MERCADO, Rene Ricardo A.

Synthesis Essay
1M4 May 31, 2020
Educate, Inspire and Empower
According to Esther Lombardi, in order to consider a literary work a classic it must
possess high standards for quality, appeal, longevity and influence. Literature itself is an
embodiment of knowledge in which one can extract multiple ideas aside from the main objective
that was intended by the author/s. In order to achieve this, one must possess specific set of skills
such as critical thinking, creativity and open mindedness. We discussed several great works
during the course such as The Iliad of Homer, The Ramayana, Bhagavad Gita, and the Analects
of Confucius to name a few.

Personally, I am not a fan of any literary work or literature in general. I see it only as
story having the sole purpose of entertainment and even a solution to boredom. Failure to fully
understand the beauty of literature made me blind to its real purpose which I lately discovered to
be a work of art. The knowledge I gained from the great literary works changed my perspective
of literature from it being a source of entertainment to an extension of one’s self as a wonderful
work of art compassing of emotions, values, thoughts, ambitions, biases and preferences. The
great literary works helped me acquire set of skills such as critical thinking, creativity and open
mindedness. These abilities would not just clarify literary text but can also be applied in life. I
discovered that critical thinking is essential in understanding literary works for it enables readers
to extract the intention and purpose of the work by reading between the lines understanding the
purpose of each word and appreciating how it was written. In extracting information from
literary texts, one must be creative in visualizing the contents because such works possess artistic
qualities of life, truth and beauty. Every literary work is unique and contains the author’s culture,
ambitions, biases and preferences that is why in order to fully understand the essence of literary
works one must be open and has enough knowledge with the background as well as life story of
the author. These learnings help us develop and improve our cognitive aspects by improving our
perception on how we see every aspects of life. It helps us think outside the box considering factors
such as culture, beliefs and religion. In addition, these learnings improve our reasoning by
elaborating our thoughts with the back-up of strong and concrete evidences. Lastly, these learnings
enable us to express and stand by our opinions based on our own understanding or how we interpret
things because as the saying goes “No two great minds think alike”.

Literature enables one to express him/herself in words and in action. It allows us to be

vocal on our thoughts as well as fight and defend it from the criticism of others at the same time
reminding us to be open since we have different perceptions in life. The course is essential in our
curriculum for it reminds us to be considerate in understanding one’s culture specially for us
since we are in the field of business where culture plays a vital role in order to efficiently and
effectively produce and advertise a particular product such as putting “Halal Certified” food
labels in products to be sold in Muslim areas. Lastly, it improves our creativity in thinking of
concepts even in the most difficult situations by seeing between the lines. The quote from Llosa
proves that Literature is the embodiment of knowledge not just in intellect but also in spirit. It
enables us to ponder the mind with our own fantasies enabling us to live a life we wish to have.
We tend to desire what we lack and put it into writing where we can do it freely. As discussed in
our course, Literature concertizes man’s a ray of emotions, values and ambitions. Nonetheless,
this is part of the beauty of all literature you discover that you have the power to create your own
way of life which can be used to educate, inspire and empower others.