[103][104][105] This distinction is complicated by various hybrid forms such as the sound poetry, concrete poetry and prose poem,[106] and more generally by the fact that prose possesses rhythm. The following, by the award-winning British author William Boyd on the short story, might be applied to all prose fiction: [short stories] seem to answer something very deep in our nature as if, for the duration of its telling, something special has been created, some essence of our experience extrapolated, some temporary sense has been made of our common, turbulent journey towards the grave and oblivion. [54] Modern scholars consider these accounts legendary. [74], Victor Hugo, Les funérailles de George Sand[75], There are very few women poets writing in English, whose names are remembered, until the twentieth century. What Is The Difference Between English Literature and Literature in English? The 11th edition of Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary considers literature to be “writings having excellence of form or expression and expressing ideas of permanent or universal interest.” The 19th-century critic Walter Pater referred to “the matter of imaginative or artistic literature” as a “transcript, not of mere fact, but of fact in its infinitely varied forms.” But such definitions assume that the reader already knows what literature is. All exams must be passed, but marks do not count towards the final degree. However, in some instances a work has been cited in the explanation of why the award was given. Yet both are classed as literature, while the speculations of other philosophers, ancient and modern, are not. Some are in a highly polished literary style; others, couched in a privately evolved language, win their standing as literature because of their cogency, insight, depth, and scope. [134][135][136][137][138] The creative work may be in a literary, artistic, educational, or musical form. Definitions of the word literature tend to be circular. All of the world’s classic surveys of history can stand as noble examples of the art of literature, but most historical works and studies today are not written primarily with literary excellence in mind, though they may possess it, as it were, by accident. [9][10] Developments in print technology have allowed an ever-growing distribution and proliferation of written works, which now includes electronic literature. Prominent atheist figures such as the late Christopher Hitchens and Richard Dawkins have praised the King James Version as being "a giant step in the maturing of English literature" and "a great work of literature", respectively, with Dawkins then adding, "A native speaker of English who has never read a word of the King James Bible is verging on the barbarian". [133] Nearly all drama took verse form until comparatively recently. The word is also used in reference non-written works: to "oral literature" and "the literature of preliterate culture". In England in the late 1820's, growing political and social awareness, "particularly among the utilitarians and Benthamites, promoted the possibility of including courses in English literary study in the newly formed London University". A Definition Based on Prototypes", "Study dates Victorian volcano that buried a human-made axe", Ancient_Greek_Literature_as_Oral_Literature, "How Inuit Parents Teach Kids To Control Their Anger", "Confucian dynamism, culture and ethical changes in Chinese societies – a comparative study of China, Taiwan, and Hong Kong", "Ramayana | Summary, Characters, & Facts". Three written papers form the First University Examination, together with a submitted portfolio of two essays for Introduction to English language and literature. On the contrary, a scientific exposition might be of great literary value and a pedestrian poem of none at all. For the card game, see. Literature may be classified according to a variety of systems, including language, national origin, historical period, genre, and subject matter. One of the biggest questions that comes up after graduation in literature is, 'What to do after BA English?' The oratory of the American Indian, for instance, is famous, while in Classical Greece, Polymnia was the muse sacred to poetry and oratory. The nature of artistic merit is less easy to define than to recognize. [113] There are verse novels, a type of narrative poetry in which a novel-length narrative is told through the medium of poetry rather than prose. The English Literature exam covers material usually taught in a course at the college level. 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