Reading Literature

The word literature has more than one definition, some people define it as anything you read - books, magazines, bills, letters, reports, advertisements, etc. We will define literature more narrowly here.

Books, articles, essays, poems, short stories, novels, and biographies may fit into this category of literature if they have the following characteristics:

Represent high quality writing

Talk about familiar human problems

Highlight truths about the “human experience”

Clarify our position in the world

You may find that some types of literature are easier to read than others. Firstly, the reading difficulty of a piece of literature depends on your level of mastery of the basic reading skills. Secondly, each type of literature has a unique organization and a unique vocabulary. For example, if you have never read a poem, you may find it a challenge because the vocabulary is unfamiliar, the sentence structure is different, and more literary devices are used.

Reading quality literature, even if it is a challenge at first, will improve your reading skills, increase your vocabulary, improve your thinking skills, and improve your writing skills. Reading carefully and evaluating the literature of skilled writers will guide you in developing your own writing style

As you study this section on reading literature, pay attention to the differences between the types of literature. Read carefully to find differences in how each type of literature is structured, how words are used, the author’s message, the effectiveness of the type of literature in communicating the author’s message. You will also find similarities. Literature from a specific time in history, region, or culture will often have similarities in topics, style, structure, or other aspects of literature.