...Poetry, prose, sonnets, drama, plays, short stories and novels are concepts that first came to my mind when I think in the question “What is literature?” The definition of literature has change over time. The only thing that is certain about the meaning of literature is that the definition will change. The concepts about what is literature about also change over time. In order to get a clear understanding of exactly what literature is, first we need to know its definition. According to the Merriam-Webster, literature is defined by “the body of written works produced in a particular language, country, or age; the body of writings on a particular subject: printed matter.” Literature has to do with letters, but some people often think that literature is only one thing, not knowing that it is composed by several elements that we use every day. These important elements include poems, prose, sonnets, drama, plays, short stories and novels. Poetry is created from the soul. It comes from your emotions and it needs every piece of creativity inside you. It has been called the art of “saying the unsayable” because trough this you can express your feelings with no limit, and nobody can tell you that is wrong. If you make a poem and you think it is not good enough, well it is no good. You as the author or the reader, can only judge if it is good or but for you but maybe for some one else it is the opposite as it is for you. A good place to start when looking back at how poetry...
Words: 4267 - Pages: 18
...of the things that first came to my mind upon pondering on the question 'What is Literature?'. And just lately I have known that literature also includes songs, speeches, plays, and many others in written and spoken forms. I have also known that things that are produced out of creative imagination can be referred as literary works which are the ones that comprise literature. Considering this description of what literature is, the coverage of literature seems very puzzling. If literary works are those produced out of creative imagining, then it would directly point to fictional works. But then, there are also non-fictional works that are considered literary. There are literary essays and novels that are non-fictional. Examples of these are those based on true stories. Thus, literature goes beyond just creative imagination. And also, one person may consider a work produced out of creativity while another person may not, so then can that work be considered literary? Another important factor to be taken with high regard in discussing literature is periods of time since people coming from different historical periods may have different perceptions on what they consider 'literature'. It is vital to tackle these questions since literature is present in our everyday life, though it is not consciously felt by many. Terry Eagleton, a literary critic and writer, had written in his essay 'What is Literature?', “What matters may not be where you came from but how people treat you”. He considered...
Words: 298 - Pages: 2
...Literary Theory: A Very Short Introduction ‘Jonathan Culler has always been about the best person around at explaining literary theory without oversimplifying it or treating it with polemical bias. Literary Theory: A Very Short Introduction is an exemplary work in this genre.’ J. Hillis Miller, University of California, Irvine ‘An impressive and engaging feat of condensation . . . the avoidance of the usual plod through schools and approaches allows the reader to get straight to the heart of the crucial issue for many students, which is: why are they studying literary theory in the first place? . . . an engaging and lively book.’ Patricia Waugh, University of Durham Jonathan Culler LITERARY THEORY A Very Short Introduction 1 Great Clarendon Street, Oxford o x2 6 d p Oxford University Press is a department of the University of Oxford. It furthers the University’s objective of excellence in research, scholarship, and education by publishing worldwide in Oxford New York Athens Auckland Bangkok Bogotá Buenos Aires Calcutta Cape Town Chennai Dar es Salaam Delhi Florence Hong Kong Istanbul Karachi Kuala Lumpur Madrid Melbourne Mexico City Mumbai Nairobi Paris São Paulo Shanghai Singapore Taipei Tokyo Toronto Warsaw with associated companies in Berlin Ibadan Oxford is a registered trade mark of Oxford University Press in the UK and in certain other countries Published in the United States by Oxford University Press Inc., New York © Jonathan Culler 1997 The moral rights...
Words: 44695 - Pages: 179
...historical periods are reflected in literature. National and tribal sagas, accounts of the origin of the world and of customs, and myths which sometimes carry moral or spiritual messages predominate in the preurban eras. The epics of Homer, dating from the early to middle Iron age, and the great Indian epics of a slightly later period, have more evidence of deliberate literary authorship, surviving like the older myths through oral tradition for long periods before being written down. As a more urban culture developed, academies provided a means of transmission for speculative and philosophical literature in early civilizations, resulting in the prevalence of literature in Ancient China, Ancient India, Persia and Ancient Greece and Rome. Many works of earlier periods, even in narrative form, had a covert moral or didactic purpose, such as the Sanskrit Panchatantra or the Metamorphoses of Ovid. Drama and satire also developed as urban culture provided a larger public audience, and later readership, for literary production. Lyric poetry (as opposed to epic poetry) was often the speciality of courts and aristocratic circles, particularly in East Asia where songs were collected by the Chinese aristocracy as poems, the most notable being the Shijing or Book of Songs. Over a long period, the poetry of popular pre-literate balladry and song interpenetrated and eventually influenced poetry in the literary medium. In ancient China, early literature was primarily focused on philosophy...
Words: 590 - Pages: 3
...Symbolism, theme, and other literary elements within literature Michelle Deckard ENG125 Instructor Heather Neilson 08/18/2014 Symbolism, theme, and other literary elements within literature Literary works are a way of escaping or comparing to day to day life. Many works can grab you with extensive word usage, language, emotion, and even setting. Symbolism which is used in most literary works such as, The Worn path, by Eudora Welty and Good country people by Flannery O’Connor which also have similar themes. Theme consistent in both works is similar due to the religious nature portrayed in, The Worn path and Good country people. Though each are similar each portray a different aspect of faith, from redemption to triumph. Perception of literary elements based on the characters within each work, are portrayed differently the overall themes are similar. Symbolism can be described as one thing meaning more than its literal meaning. (Clugston, 2014) For instance, Welty’s, The Worn path, is seen instantly like: “Seem like there is chains about my feet, time I get this far, she said, in the voice of argument old people keep to use with themselves. Something always take a hold of me on this hill-pleads I should stay.” (Saunders, 1992) The worn path itself is symbolic of the journey of life that has been traveled many times over. Even the character, Phoenix Jackson, her name alone is a symbol. Phoenix is representative of a mystical bird that rises in the air...
Words: 1572 - Pages: 7
...give for literature is "written books that have value and are timeless". The thing about good literature is that it does not have to be recent. Many works of literature from hundreds of years ago are still interesting and valueable to the modern day reader. Although times have changed, human nature really has not. People still can relate and have the same feelings as the characters in a book from centurys ago. Humans still have man vs self conflict, experience madness, jealousy, joy and sadness and can really appreciate literature that portray emotions that they have experienced. Literature can not be any old book, it has to be good. A book that does not interest the reader or provide any significant value will not stand the test of time. Good literature is drama-filled and will keep the reader on edge guessing what will come next. Also, it is helpful if the literature has a lesson or value. Humans from the 21st century are able to learn from the themes of older literature and relate them to what they have going on in their modern day lives. A meaningless book can be entertaining but will not have the same effect as a book that is able to hook the readers interest but also apply to everyday life. 3. Iv never been a person who has loved to read literature. A lot of times i have found myself bored and uninteristed in what i am reading. With that said i have learned to appreciate good literature. In my opinion the best type of literature to read is dramatic literature. Personally...
Words: 668 - Pages: 3
...Short talk In students’ point of view, literature is just a subject in our school education or a compilation of various writings impart of our history. However, in its deeper sense, how literature affects our life? Literature is the body of written works of language, period or culture. It must be an analysis of experience and a synthesis of the findings into a unity. It not only describes reality but also adds to it. They are a depiction of the different facets of common man’s life. It also serves as a food for thought and a tonic for imagination and creativity. Most of all, literature offers us lessons, motivations, and inspirations that help us to develop and improve our personality. We read literary works not only neither for pleasure nor a requirements in school. Authors also write literary pieces not just to gain income nor be famous. The purpose of literature in our lives is not only to narrate the appropriate sequence of events in the story. It is also not only to have knowledge in the past and present happenings in our life but to know the hidden reasons why it is written. It is because literature improves our personality by reminding us something we neglected and forget motivates and inspires us. It teaches us how to become a better person in our society and how we can contribute to our country’s success. We must remember, you must open your mind not only for the things seen but in the things not visible that contribute a meaningful part of our...
Words: 265 - Pages: 2
...im a student of english language and literature department. i want to join this cite in order to get some views relating to my homeworks. today while i was studying for my research paper about multiculturalism in america, i came across a piece of useful paper on this cite which i have thought i can be helpful for my paper. and i have wanted to read the rest of it. that is why i want to register into the cite. A self-styled "black, lesbian, mother, warrior, poet," writer Audre Lorde dedicated both her life and her creative talent to confronting and addressing the injustices of racism, sexism, and homophobia. Her poetry, and "indeed all of her writing," according to contributor Joan Martin in Black Women Writers (1950-1980): A Critical Evaluation, "rings with passion, sincerity, perception, and depth of feeling." Concerned with modern society's tendency to categorize groups of people, Lorde fought the marginalization of such categories as "lesbian" and "black woman," thereby empowering her readers to react to the prejudice in their own lives. While the widespread critical acclaim bestowed upon Lorde for dealing with lesbian topics made her a target of those opposed to her radical agenda, she continued, undaunted, to express her individuality, refusing to be silenced. As she told interviewer Charles H. Rowell in Callaloo: "My sexuality is part and parcel of who I am, and my poetry comes from the intersection of me and my worlds. . . . [White, arch-conservative senator] Jesse Helms's...
Words: 393 - Pages: 2
...1. Define Literature. Explain it. Literature is the art of written or spoken works. It uses beautiful, meaningful and expressive language. Literature is an expression of thoughts, feelings and imagination through language. It represents the art of one person’s mind through various abstracts and concretive ideas translated to beautiful language that produces different representations and meanings according to the developer and his readers. Readers and listeners of this literary works may interpret the author’s ideas into them and applying them into their lives. It is also the process of encoding one’s beautiful ideas and decoding by interpreter’s imaginative mind. Events or subjects shown in these works are that of the author’s experiences, environment, culture or just a pure imagination. 2. State the classification of prose. Prose is a continual narration and written in common sentence trend. It is the most typical form of written language that uses basic and ordinary grammatical structure with natural flow of sentences or speech. There are different classifications of a prose. Myth is a story or narrative about the origin of the universe, beliefs about the gods and goddesses, stories about man and mystical and mysterious beings. Legend is a narrative or tale of human actions that orally resurfaced version of ordinary source of things. An anecdote is a short and amusing or interesting story about a real incident or person. Essay is written piece that often come from author’s...
Words: 548 - Pages: 3
...Written by Roger McGough, “At Lunch Time – A story of Love” is a poem that encourages its addressees to seize the moment and to enjoy life while they can. This ethical value, according to Russian Formalist, is not more important as its aesthetical value of the poem. Unlike the classical approaches to literary criticism that focus both on the aesthetical and ethical dimensions of a literary text, Formalists consider that a literary work is recognized through its form rather than its meaning. Accordingly, the literary devices of a text are indispensible to bring the meaning to the surface and to shed light on the literariness of a text. Following a Formalist stance, this essay will tackle some major artistic devices, which are irony and graphological deviation, and how they defamiliarize a literary text. The striking feature about this poem is the heavily presence of situational irony. This can be seen, for instance, in the speaker’s behavior. He seizes the opportunity of making love to a completely stranger woman in a bus. Ironically, the woman’s refusal of the speaker’s repulsiveness is simply because “it was too early in the morning and too soon after breakfast”. But after that “she joined the exercise”. Situational irony does not only draw readers’ attention to the humorist representation of love making, but also draws his attention to the artfulness of the poem making it unfamiliar from texts such as a newspaper article. This literary device also reflects a message transmitted...
Words: 591 - Pages: 3
...12:00 What is Literature? Poems, novels, and stories; these are some of the things that first came to my mind upon pondering on the question 'What is Literature?'. And just lately I have known that literature also includes songs, speeches, plays, and many others in written and spoken forms. I have also known that things that are produced out of creative imagination can be referred as literary works which are the ones that comprise literature. Considering this description of what literature is, the coverage of literature seems very puzzling. If literary works are those produced out of creative imagining, then it would directly point to fictional works. But then, there are also non-fictional works that are considered literary. There are literary essays and novels that are non-fictional. Examples of these are those based on true stories. Thus, literature goes beyond just creative imagination. And also, one person may consider a work produced out of creativity while another person may not, so then can that work be considered literary? Another important factor to be taken with high regard in discussing literature is periods of time since people coming from different historical periods may have different perceptions on what they consider 'literature'. It is vital to tackle these questions since literature is present in our everyday life, though it is not consciously felt by many. Terry Eagleton, a literary critic and writer, had written in his essay 'What is Literature?', “What matters...
Words: 690 - Pages: 3
...Katrina Bryant ENG/301 American literature is any written work of art that is created in the United States. American literature is like all literature, it has literary experiences and contextual history of America. It depicts how America has changed is still changing today. American literature has changed over time just like most canons of literary works. The uniqueness of American literature is that America from its beginning had a special philosophy of life and freedom. The special philosophy of life and freedom that made American literature so unique was reflected in its writings. Americans believed and had faith that God was and is the given of all our rights and freedom. We as Americans had faith in ourselves that we could succeed in anything that we try doing. The literature that we Americans wrote made life worth living because it was displayed for the world to read and understand that life was what we made it. Also by Americans having the ability to spring back from diversity made life worth living and George Washington was a perfect example of this. Literary canon is basically a suggested list of readings that belongs to a country or a certain period in time. Literary canon contains literary works that is mainly by authors who are accepted as an authority in their field and their writings constituting a serious body of literature in any given language. The works that are collected that is included in a literary canon is approved largely by cultural and...
Words: 710 - Pages: 3
...Philippine literature is the literature associated with the Philippines and includes the legends of prehistory, and the colonial legacy of the Philippines. Most of the notable literature of the Philippines was written during the Spanish period and the first half of the 20th century in Spanish language. Philippine literature is written in Spanish, English,Tagalog, and/or other native Philippine languages. Contents [hide] * 1 Early works * 2 Classical literature in Spanish (19th Century) * 2.1 Poetry and metrical romances * 2.2 Prose * 2.3 Dramas * 2.4 Religious drama * 2.5 Secular dramas * 3 Modern literature (20th and 21st century) * 4 Notable Philippine literary authors * 5 See also * 6 References * 7 External links | ------------------------------------------------- [edit]Early works Doctrina Christiana, Manila, 1593, is the first book printed in the Philippines. Tomas Pinpin wrote and printed in 1610 Librong Pagaaralan nang mga Tagalog nang Uicang Castilla, 119 pages designed to help fellow Filipinos to learn the Spanish language in a simple way. He is also credited with the first news publication made in the Philippines, "Successos Felices", ------------------------------------------------- [edit]Classical literature in Spanish (19th Century) On December 1, 1846, La Esperanza, the first daily newspaper, was published in the country. Other early newspapers were La Estrella (1847), Diario de Manila (1848) and Boletin Oficial de Filipinas...
Words: 5752 - Pages: 24
...KOREAN LITERATURE Korean literature is the body of literature produced by Koreans, mostly in the Korean language and sometimes in Classical Chinese. For much of Korea's 1,500 years of literary history, it was written in Hanja. It is commonly divided into classical and modern periods, although this distinction is sometimes unclear. Korea is home to the world's first metal and copper type, world's earliest known printed document and the world's first featural script. ------------------------------------------------- General overview In general, the written arts have a tradition in epigraphic inscriptions on stones, in early tombs, and on rarely found bamboo pieces that formed early books. Repeated invasions and sacking of the east and west capitals, as well as the difficulty in preserving written texts on bamboo, make works before 1000 rare. Those works were entirely written in Chinese characters, the language of scholars, but of course incorporated Korean words and mindset. Medieval scholars in Korea learned and employed written Chinese as western schoolmen learned Latin: as a lingua franca for the region. It helped cultural exchanges extensively. Notable examples of historical records are very well documented from early times, and as well Korean books with movable type, often imperial encyclopedias or historical records, were circulated as early as the 7th century during the Three Kingdoms era from printing wood-blocks; and in the Goryeo era the world's first metal type...
Words: 2248 - Pages: 9
...Literature Review Handout Liberty University Online Writing Center Handout Description A review of literature is a critical analysis of a portion of the published body of knowledge available through the use of summary, classification, and comparison of previous research studies, reviews of literature, and journal articles (“How to Write a Literature Review”, 2012). This handout discusses the reasons for writing a literature review and presents its various requirements. It examines what a literature review is, as well as what it is not; it distinguishes between the literature review and the annotated bibliography. Like many academic writing assignments, there is not one universal standard for writing a literature review. Its format can differ from discipline to discipline and from assignment to assignment. There is, however, an overall structure that is commonly used across various disciplines, and this format is examined in more detail. The handout concludes with some helpful “tips and tricks” for preparing a literature review. Disclaimer: The content of a literature review may vary from discipline to discipline and from assignment to assignment. The literature review content recommended in this handout is that which is most commonly included. If in doubt about what you should include in your literature review, please consult your professor. Literature Review Handout Defining a Literature Review ...
Words: 2913 - Pages: 12
