Study Literature
Study Literature
to gain a Superior Command in English and to learn how to live.
Written by bunPeiris
The Cambridge O Level curriculum [*1] intimates us, “It develops learners’ skills in creative thinking, enquiry and problem solving and is structured so they build practical skills and theoretical knowledge. Indeed, better still is Cambridge AS & A Level curriculum [*2] that says it “develops learners’ knowledge, understanding and skills in” among other things, following:
“Independent thinking”
“Thinking logically and presenting ordered and coherent arguments”
“Presenting reasoned explanation, understanding implications and communicating them logically and clearly”.
At the very front of the pedagogy [the study of teaching methods, including the aims of education and the ways in which such goals may be achieved.] of literature are precisely these objectives. It is the continuous writing of essay type answers presenting your personal response to the works of literature [dramas, (Classical, Shakespearean and Modern) literary novels, short stories and poems] that continuously develops the competence in writing. Once you graduate from a university, you will be employed as a professional in your trade. Wherever the professionals are employed, they would find themselves with the need for superior command in English, written as well as spoken. You may listen to Steve Jobs’ presentation of his company’s ground breaking product in 2007: iPhone. [*3] It is studied for discourse analysis at university level. It is your erudition in your field yorked to eloquence in language that would make you an outstanding professional in your company’s teamwork, presentations and reports. With an edge over others in English language, you will be at the brunt of the campaigns of your trading or service establishment. Therein lies your success in your professional career. Mastery of language never comes since excellence has no limits, but the superior command of language, which is within your reach, should you set your mind upon it, is at once is bound to become your shield and sword. Devoid of superior command in English, you would only be another one in the crowd. Thus herein is an invitation to study Literature in English with a view of superior command in English.
Still more, by the time you graduate from university in Sri Lanka, the first degree in a university would not be valued as it is today. With only a first degree, a bachelor’s degree, most possibly you will be only able to secure a very ordinary employment. As such you will need to study for a post graduate degree [Master’s] while you are employed. And Master’s degree would only be possible with a successful completion of a thesis [40,000-60,000 words] that would demand Academic English. The path to the Academic English can only be streamlined in school with proficiency gained in essays written with your personal response in Cambridge AS & A Literature in English. It’s your reasoning powers, your critical thinking, your persuasive arguments that matter most. Thus herein is an invitation to study Literature in English with a view of superior command in English.
Then again, somewhere else lies the prime function of literature. As the street story teller once told Scheherazade, the stories do tell us how to live. Being cheated by his queen, the King Shahryar would have each one of his daily brides beheaded on the following day. Having convinced her father, the kingdom’s vizier that she would escape being beheaded, Scheherazade marries King Shahryar.
Armed with a vast knowledge in geography and history, astronomy and astrology, Scheherazade creates. She creates spellbinding stories. 1001 Arabian Nights: 1001 episodes night after night coming to a cliffhanger at the crack of dawn, making the king to let her live another day so that he could have his curiosity quenched & entertainment satisfied. At the end of the sleepless yet mesmerizing 1001 nights, Scheherazade, having enlightened a murderous mind, of the human condition, i.e. meaning of life or moral concerns, not only saves her life but also saves thousands of would-be one night brides of the King. The King falls back into the righteous path. Stories tell us how to live.
“This is one of the most shocking stories ever told. A mother, a princess has lost her city and her husband in war, now she has to face the news that she is to be sold into slavery and her only son killed. This filmed version of ancient Greek play “Trojan Women” has become a classic. The first time I saw it, I was moved to tears, and it moves me now. It is a play about most charged aspects of human life: love, war, sacrifice, fear and death. And although it sets among gods, myths and people of ancient Greece, it’s still utterly gripping today. It is one of the main reasons that I study classics”, [4] in BBC documentary video entitled BBC Ancient Greece, The Greatest Show on Earth- Democrats 1/3, says British classical scholar Dr. Michael Scott (born 1981).
Lucius Mestrius Plutarchus [AD 46 – after AD 119], the Greek Platonist philosopher-historian tells us a chilling incident about “Trojan Women” [produced in 415 BC], which followed the fates of Hecuba, Andromache, Cassandra and other woman of Troy following the Trojan war [c.1260–1180 BC] narrated in Homer’s epic poem, The Iliad. “Trojan Women” was staged shortly after the capture of the island of Melos by the Athenians in 416 BC during Peloponnesian War (431–404 BC), [perhaps as a warning on the victor’s justice -Athenians executed the men of Melos and enslaved the women and children.] by the illustrious Greek dramatist Euripides [c.480-c. 406 BC], who represented the man at his worst state.
The abdominal Tyrant, Jason of Pherae, who had murdered infinite numbers, and some of his own blood, was viewing a staging of “Trojan Women” at an amphitheater, with much of the town present. In the middle of the performances he suddenly got up and left. Many citizens were worried that he had been offended, or there would have been an enemy invasion or rebellion. A few minutes later one of his elite bodyguards entered the theater and read a message to the audience: “Do not be worried about my sudden departure. After having put to death so many people in this city, I did not want the citizens to see me weep at the fate of Hecuba and Andromache.” Stories tell us how to live.
[*1] https://www.cambridgeinternational.org/programmes-and-qualifications/cambridge-upper-secondary/cambridge-o-level/curriculum/
[*2] https://www.cambridgeinternational.org/programmes-and-qualifications/cambridge-advanced/cambridge-international-as-and-a-levels/curriculum/
