THE MEANING AND

IMPORTANCE OF
LITERATURE

LITERARY STANDARDS
 LEARNING OBJECTIVES

At the end of the lesson, the student shall be able to:

• Define Literature
• Understand the importance of Literature
• Explain the significance of literary works
• Identify the process of aesthetic evaluation of written works
of art
We will define literature as a term which refers to the sum total of man’s imagination and
experiences in life transferred from one generation to another. “Literature is a byproduct of
life.”

Clive Staples Lewis (29 November 1898 – 22 November 1963)

was a British writer and lay theologian.
“Literature adds to reality, it does not simply describe it. It enriches the necessary
competencies that daily life requires and provides; and in this respect, it irrigates the deserts
that our lives have already become.”
Cirilo F. Bautista (July 9, 1941 – May 6, 2018) was a Filipino poet, critic and writer of
nonfiction. A National Artist of the Philippines
“Literature raises life to a new level of meaning and understanding,
and in the process restores sanity and justice in an insane and
unjust world.”

It is a known fact that literature deals with emotions, thoughts and ideas of man. It provides
different meanings to different lessons at different stages of their life. Thus, regardless of what you
learn from a book, literature provides connection to the reader and to the world.
The word literature is derived from the Latin term literatura which means “writing formed with
letters”. The term is further derived from litera which means “letter” in English.
Others may interpret that literature can be any printed material written within a book or pamphlet.
For some it could be a result of one’s imagination and expression
 IMPORTANCE OF LITERATURE
1. Literature helps us grow both personally and intellectually.
2. Literature links us with the rest of the world of which we are apart.
3. Literature enables us to transcend our immediate time, place, and culture and to make
connections with other human beings and their concerns.
4. Literature encourages us to develop mature empathy with all forms of life: human, animal,
plant.
5. Literature sharpens our sense of moral judgment.
6.Literature stimulates our imagination and ingenuity.
7. Literature shows the significance of irony, paradox, oxymoron and ambivalence of life.
8. Literature allows us to see the world in different vantage points.
9. Literature relives history.
10. Literature reminds us that we are human beings.
 LITERARY STANDARDS
Studying different forms and genres of literature is often
based on a person’s evaluative criteria. It is based on this
set of evaluative criteria that we choose, study, and
appreciate specific literary works especially during our
leisure time. The choices we make based on these given
criteria eventually determine our choice in studying
different literary works that help us mold our character.
• The seven literary standards are: artistry,
suggestiveness, intellectual value, spiritual
value, permanence, universality and style.
These are a set of characteristics to determine
whether or not a work is literary. The criteria were
developed by writer William J. Long in his
textbook "English Literature: Its History and Its
Significance for the Life of the English-speaking
World."
 1. Universality
Literature appeals to everyone, regardless of
culture, race, gender, and times which are all
considered significant.

2. Artistry
Literature has an aesthetic appeal and thus
possesses a sense of beauty.
3. Intellectual Value
Literature stimulates critical thinking that enriches mental
processes of abstract and reasoning, making man realize the
fundamental truths of life and its nature.

4. Suggestiveness
Literature unravels and conjures man’s emotional power to define
symbolisms, nuances, implied meanings, images and messages,
giving and evoking visions above and beyond the plane of
ordinary life and experience.
5. Spiritual Value
Literature elevates the spirit and the soul and this has the power to motivate
and inspire, drawn from the suggested morals or lessons of the different
literary genres.

6. Permanence
Literature endures across time and draws out the time factor: timeliness,
occurring at a particular time, and timelessness, remaining invariable
throughout time.

7. Style
• Literature presents peculiar way/s on how man sees life as evidenced by the
formation of his ideas, forms, structures, and expressions which are marked
by their memorable substances.