Defining literature is very subjective but can be well defined as a piece of written art that possesses some sort of educational, moral, or personal value when read.

Value being the key point from a piece of work which would classify it as being a piece of literature or simply just a romance novel. But can we say then that a romance novel is a non-literary work? If after reading a random romance novel, you feel you have gained some educational value or you have put another piece of the puzzle into your life, then one can define such text as “literature”. Until then, romance novels are non-literary.

Children’s books, however, do add value to a child’s life by means of imagination and education. To a child, a simple piece of text or a short story is defined as “literature” because that child will grow from reading or having read to him or her text.

Dah Chen’s “Colors of the Mountains” is a valued piece of

literature because within this text is his own personal memoir, the history of China, and growth from poverty. All of which, when read, a reader can walk away with some value.

Another way of defining literature is to limit it to 'great books', books which, whatever their subject, and is 'notable for literary form or expression'. Here the criterion is either aesthetic worth alone or worth in combination with general intellectual distinction. Within lyric poetry, drama, and fiction, the greatest works are selected on aesthetic aesthetic grounds; other books are picked for their reputation or intellectual eminence together with aesthetic value of a rather narrow kind: styles, composition, general force of presentation are the usual characteristics singled out. This is a common way of distinguishing or speaking of literature. By saying that 'this is not literature', we express such a “value” judgment; we make the same kind of judgment when we speak of a book on history, p

Some topics in this essay:
Barn’s Noble, Adam Smith, Literature” Defining, Dah Chen’s, Butler Christian, defining literature, romance novel, piece literature, Bishop Butler, , reader pursuing book, defining literature subjective, reader pursuing, bishop butler, history philosophy, reader walk, adam smith, literary histories, pursuing book,