Where once universities held themselves out as embodiments of the ancient ideal that the true purpose of wealth is to afford one the means and leisure to pursue knowledge and understanding of the world, now the only justification for knowledge was held to be to facilitate the pursuit of wealth.
David Graeber. The Democracy Project
>talk for students on literature
really, truth be told, literature has no "purpose" and may very well be diminishing in cultural significance in a money focused economy. The benefit of reading literature is that it may cultivate wisdom.
At length in his works Plato lauds the gaining of wisdom, and no more so than in The Republic (Book VI 484 et seq) in his discussion regarding the qualities indispensable for society's leaders (Guardians).
This could be a worthwhile basis for your talk