Summary of Definition and Function of Literature

Literature is beautiful use of words in any specific language in written and printed form,
should provide pleasure to the reader, and shows the reflection of society and behaviour of human
beings. Literature most commonly refers to works of the creative imagination, including poetry,
drama, fiction, non-fiction, and in some instances, journalism, and song.
Reading and studying literature is very important for various reasons some of these outlined
below:
 Literature improves your command of language
 It teaches you about the life, cultures, and experiences of people in other parts of the world
 It also gives you information about other parts of the world which you may never be able to
visit in your lifetime
 Literature entertains you and provides useful occupation in your free time
 Literature makes you a wiser and more experienced person by forcing you to judge,
sympathize with, or criticize the character you read about
 It helps you to compare your own experiences with the experiences of other people, and
 It gives information which may be useful in other subjects, e.g in Geography, Science,
History, Social Studies, and so on.
Literature serves certain function in our life. There are several functions of studying literature:
 Entertainment function: to entertain its readers
 Social and Political function: to show how human social and political relationship
 Ideological function: to shape our way of thinking based on the ideas of other people
 Moral function: may impart moral values to its readers
 Linguistic function: to preserve the language of every civilization from where it originated
 Cultural function: to find out the culture diversity
 Educational function: to teach and increase knowledge
 Historical function: to keep a record of events that happened in the place where they originate

Question:
How does literature help in the teaching of English?