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What is Literature?

Profile image of Moni Razavi

Imagine that you are going to introduce yourself as a student of English Language and Literature in a non-English speaking country. A large group of people might focus on the word "Language" in the title and as a result, think of the discipline as an academic program for acquiring general knowledge of English (EGP). They might even tell you “Dude, Don’t worry! You’ll learn the letter ‘Z’ soon” to ironically refer to English language learning as a task as easy as learning A B C. A number of educated people might ask you about some canonical works of English Literature such as Shakespeare and his well-known tragedies. And a few people who approach literature through a comparative lens might ask you to compare English Literature with their own national literature. These reactions, or ones like them, are probably the most frequently responses you would receive. Based on my personal experience, you would rarely be questioned about the meaning of the word Literature as if the general population of non-students, regardless of their age or educational status, could answer “What Is Literature?” more simply than Plato did. However, in this text, I discuss that "Literature" is neither easily defined nor supposed to be limited to particular definitions.

Related Papers

Abdullah Gharbavi

We all drink water on a daily basis unconsciously. If someone asks us what water is, we cannot often give an accurate answer. Likewise, we read literature on a daily basis and numerous universities offer literature courses to students. In addition, these universities require students to do thesis on literary works but what is the identity of literature? What is the best or genuine literary work? There are burning questions to ask with respect to literature? The answers to some of questions are indefinite and infinite. The present study is a reflection on the identity of the Literature, the main purpose of which to shed light on four questions: 1) Can literature be defined? 2) What is literary value? 3) What is the canon? 4) How does the canon affect us, as readers? To achieve the aim of the study, a library method of research was utilized. Having selected the area of the study, the present researcher made notes of the words and phrases of the topic under study. Afterwards, the researcher did readings on different sources available on the topic and notes were made on research cards. Next, the collection of data was followed by critical discussion and finally a summary of the discussion was purveyed.

what is literature essay pdf

Zeeshan Ali

Soheil rahimi

There has been a lengthy debate among the ELT professionals and practitioners over the use of literature in English Language Teaching (ELT). Much of this debate centers around the legitimacy of literatureas a vehicle throughwhich a foreign language can be taught.This paper first elaborates on a brief history of the use of literature in ELT. Then, it elucidates the merits of the integration of literature in EFL classes. And finally, the author of the paper adds a new merit to the use of literature in ELT from a sociopolitical perspective in which the appropriateness of literature as an effective instrument to incorporate critical pedagogy into EFL classes is taken into account

Work Papers of the Summer Institute of Linguistics, University of North Dakota Session

SMART M O V E S J O U R N A L IJELLH

Literature is not just written, but also oral in the form. It is a form of art; it is known for its suggestiveness and its permanence; its universal interest and its individual style.

sachin kumar

jeyaraj john sekar

Within the departments of English in India, there has been a war of wits between those who advocate the teaching of literature in English language classes and those oppose it. Such scholastic reflections and disputations turn unpleasant and unprofessional at times sans any theoretical backing and consequently encroach into the use and effect of studying literature per se. With the loss of focus, the scholars/teachers do not see the wood for the trees! Though both the groups entertain two different schools of thought on the use of literature in the language classroom, they fail to recognize the overall objective of the English language education in the fast changing Indian educational and employment scenario. There is a distinction in objectives of learning between English literature and the English language. The traditional humanist agenda of literary studies—inculcation of values—does not hold good any longer for the simple reason that the hollowness of such a subjective character-formation assumption about literature was questioned straight and set aside irrevocably first by the Russian Formalists and later subsequently by both Structuralists and Poststructuralists. Instead, the reader forgoes the need to assign literary texts a function when they are read as literature. Moreover, such an explicit morals/values-laden objective of literary studies not only creates 'trap' in which both teachers and students are innocuously caught, but also distracts from the basic learning objectives of a language programme—communicative act. In Indian educational setup at any level, there are two streams of students, broadly: English-using and English-knowing sections with a proportion of 25:75 respectively. In fact, this poses a pedagogic challenge to English language educators in fulfilling their differing requirements. It calls for the inclusion and NOT exclusion of English literature (read it as literatures in English) with focus on functions of the English language.

The Joy of Learning: Engaging Faith and Scholarship Vol. 3 — Essays in Humanities, Law and Education

Ashish Alexander

domna stanton

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COMMENTS

  1. PDF Terry Eagleton Introduction : What is Literature?

    On this theory, literature is a kind of writing which, in the words of the Russian critic Roman Jacobson, represents an 'organized violence committed on ordinary speech'. Literature transforms and intensifies ordinary language, deviates systematically from everyday speech. If you approach me at bus stop and murmur 'Thou still unravished bride ...

  2. PDF HOW TO WRITE A LITERARY ANALYSIS ESSAY

    The term regularly used for the development of the central idea of a literary analysis essay is the body. In this section you present the paragraphs (at least 3 paragraphs for a 500-750 word essay) that support your thesis statement. Good literary analysis essays contain an explanation of your ideas and evidence from the text (short story,

  3. PDF English Literature Writing Guide

    The body of the essay of the essay should relate to the issues you outline in your introduction. It also needs a coherent structure: if you have used your introduction to identify the key issues of your discussion, structuring the essay becomes easier, as you can address these issues in separate paragraphs.

  4. What Is Literature?, by Arthur Krystal

    T here's a new definition of literature in town. It has been slouching toward us for some time now but may have arrived officially in 2009, with the publication of Greil Marcus and Werner Sollors's A New Literary History of America. Alongside essays on Twain, Fitzgerald, Frost, and Henry James, there are pieces about Jackson Pollock, Chuck Berry, the telephone, the Winchester rifle, and ...

  5. PDF LITERARY ESSAYS

    LITERARY ESSAYS The Writing Centre Department of English 1 The field of literature is rich with conversations about books and their authors, stories and characters, and great themes that return in different literary works. Writing a literature essay is your chance to participate in those conversations! Remember that writing is a process.

  6. PDF Discovering Evidence for a Literary Analysis Essay

    Discovering Evidence for a Literary Analysis Essay, Fall 2014. 2 of 6. meaning of a literary work. This handout focuses on how to write an explication essay because explication is the foundation for literary analysis, whether the essay be a critical argument or an explication. Literary analysis begins with a study of form and effect.

  7. (PDF) What is Literature?

    Literature is "constructed", "concretized", and "constituted" by the context in which it is about to be defined. It is not a fixed entity and the subjectivity of its definers creates its definitions. The era of idealists who attempted objective phenomena purged of all worldly connections is past.

  8. How to Write a Literary Analysis Essay

    A literary analysis essay is not a rhetorical analysis, nor is it just a summary of the plot or a book review. Instead, it is a type of argumentative essay where you need to analyze elements such as the language, perspective, and structure of the text, and explain how the author uses literary devices to create effects and convey ideas.

  9. PDF Writing about literature

    Writing about literature is not just an ordeal you undergo for the purpose of assessment. It is essential to the study of literature. Until you are able to use the evidence you have collected from the text to express opinions for yourself, you have not really read the text.

  10. PDF What Is Literature?

    Perhaps something is literary because the text is the kind of writing we like to read; it's a highly valued kind of writing. In this case, anything can be literature, and anything can stop be-ing literature. The important implication is that we don't get to decide what is literature because our parents, teachers, exams,

  11. "What is Literature?" and Other Essays

    The essays presenting Sartre's monthly, Les Temps modernes, and on the peculiarly French manner of nationalizing literature do much to create a context for Sartre's treatise. "Black Orpheus" has been for many years a key text for the study of black and third-world literatures.

  12. (PDF) On "The Value of Literature" and "What Is Literature?"

    PDF | Yi Kwang-su's (1892-1950) fictions are underrepresented in translation, and his essays and articles are even more conspicuous by their absence. ... In this essay he defines literature as ...

  13. What Is Literature?

    writing is that, in literature, language is used in a special way. This approach can take a number of forms. I shall consider two here. A. Since so much of literature is fiction, it is tempting to suppose that literature can be equated with fiction. A literary work is a work that uses language to create a fiction. Unfortunately, it is evident that

  14. PDF ACADEMIC WRITING

    "Writing" is usually understood as the expression of thought. This book redefines "writing" as the thought process itself. Writing is not what you do with thought. Writing is thinking. Better living through interpretation: that's the promise of academic writing, which is a foundational course in most schools because it's a

  15. PDF A Step-By-Step Guide On Writing The Literature Essay

    The Literature Essay is an analysis of a specific literary piece. The Literature Review is about the survey of scholarly sources and forms part of a dissertation. The Literature Essay is more honed in on your literature as a reviewed piece based on the actual literature. The Literature review is an overview of a collective of information for ...

  16. PDF An Introduction to Literary Theory

    Strictly defined, "literary criticism" refers to the act of interpreting and studying literature. A literary critic is not someone who merely evaluates the worth or quality of a piece of literature but, rather, is someone who argues on behalf of an interpretation or understanding of the particular meaning(s) of literary texts.

  17. Literature Essay

    A literature essay is an academic work that is written commonly with the existence of literature writings or piece or an analysis. It may examine or evaluate a particular literary work. It also tells about the theme of it. Literary essays maybe all about any writings such as books or anything related to literature.

  18. PDF Basics Essay Writing

    a piece of writing that is long enough to cover many topics and present different viewpoints c a piece of writing on a single subject, usually presenting the personal view of the writer 2 An essay is a type of writing that you normally do . a in a work situation b at the high school or college level c when you want to tell a story 3

  19. PDF What is a Literature Review?

    Essay Writing versus Writing a Literature Review Essay writing is a process that communicates ideas to an intended reader, and is usually written according to pre-determined academic conventions. An essay may have many purposes but its basic format is structured as an introduction, main body

  20. Strategies for Essay Writing: Downloadable PDFs

    Strategies for Essay Writing: PDFs Strategies for Essay Writing--Complete. description. Tips for Reading an Assignment Prompt. description. Asking Analytical Questions. description. Thesis. description. Introductions. description. What Do Introductions Across the Disciplines Have in Common? description. Anatomy Of a Body Paragraph.

  21. PDF Middle School Literary Analysis/Response to Literature ...

    Theme in Literature. A theme is the main message a reader can learn about life or human nature from a literary piece. From a story you have read in class, identify a theme that the reader may learn from the story. In a well-organized essay, describe this theme.

  22. (PDF) Academic writing: the essay

    The essay is a particular genre of writing that is at the heart of academic writing today. Criteria of excellence in this genre have been identified, and should be observed. All essay. writers ...

  23. What is Literature Essay.pdf

    Literature is to be considered as a 'non-pragmatic' discourse unlike textbook s of Biology or the grocery list. Literature serves no immediate purpose, but is to be taken as referring to a general state of affairs. When poet Robert Burns says "My love is like a red red rose" we should accept it as the poet's love for a woman and not judge whether he actually had a lover who resembled ...

  24. The Power of AI in Essay Writing EssayService (pdf)

    EssayService.ai's AI Essay Generator allows students to generate well-structured essays quickly. By providing prompts or topics, students can receive instant essay drafts, saving time and effort in the writing process. Completely Free Access One of the standout features of EssayService.ai is its accessibility. Students can access all its features and tools for free, eliminating any financial ...