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What Is Literature

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Submitted By cramalesc
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Charmine J. Cramales
BS Math II
Lit 3 10:30 – 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 may not be where you came from but how people treat you”. He considered an individual's perception as a basis for a work to be considered literary. This point of him is very much agreeable since people from different places with different culture, gender, and beliefs may have different views on different matters. The same logic goes with

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