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[[Image:Narnia books.jpg|right|thumb|230px|The Chronicles of Narnia]]

[[Image:Narnia books.jpg|right|thumb|230px|The Chronicles of Narnia]]

'''Literature''' as an [[art]], consists of writings whose value lies in the beauty of form or emotional effect.”  <ref>The Concise Oxford Dictionary</ref>  Traditionally, this encompasses such diverse forms of expression as [[novel]]s, [[poetry]], and others.  [[Literary criticism]] is usually itself considered a form of literature.

'''Literature''', as an [[art]], consists of writings whose value lies in "the beauty of form or emotional effect",<ref>The Concise Oxford Dictionary</ref>  and encompasses such diverse forms of expression as [[novel]]s, short stories, [[drama|plays]] and [[poetry|poems]]. Its content is as limitless as the desire of human beings to communicate.  

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''The art of literature is not reducible to the words on the page; they are there because of the craft of writing. As an art, literature is the organization of words to give pleasure; through them it elevates and transforms experience; through them it functions in society as a continuing symbolic criticism of values.'' [http://www.bopsecrets.org/rexroth/essays/literature.htm The Art of Literature] Encyclopædia Britannica.

''The art of literature is not reducible to the words on the page; they are there because of the craft of writing. As an art, literature is the organization of words to give pleasure; through them it elevates and transforms experience; through them it functions in society as a continuing symbolic criticism of values.''<br><br>[http://www.bopsecrets.org/rexroth/essays/literature.htm The Art of Literature] - Encyclopædia Britannica  

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The content of literature is as limitless as the desire of human beings to communicate. Literary criticism is usually itself considered a form of literature.

 

It is generally thought that literature arose from the oral traditions of [[epic poetry]]. In ancient [[Mesopotamia]] (c. 7th century B.C.), the development of [[ideograph|ideographic]] glyphs allowed the [[Epic of Gilgamesh]] to be transcribed for an Assyrian king in the city of Akkadia. This is arguably the earliest piece of literature that we possess today, although Egyptologists believe that the [[Egypt|Egyptian]] [[Book of the Dead]] may have been written as early as the 18th century B.C. Extant copies, however, date from 250 B.C.<ref>Diamond, Jared. ''Guns, Germs, and Steel.'' New York: Norton, 2005.</ref>

While [[epic poetry]] is a form of artistic expression, it is generally considered that literature began with the recording of such epics, rather than their oral recitation. In ancient [[Mesopotamia]], the development of [[ideograph|ideographic]] glyphs allowed the recording of the [[Epic of Gilgamesh]] in the city of Akkadia for an Assyrian king in the seventh century B.C., arguably the first piece of literature that we possess today. It was preceded by multiple other items of literature that we know of, such as the [[Egypt|Egyptian]] [[Book of the Dead]], but while Egyptologists believe this to have been recorded as early as the eighteenth century B.C., extant copies date from 250 B.C.<ref>Diamond, Jared. ''Guns, Germs, and Steel.'' New York: Norton, 2005.</ref>

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* [[Dan Brown]]

* [[Dan Brown]]

== Poetry Samples ==

== Poetry samples ==

[[Image:Lord Byron.png|thumb|170px|Lord Byron.]]

[[Image:Lord Byron.png|thumb|170px|Lord Byron]]

''We call it a grain of sand''   

''We call it a grain of sand''   

''permanent, passing, ''  

''permanent, passing, ''  

''incorrect or apt.''

''incorrect or apt.''  

Wislawa Szymborska, from "View with a Grain of Sand". [http://www.owlnet.rice.edu/~slav411/1.htm Poetry Samples]

Wislawa Szymborska, from "View with a Grain of Sand". [http://www.owlnet.rice.edu/~slav411/1.htm Poetry Samples]

== See also ==

== See also ==

[[Image:Copista.jpg|right|200px]]

[[Image:Copista.jpg|right|200px]]

*[[Spanish Golden Age]]

*[[Spanish Golden Age]]

*[[Liberal Arts college]]

*[[Liberal Arts college]]

*[[World History Lecture One]]

*[[World History Lecture One]]