Reading with Purpose

Beginning with a simple explanation of reading from a Christian worldview, Nancy Wilson examines and explains significant American literary movements: Neoclassicism, Romanticism, Realism, Modernism and Postmodernism. Each section has a suggested reading list for further study. This booklet can be used as a handbook by students or simply as reference material for teachers.

One of the ways I tested my students in literature class was to give them a final exam in which they had to identify the worldview from an unfamiliar piece of literature. I did not disclose the author or the name of the piece, but I asked them to identify and refute the worldview. This was always a great delight to me when the students found and dismantled the false worldview. And this really is the goal: to enable them, by the grace of God, to distinguish good from evil and to be able to completely answer all the objections. Of course we want them to become great writers themselves, showing the unbelievers all the wonders of creation. But before they can do that, they must immerse themselves in all kinds of literature and learn to think about what they read. It is my hope that this little booklet will help inspire you and your students to do this. From the Booklet