ASASI TESL PROGRAMME

TSL024- FUNDAMENTALS OF WRITING

Assignment 2

Literature Is Still Relevant in the 21st Century

NAME: NURHUSNA UMAIRA BINTI SAHDUN

MATRIC NUMBER: 2020860442
GROUP: T09
LECTURER’S NAME: MADAM NUR NATASHA ELIANA ABDUL
RAHIM

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SUBMISSION DATE: 25 OCTOBER 2020

In a modern world with science and technology being its foundation, the existence of
literature totally brings an enormous impact on society. People often agree that literature
continues to be pertinent today, but how many of us clearly acknowledge the reasons why we
are saying so? Literature is still relevant in the 21st century because it develops higher-order
thinking skills, enables us to learn and understand the life of the past better, and works as a
medium of communication and expression.

Firstly, literature needs to be implemented as it develops higher-order thinking skills.

Literature enables an individual to experience a wonderful ‘journey’ and explore the aesthetic
of a language. However, due to the plot’s complexity and the usage of advance words, one
should think outside of the box to fully comprehend any literary work. Hayes (1990) claims
that to understand literature, one needs to make wise judgments according to reflective,
rational and reasonable thought. For instance, when reading a novel, one needs to grasp the
main idea of the story, identify the evidence and side details, comprehend the characters’
motivation and reasoning, and later conclude the whole story. Readers also might need to
widen their range of vocabulary to understand advanced or new words that they never knew
before like ‘diaphanous’ and ‘quintessence’. Hence, learning literature totally helps one to
build critical thinking and rationalism in delivering thoughts, as well as improving one’s
reasoning ability and vocabulary.

Next, the study of literature enables us to learn and understand the life of the past
better. Literary works such as poetry and novels have myriad information about past
histories, culture and even myths. According to Manal Ismail (2008), literature provides us
with a detailed insight into human experiences which enables us to connect on a basic level of
emotion and desire. As a result, through literature, one can become a 'time traveller' and
‘experience’ the life of the past. For example, the novel, “Animal Farm” by George Orwell is
based on the Russian Revolution which took place around the year 1917 to the year 1923.
Through this novel, one can have some insights into the society in the Russian Revolution era
due to the many resemblances between the characters and events in the novel and real life.

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Hence, it is proven that learning literature is a very effective way to understand a culture and
its history of a specific time, class, and social group.

Finally, literature can be used as a medium of communication and expression. One

can express themselves and communicate with others through writing novels, movies, poems
and even songs. The targeted audiences in return are able to connect their emotions and
thoughts with the authors. Ruonakoski (2012) claims that we can figure out that others might
have similar experiences and hurtful past like us through the act of reading. As an example,
we could see how a famous Malaysian poet named Usman Awang, through his poem which
was established in 1949 called “Enslaved Soul”, urged the Malay society at that time to start
to realise that one cannot achieve anything by mere words only, and this message is still
relevant today. Many singers also use their songs to express their emotions. Hence, literature
clearly can be utilized as a platform to convey a message and express one's self.

In conclusion, it has been proven that regardless of what era it is, literature still holds
its significance within the society due to the stated benefits. We should learn and treasure the
beauty of literature because it is still pertinent in the current days as it cultivates critical
thinking, enables us to comprehend past events, and acts as a platform to communicate and
express something to make it more impactful.

(619 words)

End-text citation:

Hayes, W. H. (1990). Critical Thinking through Literature: A Dialogue Teaching Model.

Critical and Creative Thinking Capstones Collection. 140. Retrieved October 11,
2020, from https://scholarworks.umb.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?
article=1139&context=cct_capstone

Manal Ismail. (2008, February 24). ‘Literature is the mirror of society’. Gulf News. Retrieved
October 15, 2020, from https://gulfnews.com/general/literature-is-the-mirror-of-
society-1.86134

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Ruonakoski, E. (2012). Literature as a Means of Communication: A Beauvoirian
Interpretation of an Ancient Greek Poem. Retrieved October 17, 2020, from
http://periodicos.pucminas.br/index.php/SapereAude/article/view/4785/4998