Literature : The Definition Of Literature

The debate of what literature is or how it should be defined is an ongoing battle even today. Many have expressed that literature should be well-written, worthy of study, and also stand the test of time, despite most of this criteria catering towards classical literature written by wealthy white men, while others believe this is all too subjective to work fairly. I personally believe that literature is at least three of the following: An embodiment of the human experience, a reflection of cultural perspective, and the relationship between author and reader.

Critic Roland Barthes has said, “Literature is the question minus the answer.” Choose a novel or play and, or considering Barthes’ observation, write an essay in which you analyze a central question the work raises and the extent to which it offers any answers. Explain how the author’s treatment of this question affects your understanding of the work as a whole.

Literature is not only important to society, but is very important for each individual to read and understand. Literature can provide a way for people to learn more about what happened in the past and can even be a way for people to reduce stress in their lives. There are many different types of literature and each of them can be used for different reasons. You can use books to study specific topics, to relive the past, and to express yourself through writing. Literature can be written about the past, the future and even about present day society. Even if the book or novel is fiction, it still has some sort of theme that resembles a real world experience or problem. We need literature in our lives to help us develop and improve, not only as individuals, but as a society and to learn about the past.

Throughout this course, I have discovered that literature is more than just words being brought together by an author to form an emotionally charged story. Literature provides an engaging outlet into an imaginary realm to its audience. As the reader is captivated by the story, poem or play, a, emotional connection is established.

Literature, the dictionary defines it being the art of written works that is simultaneously designed to entertain, educate and instruct its audience; writers, using their skill of telling stories, use literature in an attempt to transfer their ideas from paper to the reader; for some, this task means bringing their story to a different place and time that is entirely separate from what the could be perceive as ordinary, on order to serve the writer’s intent. With this, the impossible, becomes the probable, and the worst fear imagined becomes the breathed reality; with no separation between the truth, and fiction. The word “literature” in itself cannot be accurately defined, and by attempting to do so, it limits the word not only in its

-Literature is something that can't be original, all literature is usually inspired by some other literature that existed prior to the current piece of literature.

Literature is defined as written works published on a particular subject. Literature can also be viewed as witness, because it can be a source of proof based on the events it was written on. Literature as witness allows readers to get a deeper understanding of the issues that have happened based off of what the books are about. Those who read literary texts such as historical novels, memoirs and novels are witness to historical events. These texts can be viewed as witness because the events mentioned are based off of true life events. Some may argue historical fiction is not real and therefore could not be viewed as a reliable source. Even though historical fiction is made up of fictional characters, the conflicts that are mentioned are based

Some topics are more interesting to read than others. In an article called ‘Why Literature Matters’ written by Dana Gioia, this article can be viewed as highly persuasive because of the techniques he uses to get his points across to the audience .Gioia is able to build arguments though his use of evidence and different literary techniques.

After watching the video lecture for this week and reading Professor Glass’s viewpoint on the subject, I would have to agree more with Professor Glass. I believe literature is all around in today’s world. I see it a lot in television shows and movies. The deeper meaning of these shows and movies is where literature comes into place. The show may not have the happy ending I want, but that is what makes it literature.

Reading and writing have played monumental roles in the game called my life. For as long as I can remember, I have been reading or writing, whether it was showcasing my reading skills to my grandparents when I was six, or teaching myself calligraphy when I was thirteen. English literature and all the things it encompasses has always mattered to me, and (almost always) has been a source of my happiness. According to Dana Gioia from “Why Literature Matters, ” more and more young adults are starting to feel the opposite—that reading literature is not interesting and doesn’t matter. “During the past quarter century...the interest young Americans showed in...literature…[has] diminished.” To support this claim that literature matters, Gioia

Literature—the dictionary defines it being the art of written works that is designed to entertain, educate and instruct; writers use literature in an attempt to transfer their ideas from paper to the reader; for some, this task means bringing their story to a different place and time that is entirely separate from what the reader could perceive as ordinary, on order to serve the writer’s intent. With this the impossible, becomes the probable, and the worst fear possibly imagined becomes the breathed reality; with no stated separation between the living, and the dying. The word literature in itself cannot be accurately defined, and by attempting to do so limits, the word is instantaneously limited in its usage and effect. Literature just

According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, literature is defined as “writings in prose or verse; especially: writings having excellence of form or expression

Literature is an autonomous verbal art, independent from the context. A novel is “a fictitious prose narrative of considerable length and complexity,portraying characters and

Literature is not made up of just stories. Poems and songs can be attributed to literature. Poetry and songs, like the nursery rhymes of childhood, are also vital to a culture. Sometimes a story is told in the form of a poem or song. And sometimes a poem or song can be pure entertainment. However labeled in a culture, the poems and songs

The definition of literature has been discussed and argued over time and there is no precise answer to be given. Any reader or author can define literature as whatever they wish it to be defined as. This is more of an opinion of how one views certain pieces of work or writings and whether or not they feel that is actually literature or not. Literature is any type of creative writing such as fiction or poetry, for example. Literature is also any form of body of written works of language, which could be from the English era or even as far back as the Shakespearean or Elizabethan era. It is also work from a specific period or culture defining key elements or somehow relating to and/or expressing how it is exactly from that time. The