Response to Skyla's Post "Literature as Art"

I think over that over time a words meaning can change and the word 'art' is no exception. For example when I first finished my favorite book, "I am the Messenger," by Markus Zusak, I didn't think to myself, "What a great work of art!" I thought, "What a great book!" And this also applies to the artists themselves. When a painter or sculptor states their job title in a conversation the person they are talking too would most likely think of them as an artist. But if it was a novelist or poet whom they were conversing with the same person might think of them as a writer, not an artist. I also agree that as the generations continue less and less people enjoy reading. But while the over analyzation of books in high school, such as a six page paper on the use of the word 'iron' in the Scarlet Letter (I disdain the book as well), is a leading cause in the downfall of reading it is not the only one. Instead of books for leisure people have an infinite number of things to do online, they can watch television or enjoy the day outside (Even though I think physical activity is declining just as much as literacy in the country). It is sad to say but, just like the theatre, literature is a dying art.