Date of Award
1924
Degree Type
Bachelors Essay
Degree Name
Bachelor of Arts (BA)
Department
Literatures, Languages, and Cultures
First Advisor
Thomas P. Whelan
Abstract
Literature has a purpose beyond itself, the expression of truth, the transmission of knowledge from generat1on to generation, and the elevation and strengthening of the man. It is clear that the purpose of reading is to put ourselves into communication with the best minds of the race. Unless we read a man for all there is in him, we gain little but a disorganized group of pages. Books should be real things. For if we admit that there is an intrinsic value in anything, we must admit the objective value of literature, that there is something which stamps a book of value besides a mere subjective appreciation on the part of the reader. Literature may be its own excuse for being, but by its very nature in representing truth it gains an objective value, and reveals a result, the elevation of man. For who can read through the "Intimations of Immortality", and not find within himself some better thoughts than were there before?
Recommended Citation
Bruett, Muriel, "The Necessary Relation of Morality to Literature and its Apparent Neglect in our Modern Works" (1924). Bachelors’ Theses. 288.
https://epublications.marquette.edu/bachelor_essays/288
Comments
A Thesis submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Bachelor of Literature in Marquette University