Question :”Why should we study literature as a society and educators?

Reason :

Literature reflects the various experiences, ideas, passions of human beings in

their daily life that express on several forms and styles of literary works. Since literature
directly derives from human life, it can increase our knowledge and experiences about
human problems included values, morals, cultures, and human interests.
After reading a literary work, the readers may get a certain impression of what he/she
has read.

Literature as a product of human culture has its own functions. Literature has
two functions. The first is literature of power. Literature of power means that the
function of literature as power is to move the heart and mind of the readers. The second
is literature of knowledge. Literature of knowledge has function to teach. It means that
literature gives particular values, messages, and themes to the readers.

Literature has great function in developing human’s feelings, ideas, and

interests. Generally, the functions of literature are as follows: the first function is
literature gives knowledge of those particularities with which science and philosophy are
not concerned. The second function is that literature makes the human perceive what
human see, imagine what human already know conceptually or practically. The final
function of literature is that literature relieve human—either writers or readers—from
the pressure of emotions.

Literature also functions to contribute values of human lives. In education

program, literature may give significant contribution for students’ development and
knowledge. The contribution of literature in education covers intrinsic values and
extrinsic values. The intrinsic values are the reward of a lifetime of wide reading
recognizable in the truly literate person while the intrinsic values facilitate the
development of language skills and knowledge.

Many literary texts such as poem, song lyric, and short story are used in
language teaching. There are some factors of using literature in language teaching in
terms of linguistic, cultural, and personal growth. Linguistically, literary texts offer a
range of genuine texts in a variety of registers, styles, and text-types at many level of
difficulty. Literary texts provide a very real sense the vehicle for culture. The settings,
characterizations, situations, and assumptions which literary texts embody offer the
students with manifold opportunities for raising awareness of difference and for
developing tolerance and understanding. Finally, literature provides affect and emotion.
When the students interact with a literary text, it usually involves a deeper level of
mental processing, a greater personal involvement and response. In this case, students
also learnt a lot about reading critically, emphatically, and creatively.

Therefore, because of its functions and contributions of literature in language

teaching, literature is used as an innovative technique of teaching and even some
institutions of education design a literature program and put the literature as
compulsory subject.

From the beginning until now a literary work never fade and die. In fact
literature can be used to develop insight into the thinking of the nation. Literary works
can shed light on modern society. Toughness is needed in development. On the one
hand, through literary works, the public can be aware of the important problems in
themselves and realize that they are responsible for the changes themselves.
Literature can refine the soul and provide motivation to the people to think
and act for the sake of development itself and the public and encourage the
emergence of awareness, openness, and public participation in development.
Literature encourage people to adopt good morals and noble in human life and realize
the duties and obligations as a creature of God, social creatures and have a personality
that is sublime.
In addition to preserving the values of civilization also encourage the creation of
a modern civilized society (civil society) and humanizing and can introduce human
values are universal, emotional intelligence training, and sharpen one's reasoning.

So we must learn literature because it is important, as we know from the

fungtion of literature.