A PICTURE PAINTS A THOUSAND WORDS Emily Rocha

W HAT IS LITERATURE ? The common definition of literature, particularly for university courses, is that it covers the major genres of poetry, drama, and novel/fiction. This is a fairly basic view of literature because, the meaning of the term has undergone changes, and will no doubt continue to do so. Most contemporary literary histories show a shift from the belles-lettres tradition, which was concerned with finding beauty, an elevated use of language, emotional effects and moral sentiments before something could be called literature. What may be considered ordinary and not worthy of comment in one time period may be considered literary genius in another. Initial reviews of in 1847 were less than spectacular, however, Emily Brontë's Wuthering Heights Wuthering Heights is now considered one of the greatest literary achievements of all time. Emily BrontëWuthering Heights

S OME COMMON D EFINITIONS OF LITERATURE Today literature for us is looking at what the author says and how he/she says it. We may interpret the author's message. Literature is important to us because it speaks to us, it is universal, and it affects us. Literature is something that reflects society, makes us think about ourselves and our society, allows us to enjoy language and beauty, it can be educational, and it reflects on “the human condition”. Literature represents a language or a people: culture and tradition. Literature introduces us to new worlds of experience. Literature is a term used to describe written or spoken material. "literature" is used to describe anything from creative writing to more technical or scientific works, but the term is most commonly used to refer to works of the creative imagination, including works of poetry, drama, fiction, and nonfiction

C ATEGORIES Is there a message to interpret? Speaks to us? Is Universal? Affects us? Makes us think? Reflects society? Reflects human nature? Reflects culture/tradition? Introduces us to new worlds?

C ITATION Lombardi, Esther. "Literature." About.com Classic. N.p., n.d. Web. 06 May "The Academy." What Is Literature. N.p., n.d. Web. 05 May 2014.