storytelling and Narrative Knowing: An Examination of the Epistemic Benefits of Well-Told Stories.” Journal of Aesthetic Education 42.3 (2008): 51. JSTOR. Web. 10 June 2022.