Mrs. Holly James [628438]

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Sergiu Trifa
Mrs. Holly James
Paideia III C -19
28 February 2020

Literature in the Daily Life of Human Beings

"Literature grows out of life, reac ts upon life, and fed by life." (Leitch et al. )
Commonly, everything in print is literature, but this would be an imprecise classification
of literature. In fact, 'literat ure' remains used to explain everything from imaginative writing to
more scientific or technical works. However, the term is most usually used to lead to works of
the creative works, including the drama ones, fiction, nonfiction, and essays. Any work of ar t in
which the touching content rules is literature. Literature is the definition of written words.
Literature is distinct from all other arts, having no medium of its own. Various forms of literature
live in it. Leicht et al. say that literature it is a " culturally relative definition." (Leitch et al. )
Notwithstanding the descriptions given above, literature is exceeding these boundaries,
being more than what we recognize and comprehend. Its boundaries overpass our lives, our
culture, social relations, tr aditions, national unity, and a lot more. It works as a representation of
reality, a result of art, and the door to an ideology. Everything that arises in a society can be
written, registered, and learned from the literature that follows. Whether it be poe try or prose,
literature grants knowledge or wisdom, and emotion towards the human who partakes it

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completely. Humans life is displayed in the style of literature. It is an embodiment of phrases
based on individual difficulties and perceptions. It nurtures shocks, inspires generations, and
supplies with information. Even though it is changing, perpetual, and multi -dimensional,
literature offers a significant meaning to the world we live in. (Boas ) Furthermore, literature is so
important for our life and can not be substituted by anything, so that T. S. Eliot says: "nothing in
this world or the text is a substitute for anything else . . ." (Eliot)
Literature confers a varied dimension and deals with each viewpoint of life more or less.
The aspect of understan ding and the point of implanting in the conscience of the corresponding
literary composition can be different in the case of different people from different social,
cultural, intellectual, political, or economic backgrounds. Many intriguing elements of lit erature
can influence life. One must grab that accordingly. As an educative reference, literature performs
a vital part in human life. Literature operates with direct or implied morals. Many examples can
result from different genres. So literature is a pow erful mean of education. ( Ahmed)
That literature is a picture of civilization is a matter that has been generally
acknowledged. Literature certainly reveals the society, its ethical values, and its ills. In its
improving use, literature reflects the wrong s of society intending to make civilization recognize
its slips and make amends. It also projects the virtues or ethical values in the world for humans to
imitate. Literature, as an image of human behavior, often confers a view of what people think,
say, a nd do in society. In literature, humans can find novels intended to represent human life and
action through some characters who, by their words, action, and reaction, convey specific
directions for education, information, and entertainment. It is unlikely to find a work of literature
that eliminates the attitudes, morals, and values of the community since no writer has been
brought up entirely unexposed to the world around him. What authors of literature do is to bring

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real-life issues in their community in to a novel and give it to humans as a mirror with which they
can look at themselves and make changes where it is necessary. Therefore, literature is not only a
representation of civilization but also works as a restorative mirror in which members of the
community can look at themselves and find the necessity for positive change. It is essential to
take a close look at some works of literature in order to learn how literature reflects society.
(Roshni )
Philosophical ideas are seen as the most ancient contem plative creativity. Literature is
expressed through various types, namely: spoken literature, written literature, technical literature,
and scientific literature. It performs diverse roles at distinct levels. Literature and life of a
community follow upon each other. Life models literature of the culture and literature reflect the
real pattern of any given culture. So after the constant elapse of time, it is proved that literature
has high power upon life to a considerable extent. Literature influences huma ns and makes them
understand every step of life. Narratives, especially, inspire empathy and give humans a new
outlook on their lives and the lives of others. ( Ahmed )
The literature of war has been for as long as the first literary texts were composed.
Scholars have been fast to recognize that war is a powerful force in the activities of the three
earliest civilizations: the Hebrews, the Romans, and the Greeks. Homer's " The Iliad " and " The
Odyssey " display a society of war, as does Virgil's " The Aeneid " and "The Bible ." Even the old
Sumerian epic " Gilgamesh " adds a heroic battle with an opposing force that must be destroyed.
These literary works and various others that cross the ages since the ancient era tell us that war is
permanent in civilization and a problem that will remain to guarantee critical discussion. It is as
common as issues of time or death or love or human weakness. The increase of recent research
on war works to recall that war is still very much a present problem and that war literature is a

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thriving topic for printing. For example, a large body of literary analysis is on the Civil War,
World War I, World War II, the Cold War, and the nuclear age, the Spanish War, the Korean
War, the Vietnam War (Goldensohn ), the Holocaust, and the continui ng fights in Iraq and
Afghanistan. (Bevan, David, ed.) Critics have also treated the Hundred Years War, Boer War,
the American Revolution, the English Civil Wars, the US -Mexican War, and the War of 1812, as
well as lesser -known fights like the Chaco War, Z imbabwe's War of Liberation, and the New
Zealand Wars (McLoughlin ). The literature of war carries a diversity of approaches in its
attempts to understand the war reality. It includes research on many genres, including drama,
poetry, novels, short stories, diaries, journals, memoirs, oral histories, and letters. (Calloway );
(Krimmer )
Before the first World War, the literature was focusing on literary realism. It tries to
depict common things as they are. Realist authors chose to describe ordinary and banal activities
and events rathe r than using a romanticized or likewise stylized presentation. While in the War
and after the War authors were writing about it. That was what was happening in those days, and
people really wanted to know what is happening around them. "They attempted to c apture certain
emotions of war and how it affected different people ." (Leckband )
It was not only a new gen eration that came out of the war, but its ethnic, environmental,
and cultural character was pretty different from that of the last one. Among the more recent
writers were children of immigrants, many of them Jews or African Americans, and only a few
genera tions away from slavery. Eventually, women who, with the rise of feminism, were to
speak with a new voice. Even if the social atmosphere of the post -war years was conservative,
even conventional, some of the most hotly debated writers were homosexuals or b isexuals .

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Two distinct groups of novelists responded to the cultural impact, and especially the
technological horror of World War II. The realism and the metafiction came alive . Also, in part
because of the atomic bomb, American writers turned increasingly to black humor and absurdist
fantasy. Many found the naturalistic way inadequate of delivering the rapid movement and the
absolute implausibility of contemporaneous life. A highly self -conscious fiction began, laying
exposed to its literary methods, chall enging the nature of representation, and often mocking or
parodying earlier fantasy rather than social reality . Soldiers' journals that had a powerful impact
on others . "Hitler's book, Mein Kamp f, motivated Germany to support him and his cause. He
used it to indoctrinate an entire country. Propaganda from both t he allies and the axis powers
helped keep the country engaged with the war. Books influenced the soldiers who were
fighting. " (Brunner )
The daily life of a Christian should exercise in the literature of the Church daily! The
Christian life does not mean that one says he is part of a religious g roup but means that the
individual is living a real Christian life on a daily basis. Dr. Martin Luther opens the preface of
the Large Catechism, "daily exercise (…) in the catechism, which is a short summary and
epitome of the entire Holy Scriptures." (McCain et al. editors) Right here, there is an indication
of several literary works, namely The Holy Bible, The Small Catechism, and The Large
Catechism. Moreover, Paragraph 10 comes to strengthen the first phrase saying, "catechism
study is a most effective help against the devil , the world, the flesh, and all evil thoughts. It helps
to be occupied with God's Word…" (McCain et al. editors) However, why people need to fight
against the devil? The answer is in the whole Bible! The devil is humans enemy, who never
rests, and tries with all his means to ma ke people go away from God so that they would lose their
everlasting life in Heaven. Also, one who would read the Bible would see the Good News that

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Jesus Christ, God Himself, embodied and came on Earth so that He could pay the price humans
were asked for their sins. Namely, to die for each one of the people and every sin in the world,
from beginning to the end. (The Holy Bible )
Furthermore, Christ is the One that won the battle for everlasting life. Jesus is humans'
shield, and through the Means of Grace, He is arming us f or spiritual warfare daily. The Means
of Grace include literature also! One of the Means of Grace is the Holy Scripture. So the Holy
Scripture is our shield against the devil, and the Catechism helps us do this in a daily manner!
(Luther)
Moreover, Dr. Luther corre lates the elements of the liberal arts with Catechism matters
showing that through catechesis, it works the liber arts in us. He advises to practice it by
speaking (rhetoric), to meditate them – think (logic), and reading (grammar), (McCain et al.
editors) "so that even in this w orld, humans would be of any good to their neighbors." (Why
Online? )
"For though they should know and understand it perfectly (which, however, is impossible
in this life), yet there are manifold benefits and fruits still to be obtained, if it be daily read and
practiced in thought and speech; namely, that the Holy Ghost is present in such reading and
repetition and meditation . . . Besides, it is an exceedingly effectual help against the devil, the
world, and the flesh and all evil thoughts to be occupied with the Word o f God, and to speak of
it, and meditate upon it, so that the First Psalm declares those blessed who meditate upon the
Law of God day and night. Undoubtedly, you will not start a stronger incense or other
fumigation against the devil than by being engaged u pon God's commandments and words, and
speaking, singing, or thinking of them. For this is indeed the true holy water and holy sign from
which he flees, and by which he may be driven away . . . Now, for this reason alone you ought

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gladly to read, speak, thi nk and treat of these things, if you had no other profit and fruit from
them than that by doing so you can drive away the devil and evil thoughts . . . who solemnly
enjoins in Deuteronomy 6:6 that we should always meditate upon His precepts, sitting, walki ng,
standing, lying down, and rising, and have them before our eyes and in our hands as a constant
mark and sign . . . they daily exercise themselves well in these studies and constantly treat them."
(McCain et al. editors) The devil is pleased when humans do not read the Word of God. He
cannot support it. When we do what Dr. Luther tells Christians here, namely to practice daily, the
devil will get away from them.
Literature influences people by teaching them, entertaining them, and inspiring them to
take a step in life. It is pa rt of the humans' daily life, being from all kinds of genres, shaping
civilizations, changing political systems, and exposing injustice. This will remain as truth until
the end of this age because the literature will continue to live as long as the Earth i s still existing!

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Works Cited Page:

"The Holy Bible: English Standard Version Containing the Old and New Testament s."
Crossway, 2016 .
"Why Online? " Welcome to Wittenberg Academ y, 2014,
www.wittenbergacademy.org/why -online.html .
Ahmed, Anzar. LITERATURE AND ITS INFLUENCE ON HUMAN LIFE . A.R. Research
Publication, 2017.
Bevan, David, ed. Literature and War . Rodopi Perspectives on Modern Literature 3.
Amsterdam and Atlanta: Rodopi, 1989.
Boas, George. A Primer for Critics . Greenwood Press, 1968.
Brunner, Lydia. “World War II, Part 2.” Moodle – Wittenberg Academ y, Wi ttenberg
Academy, 13 Feb. 2020, wittenbergacademy.ethinksites.com/mod/forum/discuss.php?d=7520 .
Calloway, Catherine. War in Litera ture and Drama . Oxford University Press, 2013.
Eliot, T. S. The Use of Poetry . Cambridge, 1933.
Goldensohn, Lorrie. Dismantling Glory: Twentieth -Century Soldier Poetry . New York:
Colum bia University Press, 2003.
Krimmer, Elisabeth. The Representation of War in German Literature: From 1800 to the
Present . Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 2010.
Leckband, Joanna. “World War I.” Moodle – Wittenberg Academ y, Wittenberg Academy,
24 Jan. 2020, wittenbergacademy.ethinksites.com/mod/forum/discuss.php?d=7272 .

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Leitch, Vin cent B., et al. The Norton Anthology of Theory and Criticism . W.W. Norton &
Company., 2018.
Luther, Martin. Luthers Small Catechism, with Explanatio n. Concordia Publishing
House, 2018 .
McCain, Paul T., et al., editors. Concordia: The Lutheran Confession s. 2nd ed.,
Concordia Publishing House, 2006 .
McLoughlin, Kate, ed. The Cambridge Companion to War Writing . Cambridge
Companions to Literature. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2009
Roshni, Duhan. Language in India . Vol. 15, Color Photograph., 2015.