What is Literature?

How we define it: imaginative or creative writing especially of recognized

artistic value.
Who defines that artistic value?
Lets talk about the canon: What is it? Who defines it?
What about fables, folktales, comic strips, graphic novels, television
shows, video games, etc.? Is that literature?

Literature - The portrayal of a story (includes plot, setting, etc.) originally

transmitted though written word

What does Literature Do?

It does the same thing metaphors do for us

Examples:

The classroom was a zoo.

America is a melting pot.
Life is a roller coaster.

More Subtle Examples:

Its difficult to put my ideas into words.

Try to pack more thought into fewer words.
You cant simply stuf ideas into a sentence any old way.
His words carry little meaning.

Why Read Literature?

What does Literature have to offer us?

Why cant we just live by facts?

Differing Perspectives

Three baby polar bears on the mother bears back (rest of the mother bear isnt
viewable) in a frozen tundra. The three cubs have their heads (and bodies) very close
together in the shot with the head of the right-most cub in the cross section for the
bottom right corner of the shot, the head of the left-most cub in the center of the left
cross section for the central area of the shot, and the head of the third cub in the center
of the shot. The fur from the mother bear takes up the bottom half of the entire bottom
cross sectional area of the shot. Frozen tundra takes up the rest of the shot.