1.

Henry van Dyke

Literature consists of those writing which interpret the meanings of nature and life,
in words of charm and power, touched with the personality of the author, in artistic
forms of permanent interest.

Reference:http://www.scribd.com/doc/27042357/LITERATURE

2. Imam Jafar al-Sadiq (Muslim Scholar and Philosopher)

Literature is the garment which one puts on what he says or writes so that it may
appear more attractive.

Reference: http://www.scribd.com/doc/27042357/LITERATURE

3. Roman Jakobson (Russian Formalist)

Literature is organized violence committed on ordinary speech

Reference: http://www.scribd.com/doc/27042357/LITERATURE

4. Ezra Pound

Great literature is simply language charged with meaning to the utmost possible
degree.

Reference: http://www.scribd.com/doc/27042357/LITERATURE

5. Salman Rushdie

"Literature is where I go to explore the highest and lowest places in human society
and in the human spirit, where I hope to find not absolute truth but the truth of the
tale, of the imagination and of the heart."

Reference: http://classiclit.about.com/od/basicsliteratureintro/a/aa_literaturequ.htm

6. G. K. Chesterton

Literature is a luxury; fiction is a necessity."

Reference: http://classiclit.about.com/od/basicsliteratureintro/a/aa_literaturequ.htm

7. C. S. Lewis

"Literature adds to reality, it does not simply describe it. It enriches the necessary
competencies that daily life requires and provides; and in this respect, it irrigates
the deserts that our lives have already become."

Reference: http://classiclit.about.com/od/basicsliteratureintro/a/aa_literaturequ.htm
8. Henry Miller

Develop interest in life as you see it; in people, things, literature, music - the world
is so rich, simply throbbing with rich treasures, beautiful souls and interesting
people. Forget yourself.

Reference: http://classiclit.about.com/od/basicsliteratureintro/a/aa_literaturequ.htm

9. Alfred North Whitehead

"It is in literature that the concrete outlook of humanity receives its expression."

Reference: http://classiclit.about.com/od/basicsliteratureintro/a/aa_literaturequ.htm

10. E.M. Forster

"What is wonderful about great literature is that it transforms the man who reads it
towards the condition of the man who wrote."

Reference: http://classiclit.about.com/od/basicsliteratureintro/a/aa_literaturequ.htm

Literature Review
What is a literature review?
According to Cooper (1988) '... a literature review uses as its database reports of primary or original
scholarship, and does not report new primary scholarship itself. The primary reports used in the
literature may be verbal, but in the vast majority of cases reports are written documents. The types of
scholarship may be empirical, theoretical, critical/analytic, or methodological in nature. Second a
literature review seeks to describe, summarise, evaluate, clarify and/or integrate the content of
primary reports.'

The review of relevant literature is nearly always a standard chapter of a thesis or dissertation. The
review forms an important chapter in a thesis where its purpose is to provide the background to and
justification for the research undertaken (Bruce 1994). Bruce, who has published widely on the topic
of the literature review, has identified six elements of a literature review. These elements comprise a
list; a search; a survey; a vehicle for learning; a research facilitator; and a report (Bruce 1994).
 Why do a literature review?
A crucial element of all research degrees is the review of relevant literature. So important is this
chapter that its omission represents a void or absence of a major element in research (Afolabi 1992).
According to Bourner (1996) there are good reasons for spending time and effort on a review of the
literature before embarking on a research project. These reasons include:

to identify gaps in the literature

to avoid reinventing the wheel (at the least this will save time and it can stop you from making
the same mistakes as others)

to carry on from where others have already reached (reviewing the field allows you to build
on the platform of existing knowledge and ideas)

to identify other people working in the same fields (a researcher network is a valuable
resource)

to increase your breadth of knowledge of your subject area

to identify seminal works in your area

to provide the intellectual context for your own work, enabling you to position your project
relative to other work

to identify opposing views

to put your work into perspective

to demonstrate that you can access previous work in an area

to identify information and ideas that may be relevant to your project

to identify methods that could be relevant to your project

As far as the literature review process goes, the goal for students is to complete their review in the
allocated time and to ensure they can maintain currency in their field of study for the duration of their
research (Bruce 1990).

The literature review process and the Library

A good literature review requires knowledge of the use of indexes and abstracts, the ability to
conduct exhaustive bibliographic searches, ability to organise the collected data meaningfully,
describe, critique and relate each source to the subject of the inquiry, and present the organised
review logically, and last, but by no means least, to correctly cite all sources mentioned (Afolabi
1992). The Library offers a range of training for research students that will assist with the production
of literature reviews. Sessions include: electronic databases, using EndNote to download records,
internet searches, Library catalogue searching, cloud (online) student orientation, subject resources,
and research skills. Please contact your Liaison Librarian for more details.

What is the importance of studying literature?

We study literature for the following reasons:

1. It helps us learn about the world around us. It takes us to new places,
different time periods. It broadens our minds and our horizons.

2. By studying literature, we discover ourselves. We see ourselves and our

lives reflected in characters. It is amazing that we can see ourselves,
glimpses of our own experiences that was written centuries before our birth.

3. Studying literature also fosters higher order thinking skills. We do this

through analyzing themes, characters, symbols, motifs ets.

4. We also read literature for the same reason that we watch movies and
television. It is entertaining. It is downright fun to peak into the lives of others.

Literature as a window allows us to peer out from our lives to learn about what
is going on in the lives of people in other times and places. A mirror is
literature that we use to hold up and learn something about
ourselves. Sometimes literature allows us to do both, learn about another
world and learn about ourselves, too.
Studying literature involves reading, discussing, thinking and writing, helping students to
improve in those areas. It also encourages students to think critically, specifically for the
discussing and thinking components.
Those people studying literature look at poems, plays, essays, stories and novels. Reading and
learning about these helps people to sympathize with others and see how complex humans truly
are. It aids in broadening a person's intellectual horizons and it stimulates a more active
imagination. Literature explores different human beliefs, ideas and societies. This allows people
to learn about where they came from and how past events work to shape the different cultures.

Last Revised (5/87)

Literary study involves reading poems, stories, plays, novels, and essays, thinking about them, discussing
them, and writing about them. Due to an increase in the desire for practical skills, the American university has
in recent years decided to emphasize business and technical education at the expense of the humanities. This
decision stems from the assumption that the study of literature has little or no utilitarian value. We believe,
however, that with the right instruction, the study of literature is a practical discipline. Furthermore, it cultivates
other important abilities that make it an indispensable part of university education.

Because literary study involves the four processes of reading, thinking, discussing, and writing, its practical
pedagogical value lies in its tendency to stimulate these activities and thereby improve the students ability to
perform them. Careful reading increases ones vocabulary and general verbal sensitivity and sophistication. In
the classroom, the teacher can lead the student to think critically about what has been read. Classroom
discussions sharpen reading and thinking skills and increase the students ability to express thoughts orally.
The teacher can then use these processes to stimulate in students the desire to organize and record thoughts
in writing. Thus the study of literature can be seen as practical intellectual discipline. It directly involves the
student in the analysis of difficult literary texts, and in doing so it develops verbal skills which are transferable to
other contexts. In other words, a person trained in the study of literature will be better equipped than most to
read, comprehend, and analyze other kinds of texts (newspapers, reports, briefs, etc.). This is why, for
example, English majors make such highly qualified candidates for law school.

But literary study pays dividends far beyond the practical ones resulting from increased verbal ability. It is the
provider of many other important intellectual gifts. Reading literature increases knowledge in an active,
intellectually challenging way that other more passive activities, such as watching television cannot do. A
thorough grounding in literature automatically provides knowledge of our literary heritage while at the same
time increasing the students awareness of cultural values, history, sociology, psychology, and almost every
branch of human knowledge.

None of these advantages, however, is the real reason most people choose to study literature. The most
important gains achieved by reading literature are those of the imagination. Literary study expands our capacity
to sympathize with other human beings, enhances our ability to see and imagine human complexity, and
broadens our intellectual horizons by enlarging our power to experience life vicariously. It does these things so
well, in fact, that medical schools around the country are modifying their curriculums to include the study of
literature. It develops our skills for discerning aesthetic principles and deepens our ability to take pleasure in the
written word. We live in an age that grossly and dangerously underestimates the power and importance of the
imagination. To ignore it is to stifle the breath of the mind. Even the most practical kind of student can benefit
from knowing something beyond his or her own professional field, and literary study provides the kind of
imaginative human broadening that can prove very valuable in the long run. Some great thinkers of the last two
hundred years (Mill, Freud, Schweitzer, Einstein) have argued passionately for the importance of literary study
in preserving the human imagination. The American university must listen to these arguments. For while the
practical arguments for studying literature are compelling, it is its power to broaden sympathies and stimulate
imagination that makes its inclusion and emphasis in any university curriculum essential.
We study literature because it feeds our souls. Great works of literature treat
timeless themes that resonate with readers across centuries. The human
condition remains fundamentally the same today as it was when the printed
word was first produced. It is comforting to read of the travails and the joys of
characters who struggle with the same issues that we encounter.