Literature is highly influential in society.

First off, allow me to define the key words in my topic so as not to create an argument lost in a muddle of semantics. Literature: Written works, esp. those considered of superior or lasting artistic merit. (Oxford Dictionary of English, 2nd ed., revised). Though literature is generally considered to be a work of fiction, many works that have been traditionally considered literature are based in nonfiction (Upton Sinclair's The Jungle, Jack Kerouac's On the Road) and as such should not be excluded on the basis of their nonfiction content.Influential: having great influence or something or something.Influence: the capacity to have an effect on the character, development, or behaviour of someone or something, or the effect itself.(Oxford Dictionary of English, 2nd ed., revised) When I say society, I mean both modern society as well as society of the past. I will focus primarily on American literature (and thus American society) as I am more knowledgeable in both American literature and American history, but as my argument does not rest on a diverse selection of literature I do not find this to be problematic. For this portion of my argument I will explain how literature has worked to bring about social and political change in society, followed by examples therein. If my opponent chooses to refute this claim, I will turn to other methods of "influence" in my rebuttals. Contention 1: Literature has the ability to bring about social and political change in society.Example 1 - Uncle Tom's Cabin, Harriet Beecher Stowe. This novel was the best-selling book of the 1800s, after the Bible, so its influence cannot be disputed for lack of circulation. The work was exceedingly controversial, insofar that a bookseller from Alabama was forced out of town for selling the novel and Stowe herself received a multitude of threatening letters and messages. I am not going to offer a plot synopsis, but the work condemns slavery. Abolitionists utlilized the novel in order to gain emotional-driven support from the general populace, and scholars cite the novel with the alteration of the slavery issue from a matter of state's rights to one of morality (a change that was key in the Civil War). American historians cite the novel as one of many factors that increased tensions between the North and the South, resulting in the Civil War, which in turn resulted in the abolition of slavery. Sources http://www.pbs.org... The Classic Text: Harriett Beecher Stowe. University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Library. Special collection page on traditions and interpretations of Uncle Tom's Cabin.Tompkins, Jane. Sensational Designs: The Cultural Work of American Fiction, 1790–1860. New York: Oxford University Press, 1986. See chapter five, "Sentimental Power: Uncle Tom's Cabin and the Politics of Literary History."Example 2 - The Jungle, Upton Sinclair.This novel, though written with the intention of exposing the hardships experienced by immigrant workers in the early 1900s, instead deeply disturbed the public with its descriptions of the unsanitary and oftentimes disgusting practices of the meatpacking industry. The work illicited a sharp response from President Theodore Roosevelt, who claimed that the novel consisted primarily of falsehoods. Roosevelt then sent men to inspect meatpacking factories, only to find that nearly all the claims made by Sinclair in his novel were true. These findings along with pressure from the public led to the passage of the Meat Inspection Act and the Pure Food and Drug Act of 1906. Sources July 31, 1906, The Letters of Theodore Roosevelt, Elting E. Morison, ed. (Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1951–54), Vol. 5, p. 340Sullivan, Mark (1996). Our Times. New York: Scribner. p. 222. ISBN 0-684-81573-7.Having provided these two novels and their aftereffects as testaments to the social and political change wrought by literature, I feel that I have effectively proven that literature is highly influential. That is, literature has the capacity to have a large effect on the character, development, or behaviour of society. If my opponent chooses to refute this claim, I will be happy to display how literature is influential in other facets of society.