4-page Summary

I think the following quote (from the 4-page summary) is really compelling when it comes to understanding how fiction helps us...understand:

"To advance understanding, we need not discover anything new. We already have a vast store of information at our disposal. But a jumble of disorderly data has little cognitive value. Our problem, often enough, is what to make of what we’ve got. Advancement of understanding then involves finding order in or imposing order on the information at hand. Fiction helps. It highlights patterns, spells out implications, draws distinctions, and identifies possibilities we had not recognized in the welter of information before us."

Rarely if ever does fiction serve as a vehicle for "new information," but it often presents new and interesting insights. One of most striking aspects of fiction, in my opinion, is its ability to make people question what they think they know about human nature. Characters who shouldn't be sympathetic often become objects of sympathy, and the reader is left questioning the idea of moral and ethical distinctions...