Journal Posting #2. The Impact of Literature

I never truly understood how significant the print culture is to our society. Reading about the impact that literature had on the rising colonies depicts the intelligence of America today. Many people wrote about their experiences, both captivity narratives and explorations, as well as reflections or different versions of the Bible. The Bible today still impacts many religious followers with its motivational and spiritual texts. Not only did these books, autobiographies, or spiritual texts help educate and increase the literacy rate within America during the colonial period, they have presented us with historical references that our valuable for today's societies in interpreting life during colonization and the rise towards independence. But are all these stories true? Christopher Columbus's writings, which have been found to be skewed and biased, leave me to question the credibility of these historical writings that we covet so dearly. Historians spend a substantial amount of time depicting these literary works that may be as real and factual as the Disney Princess movies. The Pocahontas movie certainly did not emphasize what really happened between the Indians and Colonists, but instead portrayed ideality of "true love" and colonial acceptance. Whatever the case, made up stories or credible facts, historical literature not only set the basis for America's impeccable education, but founded the beginning for the technological advances in today's society.