"What is Literature?" Diagnostic

What is Literature?

This is the question that I want you to begin the semester with.  Although we will be placing a lot of emphasis on what I call the "text" this semester (we will define that next week), I want you to begin this class by writing a diagnostic essay in which you define what you think "literature" means.  To avoid the time-worn student trick of looking up "literature" in the dictionary and starting from there  (this would include such ambiguous and irrelevant definitions as "the body of writings on a particular subject" or "printed matter (as leaflets or circulars)," I want you to instead focus on an academic definition, and then incorporate that definition into your own.

Well what do I mean by an “academic” definition?  In this case, it is a definition posed by a scholar (a professor, a researcher, or even a student) trying to grapple with what the word means in relation to, usually, creative works of writing.  As you might guess, however, it does NOT have a clear-cut, black and white definition.  In fact, as you look at the search I provide below, barely anyone agrees 100% on what literature means, and many sit on opposite sides of their camps.  Some feel literature is a term that is reserved only for the most austere works of creative writing that have been tested through the passage of time (Shakespeare, the first author we will tackle in this class, makes it onto almost ANY list).  On the other hand, there are scholars out there who feel literature includes such diverse material as Hamlet, comic books, television commercials, or even a Willow Smith song.  I, for one, include the genre of film in my own definition, and will utilize film in the class.

But for the start of this paper, I want you to give me your definition based upon your own experience and thoughts on the topic (and if you have NEVER thought about it, that is relevant as well).  How was it presented in school?  In your English classes? In your history classes?  In your math classes?  Have your friends or family ever talked about it?  How have they defined it?  If you were raised to read the Bible or not, would you consider that to be literature?  The main goal here is that you present an argument and you defend it.  The purpose of the assignment is two-fold: 1) to assess your writing before we begin more formal writing assignments in order to gauge areas that you might need help in, and 2) to begin the conversation that will be the focus of this entire course.

Once you have established your definition as you define it (this should evolve into your thesis), I then want you to find an academic definition that either fits with your own definition or one that you could argue against in your discussion (or both, if you are feeling enterprising).  The criteria for this definition is not that stiff; I am using a Google search for the term "What is literature?" and limiting it to only scholarly websites (sites with "edu" in the address):

• "What is literature?"

This is not a perfect  search and will still contain lots of useless information or information that is off-topic, and it will by no means be comprehensive, but it is a start for doing your own academic research in this class.  We will be doing much more in-depth academic searches when we begin discussing fiction, but your job right now is to filter through the results from the above search and find one (or more) definitions that fits well with the essay that is forming in your head.  Try to limit yourself to signed articles, that is essays that someone has identified as writing him or herself (as opposed to an unsigned encyclopedia article or anonymous blog posts).  

After selecting your academic definition, incorporate it into your essay, providing additional examples, analogies, causes and effects, comparison and contrasts, descriptions, divisions and classifications, etc. to develop your argument, and finally concluding with your assessment of what defines literature by the end of your essay.

If this seems daunting, do not be too worried.  This essay will be a work in progress and is only being used for assessment.  To receive full credit, the simple criteria are that you must:

1. complete and submit essay by deadline in Turnitin,
2. address the basic issues covered above (there is no wrong or right response, just a relevant one), and
3. write at minimum of  500 words with a:
1. clear introduction,
2. a body,
3. a conclusion, and
4. a work(s) cited page that includes your online "academic" definition.