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The definition of literature, in the broadest sense, is everything that has
ever been written. Anything from the earliest poems of Homer, to today’s web
pages, can be considered literature. But for a specific sense, there are various
kinds of literature. Literature can be written in a specific language, like
English Literature or be written by a specific culture, such as African
Literature. But literature really means more than printed words. It is
considered a fine art. The word literature comes from the French phrase
belles-lettres, which means “beautiful writing”. When a piece of work is called
literature, it is usually considered a great work of art. There are two main
classes of literature: fiction and nonfiction. Fiction is writing that an author
creates from the imagination. Authors may include personal experience, or facts
about real people or events, but they combine these facts with imagined
situations. Most fiction is narrative writing, such as novels and short stories.
Fiction also includes drama and poetry. Nonfiction is factual writing about
real-life situations.
The principal forms of nonfiction include the essay,
biography, autobiography, and diary. People read literature for a variety of
reasons. The most common reason for reading is pleasure. People read to pass the
time, or for information and knowledge. Through literature, people meet
characters they can identify with, and sometimes find solutions for their own
problems. With literature, a person can often understand situations they could
not otherwise understand in real life. Often, just the arrangement of the words
can be enjoyable, just as a child likes the sound of “Ring Around the Rosie”,
even though they might not understand what the words mean. There are four
elements of literature: characters, plot, theme, and style. A good author has
the ability to balance these elements, creating a unified work of art. The
characters make up the central interest of many dramas and novels, as well as
biographies and autobiographies. A writer must know each character thoroughly
and have a clear idea about each ones look, speech, and thoughts. Motivation is
the reason for characters actions. A good writer will be sure that the motives
of a character are clear and logical. Setting is where a character’s story takes
place. The plot is built around a series of events that take place within a
definite period. It is what happens to the characters. No rules exist for the
order in which the events are presented. A unified plot has a beginning, middle,
and an end. In literary terms, a unified plot includes an exposition, a rising
action, a climax, and a denouement, or outcome. The exposition gives the
background and situation of the story.
The rising action builds upon the
exposition. It creates suspense, or a reader's desire to find out what happens
next. The climax is the highest point of interest, also a turning point of a
story. The denouement is the conclusion. The theme is the basic idea expressed
by a work of literature. It develops from the interplay of character and plot. A
theme may contain morals, to warn the reader to lead a better life or a
different kind of life. A serious writer strives to make his work an honest
expression of sentiment, or true emotion. They avoid sentimentality, which means
giving too much emphasis to emotion or pretending to feel an emotion. A writer
of honest emotion does not have to tell the reader what to think about a story.
A good story will direct the reader to the author's conclusion. Style is the way
a writer uses words to create literature. It is difficult to enjoy a story's
characters or plot without enjoying the author's style. The style of an author
is as important as what he is trying to say. Point of view, or the way a story
is presented, is another part of style. A writer may tell a story in the first
person, using the pronoun I, as though the narrator were a major or minor
character in it. Or, the writer may use the third person method, in which the
narrator stands apart from the characters and describes the action using such
pronouns as he and she.
There are two types of third person views: limited and
omniscient. In the third person limited point of view, the narrator describes
the events as seen by a single character. In the third person omniscient, or all
knowing, point of view, the narrator reports on what several characters are
thinking and feeling. Reading is an intently personal art. There are no final
rules for judging a piece of writing. Often, people’s judgment of a work can
change as taste and fashion change. Yet the classics continue to challenge
readers’ imaginations and give ageless advice. Shakespeare will most likely be
as popular a hundred years from now as he is today. That is power of literature.
Literature is timeless.
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