Defining Literature Essay - 928 Words

The definition of literature has been discussed and argued over time and there is no precise answer to be given. Any reader or author can define literature as whatever they wish it to be defined as. This is more of an opinion of how one views certain pieces of work or writings and whether or not they feel that is actually literature or not. Literature is any type of creative writing such as fiction or poetry, for example. Literature is also any form of body of written works of language, which could be from the English era or even as far back as the Shakespearean or Elizabethan era. It is also work from a specific period or culture defining key elements or somehow relating to and/or expressing how it is exactly from that time. The†¦show more content†¦In her poem, Dylan in lines 4 and 5, she writes, Her hair was a halo of warm light / and color dripped off her tongue (23). The reader can interpret just from those two lines the creativity and imagination not only in tha t one poem, but also in all poetry. The description of hair being a halo of warm light allows the reader to use his or her own imagination to perceive that image in whichever way they would like. Creative writing can be determined by many other things not only image or structure of how the poem is set into stanzas, but what is left up to the reader for interpretation. Jewel writes in Cautious in lines 23-29, an open vessel / whose function it was / to be filled / until my consciousness / could return and / spit out / the bad seeds (18). After reading these lines the reader can be left with different feelings and emotions that vary from disgust or simplicity. This is just another example of how poetry is creative writing. According to the American Heritage Dictionary, literature is defined as being the body of written works of a language, period, or culture. An author of any specific type of writing or works can include certain details pertaining to language or other details, which allow the reader to develop a sensory image of that specific period or culture. If the reader had no prior knowledge to the language, period, or culture of the writing he or she would be reading, upon reading and analyzingShow MoreRelatedDefining Characteristics Of Dystopian Literature755 Words   |  4 PagesResponse Questions Two Defining Characteristics of Dystopian Literature A characteristic that defines ‘The Declaration’ as a dystopian literature is the extremely controlling government, or ‘Authorities’. The Authorities control; the birth rates (next to none), the Longevity drug distribution, what the ‘Legal’ citizens believe about the Surpluses, what the Surpluses believe about themselves, the catchers, and even what the Surpluses eat for breakfast plus much more. 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