My take on Literature..
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I adore Literature, I've been taking it since Sec 1 till The "A"-Levels.One thing to note, there are many teachers out there who can mangle a good script or a good piece of poetry due to their inability to feel for the writings.Literature involves your senses thoroughly and does not leave anything hanging out for others to guess.There is no guessing.You have your opinion, and you do your best to justify that opinion of yours.If its reasonable, you have a winner.If not, it will usually sound really out of place and its a clear sign that you ned to search deeper within.
I remember doing my "O"s and my "A"s with breakneck speed, where planning time is a luxury and it's also where I gained the valuable skill to analyse things very quickly and accurately.You tend to make links between seemingly disconnected ideas and they quickly form a nice, solid picture.For those who might think Lit is a morose and dead subject, you're wrong.On the contrary, it is a dynamic subject which will reward your language skills with the ability to see things beyond the surface and look beyond the facade that people often try to portray to you.
Literature is the study of human lives and condition.The sharp scythe that cleaves away the smoke of mediocrity and grey landscapes, to reveal the wonder that is hidden for many reasons.Perhaps if we all take the time to study each other, we will understand each other better.For civilised, analytical and comprehensive discourse amongst men is the only solution to conflict and bloodshed.Call me a liberal wimp if you might, but it's still the best tool today.You do not need to be strong in English, even any native language is a wonder.Let's not have this colonialist mind that perceives Literature that flows from the streets of Stratford-upon-Avon or the haze-induced travels of Allen Ginsburg as the pinnacle, as they are but insights into a culture which happens to be the predominant one today.Be insightful and I think we all do have a future.Atleast one we can survive as humans, not as beasts. -
Well said!
~clap!~clap!~clap~
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*applause applause*
by the way, i took English Lit in Secondary and A levels too.... guess i was lucky 'cos I had really good teachers for the subject.
And I think to properly appreciate a piece of literary work, one has to know a little about the context in which it was written... e.g. the history, culture of the time. Those things say so much about the motivation that drove the author to write a particular piece. This is just my take on it but having studied History and English Lit together made me better able to appreciate the latter... particularly so when I took European history in A Levels. -
Hee i took Lit, Geo, and Econ during my 'A'. All not related to each other.Originally posted by KittynMeow:*applause applause*
by the way, i took English Lit in Secondary and A levels too.... guess i was lucky 'cos I had really good teachers for the subject.
And I think to properly appreciate a piece of literary work, one has to know a little about the context in which it was written... e.g. the history, culture of the time. Those things say so much about the motivation that drove the author to write a particular piece. This is just my take on it but having studied History and English Lit together made me better able to appreciate the latter... particularly so when I took European history in A Levels.
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Thats my combination too.Wanted to take Lit, Geog, History, Theatre Studies.But I couldn't.
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I took Lit, History and Econ..... failed Maths C in the first year so I gave it up....
I never had the brains for maths anyway...