Literature is a work of art that is fabricated with the fundamental purpose to convey meaning and messages to readers. What is conveyed is completely decided by the author, however its underlying message can be interpreted in multiple forms by different readers. Literature often explores the gap between reality and the writer’s imagination, which can lead to a false sense of reality. This false sense may eventually allow for an oversimplification of reality, where the real world seems to be transparent, namely that everything flows too well without disruption. Often times, the aspects of reality are despised because they come with problems that individuals are not ready to solve. Hence why people filter certain components of life to make their lives simpler. Moreover, from my perspective literature has the utmost ability to encourage readers to oversimplify their reality to a great extent. Oversimplification can be introduced through novels that refer to the difference of a dream life and reality.
My book club novel, Ready Player One by Ernest Cline examines the struggles and benefits of physically living in reality and mentally living in a virtual reality. Cline introduces the virtual reality, OASIS as the primary reason why the protagonist, Wade even continues to exist. However, by dedicating his life to OASIS, Wade decided to oversimplify his life within OASIS, as specific features from his true reality vastly differed from those within OASIS. Physique is a large
Literature is used in English to portray themes and teach the readers morals. Fahrenheit 451 illustrates how one should appreciate the education and resources available to them as it may not always be around. A Raisin in the Sun shows how dreams may be deferred, but they will never die. Of Mice and Men exhibits idealized friendship and the impossibility of the American dream. The Crucible depicts that madness will emerge in society if no one is held accountable for their actions. Money can’t buy happiness is a
Literature; it has compelled us, entertained us, educated us, and drove us to madness. It has served as life instruction, by using the characters as the lesson plan. It is sometimes blunt, sometimes ugly, and in Truman Capote’s case, is so gruesome that we do not dare forget it.
It is unrealistic that a teenage boy could survive upwards of 200 days in the middle of the Pacific Ocean alongside a 450-pound tiger. But literature does not reflect ordinary life, therefore it is important in the study of literature to separate the two, because literature is not about being practical or realistic, it is about being imaginative. The unreality of Life of Pi allows the Hero’s Journey archetype to be easily identifiable, for example, as literature provides the extremes of scenarios, stretching the capacity of the imagination to the very heights and depths of what the human mind can conceive. Literature provides us with an experience that reality cannot, because in reality, the imagination is limited to what is physically possible, but in literature, the imagination is able to be free. Through understanding the conventions of literature, the individual, in studying more complex works, is able to appreciate the use of the imagination to reach beyond what reality offers us and is able to refine his sensibilities as he recognizes the partition between life and literature.
An intriguing point in this chapter is that Frye proposes that literature is neither real nor unreal. Literature has been around seemingly forever, however, distinguishing between the “real” literature and the “unreal” would serve as the key concept to this chapter. Literature is real because since it is directly derived from human experience. This makes
Northrop Frye 's the Educated Imagination, published in 1963, attempts to bring out the meaning and effect of possessing an educated imagination in contrast to its opposite. Dr. Frye analyses how his theory advances society’s interests and overcomes its limits through the three levels of the human mind. In his essay, the three levels are broken down in a detailed manner, which links it directly its thesis. Frye presents definitive answers to his questions in the beginning of his essay, “What good is the study of literature? Does it help us to think more clearly, or feel more sensitively, or live a better life than we could without it?” Conclusively, the education of an individual’s mind is critical to understand the world we live in and to the advancement of our society. Educating the mind consists of absorbing and modifying literature, understanding and evolving art, and placing science within context without having data as the boundaries of our imagination.
Beautiful imagery laced amidst a wondrous storyline, accompanied by memorable and lovable characters are all elements pertaining to enjoyable works of fiction. Tales that keep one up late into the night forever reading just “one more page” forever propelling the intrinsic imagination for a novel enthusiast. Yet, at times there are deeper meanings hidden between the lines. Symbols, analogies, and latent parallels all connecting to real life events and situations being portrayed by the author. Using literary theory can bring a more profound understanding of the reading material at hand, as well as unique insight as to what the author was feeling or intending to portray at the time of writing.
Literature is an essential part of the center of a person’s life. It provides a certain assurance and “feeds the soul” of one. Whether it be a book, TV, or even an advertisement, literature exists everywhere. A person is able to develop many skills by studying literature, and expand the horizon of their learning. An immeasurable amount of insight and knowledge can be gained from the study of literature which contributes in providing readers with an understanding of the past, and a philosophical assimilation of the moral behind a writing piece.
Forms of literature and storytelling have existed since the beginning of time, allowing people to gain knowledge, share ideas, and further advance society. Reading stimulates the intellectual thought that is necessary for both individual and societal growth, leaving one to question the implications that would occur if literature could not exist. The book Fahrenheit 451 explores a society where literature is banned, thus causing priorities to revolve around materialism and meaningless, superficial interaction. This book is a warning: it shows the reader how empty our lives could be without literature (Bradbury). All forms of literature have the power to advance an individual’s mind, as well as that of the entire society. The exploration of how progress is made is compelling; it can be analyzed through a variety of lenses. Progress begins with an idea, and ideas are often expressed in writing. How can literature, specifically poetry, play a role in progression?
Like, Genres of discourse and the definition of literature, written by Gerard Steen, which suggests that literature “… is characterized by the domain value ‘artistic,’ the content value ‘fictional,’ and the functional value ‘positively affective,’ or simply ‘divertive’” (115). Describing literature as fictional work is the only fitting part of the definition because everything else simply does not work. For example, having the domain value be one of the arts needs to be excluded because defining literature is a task in itself. Adding another controversial term, like art, weakens the definition. Furthermore, needing literature to be positively affective, or in other words, elicit a positive emotional reaction from the reader, is not appropriate. This is due to the fact that, on occasion, a book does not draw a positive reaction in the reader. In some instances, a book is simply read to entertain the audience, without them experiencing happiness, joy, or amusement. For example, many people would agree that upon reading through the famous “To be or not to be” soliloquy in Hamlet, one did not experience happiness nor pleasure, yet this does not lessen the fact that the play is considered literature. Finally, reading through Their Eyes Were Watching God and the life full of heartache and obstacles the protagonist, Janie, lived through, one also does not experience any remote feeling of delight nor enjoyment. People did not finish the book feeling pleased knowing Janie ended up killing the love of her life, and then, return to the same town she ran away from, which most likely reminds her of the hell she lived with her first husband. As a consequence, the definition proposed by Steen would fail to describe with accuracy what literature
Out of many things that differ human beings from the rest of the living world one might mention our remarkable ability to be engaged in verbal interaction. Indeed, the notion of language as we know it is not found anywhere beyond the boundaries of the human society. However, one should also note that this peculiar ability to gave birth to other important aspect of our life, namely our vivid imagination. This, it will not be an exaggeration to suggest that our inner world is what truly makes us humans. There is a word of art in which these two characteristic abilities are combined. Literature allows a writer to use all the potential of the language and set fantasy free. Sometimes this takes peculiar forms, such as authors incorporating certain fantasy elements in to narration about real life. This genre of literature is usually referred to as magical realism. As can be easily understood from the very name, the authors that adhere to it, try to describe real life as it is, with all the positive and negative elements of it; however, in the course of their narration, they may engage various fantastic elements which put emphasis on particular aspects of the story or contribute to its development. Magical realism in Like Water for Chocolate is an irreplaceable element of the story, without which it would not have become as amusing as well as interesting and unable to convey the message that was designed by the author.
Given the certain circumstances, literature is a very strong thing in this world. It has the power to shape beliefs of the reader, such as who to love or hate, why people did certain things in the story, or even the understanding of whether someone did the right thing or not. The author has the control of what to think, and it’s like they are the puppet master in the whole operation. Not only do they have the control of the reader’s belief, they get to choose who is given power, and gets to shape people’s beliefs in the story itself. It’s not also positive sometimes either. As shown, in literature, power can be given to individuals whose use it to negativity shape people’s beliefs.
In an age where the printed novel has been somewhat on the decline, and the necessity of readable fiction has almost faded into obscurity. I believe that literature still harbours a crucial part within our society; from the very foundations of most theatrical adaptations, to preserving the culture and encapsulating the feelings of generations past. In this case literature cements itself as one of the most decisive elements of our civilisation, and combining it with history makes it become a testament to who we are as people, as well as the conservation of both our progression and degradation. I have always enjoyed reading literature, from reading J.R.R Tolkien’s classic ‘Lord of the Rings’ trilogy within my childhood, to perhaps more sophisticated,
As the era of literature slowly declines, the expert critiques and praise for literature are lost. Previously, novels were bursting at the seams with metaphors, symbolism, and themes. In current times, “novels” are simply short stories that have been elaborated on with basic plot elements that attempt to make the story more interesting. Instead of having expert critical analysis written about them, they will, most likely, never see that, as recent novels have nothing to analyze. Even books are beginning to collect dust, hidden away and forgotten, attributing to the rise of companies such as Spark Notes. An author deserves to have his work praised, no matter how meager and the masses should have the right to embrace it or to reject it. As
Indeed, the best works of literature are those which are of relevance to our lives today. Through their relevance, these novels continue to persist and endure on. Through their relevance, we can better comprehend the messages, the themes, and the ideas that are imbued in them. Rather than literature being contradictory and in conflict with the truth and unpleasant reality of daily life, it becomes a weapon through which we can be educated about the existential crises facing our world today. In fact, the statement above could not be more far and distant from the reality of literature today. It is fatally flawed. Literature, whilst at the surface, seems whimsical and amusing is, at its very core, a medium through which we are enlightened
Literature is an imitation of societal values and is thus a reflection of the human experience of a time period. Written works emphasize the elements of culture, by means of characters, particular events, setting and theme, specific to the time period in which it was composed. Furthermore, literature mirrors the troubles or hardships of society and projects the core values that define said society. Thus, as culture has changed over time, literature has remained a critical facet in representing time periods of the past. Essentially, the culture of a time period is manifested through writing in the projection of society’s values, symbolism of the center of community and literature itself.