A new study revealed that reading great literary works (as opposed to popular fiction or non-fiction) can actually improve a person’s sensitivity level. After reading excerpts from literary classics, participants found themselves scoring better on tests measuring empathy, social perception and emotional intelligence.
Leo Tolstoy. Credit- Open Culture.
ESL Voices Lesson Plan for this post with Answer Key
Excerpt: For Better Social Skills, Scientists Recommend…By Pam Belluck, The New York Times
“Say you are getting ready for a blind date or a job interview. What should you do? Besides shower and shave, of course, it turns out you should read — but not just anything. Something by Chekhov or Alice Munro will help you navigate new social territory better than a potboiler by Danielle Steel.
That is the conclusion of a study published Thursday in the journal Science. It found that after reading literary fiction, as opposed to popular fiction or serious nonfiction, people performed better on tests measuring empathy, social perception and emotional intelligence — skills that come in especially handy when you are trying to read someone’s body language or gauge what they might be thinking.
The researchers say the reason is that literary fiction often leaves more to the imagination, encouraging readers to make inferences about characters and be sensitive to emotional nuance and complexity. People ranging in age from 18 to 75 were recruited for each of five experiments…
In one experiment, some participants were given nonfiction excerpts, but we’re not talking “All the President’s Men.” To maximize the contrast, the researchers — looking for nonfiction that was well-written, but not literary or about people — turned to Smithsonian Magazine. “How the Potato Changed the World” was one selection. “Bamboo Steps Up” was another… The idea that what we read might influence our social and emotional skills is not new. Previous studies have correlated various types of reading with empathy and sensitivity. More recently, in a field called “theory of mind,” scientists have used emotional intelligence perception tests to study, for example, children with autism…
Dr. Humphrey, an emeritus professor at Cambridge University’s Darwin College, said he would have expected that reading generally would make people more empathetic and understanding. But to separate off literary fiction, and to demonstrate that it has different effects from the other forms of reading, is remarkable.” Read more
ESL Voices Lesson Plan for this post
Level: Intermediate – Advanced
Language Skills: Reading, writing, and speaking. Vocabulary and grammar activities are included.
Time: Approximately 2 hours.
Materials: Student handouts (from this lesson) access to news article.
Objective: Students will read and discuss the article with a focus on improving reading comprehension and learning new vocabulary. At the end of the lesson students will express their personal views on the topic through group work and writing.
I. Pre-Reading
Can you Read People’s Emotions? Fun New York Times Activity
Photo NYT
Directions: Ask students to take this quiz from the New York Times. At the end of the lesson find out how many they got correct. The assessment tool was developed by University of Cambridge professor Simon Baron-Cohen.
Click here for the Reading the Mind in the Eyes test.
II. While Reading Tasks
Word Inference
Directions: Students are to infer the meanings of the words in bold taken from the article. They may use a dictionary, thesaurus, and Word Chart for assistance.
- Say you are getting ready for a blind date or a job interview.
- Something by Chekhov is preferred to a potboiler by Danielle Steel.
- These tests measured empathy and social perception.
- Skills that come in especially handy when you are trying to gauge what someone might be thinking.
- In one experiment, some participants were given nonfiction excerpts.
- Is the woman with the smoky eyes aghast or doubtful?
- Is the man whose gaze has slivered to a squint suspicious or indecisive?
- The idea that what we read might an influence on our social and emotional skills is not new.
- Previous studies have correlated various types of reading with empathy and sensitivity.
- Maybe popular fiction is a way of dealing more with one’s own self.
Reading Comprehension
True /False/NA-Statements
Directions: Review the following statements from the reading. If a statement is true they mark it T. If the statement is not applicable, they mark it NA. If the statement is false they mark it F and provide the correct answer.
According to the results, reading something by Jerry Seinfeld will help you in new social situations more so than a potboiler by Danielle Steel.
- The conclusion of the test was written in a study published in the Journal Science.
- Reading classical literature can also help married couples.
- Amazon’s reading club was used to find a broader pool of participants.
- Nicholas Humphrey is an evolutionary psychologist.
- According to the experts, the results implied that people could be primed for social skills like empathy, just as watching a clip from a sad movie can make one feel more emotional.
- One of the novels used in the experiment was The Painted Drum by Louise Erdrich.
- This research included an assortment of books for children.
- The age range of the participants was from 18 to 25.
- Scientists have used emotional intelligence perception tests to study children with autism.
Grammar Focus
Structure and Usage
Directions: The following groups of sentences are from the article. One of the sentences in each group contains a grammatical error. Students are to identify the sentence (1, 2, or 3 ) from each group that contains the grammatical error.
I.
- Say you are getting ready for a blind date or a job interview.
- That is the conclusion published Thursday in the journal Science.
- People performed better at tests measuring empathy and social perception.
II.
- People ranging in age from 18 to 75 were recruited for each of five experiments.
- They were paid $2 or $3 each to read for an few minutes.
- Some were given excerpts from award-winning literary fiction.
III.
- Is the woman with the smoky eyes aghast or doubtful?
- The idea that what we read might influence our social and emotional skills is not new.
- There is much the study do not address.
Reading Comprehension Check
WH-How Questions
Directions: Have students use the WH-question format to discuss or to write the main points from the article.
Who or What is the article about?
Where does the action/event take place?
When does the action/event take place?
Why did the action/event occur?
Discussion/Writing Exercise
Directions: Place students in groups and have them answer the following questions. Afterwards, have the groups share their thoughts as a class. To reinforce the ideas, students can write an essay on one of the following discussion topics.
- David Comer Kidd, one of the researchers stated the following as a way of explaining the results of the test, “Maybe popular fiction is a way of dealing more with one’s own self, maybe, with one’s own wants, desires, needs…really the author is in control, and the reader has a more passive role…In literary fiction, like Dostoyevsky, “there is no single, overarching authorial voice, Each character presents a different version of reality, and they aren’t necessarily reliable. You have to participate as a reader in this dialectic, which is really something you have to do in real life.” Do you agree or disagree with this idea? Provide reasons for your answers.
- In your own words restate the following idea taken from the article, “There is much the study does not address: How long could such effects last? Would three months of reading Charles Dickens and Jane Austen produce larger or smaller effects, or have no impact? Are the differences in scores all attributable to the type of material read? Would the results hold if the same person read all of the types? And would it matter if the literary fiction was particularly difficult?”.
- Do you agree with the idea that what we read might influence our social and emotional skills? Provide reasons for your answer.
- What type of books do you read? Do you find that certain books make you more (or less) sensitive to others? Can you explain why you feel certain ways after reading a particular book?
3-2-1-Writing
Directions: Allow students 5 minutes to write down three new ideas they’ve learned about the topic from the article, two things they did not understand in the reading, and one thing they would like to know that the article did not mention. Review the responses as a class.