Literature comes from every culture and every period of history. A myth from ancient Greece, a folktale from Japan, a novel set during a war, and a modern Australian picture book each offer a different window into how people live, think and see the world. Reading widely — across cultures, countries and time periods — builds understanding and empathy. It also reveals how some themes (like family, courage or belonging) appear almost everywhere, while other details reflect one particular time and place.
Example
A folktale from West Africa and a legend from Ireland might both explain why the sun and moon share the sky. This shows how different cultures created stories to make sense of the same natural world — each in their own way, shaped by their own place and beliefs.
Key terms
Context:
The time, place and culture a text comes from.
Theme:
A central idea or message explored in a text.
Perspective:
The particular point of view a text is told from.
Questions
1. Literature comes from:
Every culture and period of history
Only one country
Only modern times
Only one author
2. Reading stories from different cultures mainly builds:
Understanding and empathy
Boredom
Nothing at all
Only spelling
3. The "context" of a text is:
The time, place and culture it comes from
The number of pages
The font
The price
4. A theme is:
A central idea or message in a text
A punctuation mark
A page number
A cover colour
5. Which of these is a theme found in stories across many cultures?
Family, courage or belonging
The exact page count
The publisher's address
The barcode
6. A story set during a war mainly offers a window into:
How people lived and felt in that time
Nothing meaningful
Only spelling rules
The weather today
7. Reading widely across time periods and cultures helps you see:
Different ways people understand the world
Only one point of view
That all stories are identical
Nothing new
8. Perspective in a text refers to:
The particular point of view it is told from
The number of chapters
The book's weight
The cover art only
9. Two cultures both have stories explaining thunder. This suggests:
Different cultures often create stories to explain the same natural world
One culture copied the other exactly
Only one story can be right
Stories never explain nature
10. The details in a story (clothing, food, customs) often reflect:
The particular time and place it comes from
Nothing about its origins
Only the author's age
The reader's home
11. Knowing the context of an older text helps a reader:
Understand attitudes and details that differ from today
Ignore the story completely
Skip to the end
Avoid all older texts
12. A universal theme is one that:
Appears across many cultures and times
Only ever appears once
Has no meaning
Is about spelling
13. Reading a story from a culture very different to your own can:
Broaden your understanding of other ways of life
Teach you nothing
Only confuse you
Replace your own culture
14. Why might the same theme, like courage, look different in two stories from different cultures?
Each culture expresses the theme through its own settings, values and details
Themes can never repeat
One story must be wrong
Courage means nothing
15. A reader notices an old novel reflects attitudes that seem unfair today. The most thoughtful response is to:
Consider the context of when it was written while still thinking critically about it
Assume the past was identical to now
Refuse to read anything old
Ignore context entirely
16. Comparing a myth from ancient Greece with a modern novel on the same theme mainly shows:
How a shared human idea is expressed differently across time and place
That the two are completely unrelated
That only modern stories matter
That themes never last
17. Empathy grows through reading diverse literature mainly because it lets readers:
Experience the world through perspectives unlike their own
Avoid ever meeting new ideas
Read only about themselves
Skip understanding others
18. Which best explains why understanding a text's cultural context matters?
It helps a reader interpret meaning that might otherwise be missed or misunderstood
Context never affects meaning
It makes every text identical
It replaces the need to read
19. Two stories from opposite sides of the world share a theme of belonging. This is best described as:
Evidence that some themes are deeply human and cross cultural boundaries
Proof that one copied the other
A coincidence with no meaning
A sign the theme is unimportant
20. The main value of reading literature from many cultures and times is that it:
Deepens understanding of both shared human experiences and diverse ways of life
Narrows your view to one perspective
Removes the need for empathy
Proves your own view is the only right one
Answer key (parent copy)
1. Every culture and period of history
2. Understanding and empathy
3. The time, place and culture it comes from
4. A central idea or message in a text
5. Family, courage or belonging
6. How people lived and felt in that time
7. Different ways people understand the world
8. The particular point of view it is told from
9. Different cultures often create stories to explain the same natural world
10. The particular time and place it comes from
11. Understand attitudes and details that differ from today
12. Appears across many cultures and times
13. Broaden your understanding of other ways of life
14. Each culture expresses the theme through its own settings, values and details
15. Consider the context of when it was written while still thinking critically about it
16. How a shared human idea is expressed differently across time and place
17. Experience the world through perspectives unlike their own
18. It helps a reader interpret meaning that might otherwise be missed or misunderstood
19. Evidence that some themes are deeply human and cross cultural boundaries
20. Deepens understanding of both shared human experiences and diverse ways of life