Literature ResourcesLiterature Terms Plot Structure Levels of Meaning Narration and Point-of-view Archetypes and Archetypal Criticism The Archetypal Quest Joseph Campbell Campbell Simplified Poetry Terms | Why Study Literature?If all your confusion about literature was captured with one question, it might be why do we study it? Why do teachers keep on assigning story after story, book after book, poem after poem, essay after essay, play after play? What is it about literature that demands such attention? That's easy... Literature is all about you.It obviously doesn't mention you by name (unless your name is Huckleberry), but the characters in fiction and non-fiction have to deal with their world just like you have to deal with yours. If you can understand their choices and recognize their mistakes, you are better equipped to do the same for yourself. If you want to really understand yourself, your friends, your world, read literature.The most important literature term is theme.A theme is a statement about people or life in general that a work makes. Having a theme separates slick or simple literature from serious literature. While even a romance novel can have a theme, serious literature has a strong theme well presented and worthy of consideration. Consequently, all the other components of literature are simply the tools used by an author to relate a theme. |