Importance of literature review and Genres of literature

Literature can be generally defined as a collection of written pieces of work. However, it also includes writings that may be referred to as forms of art. For example, literature does include drama, poetry, and prose fiction. Over the recent centuries, even oral literature has also been made part of this category although, much of this oral literature has now been transcribed. Literature helps a civilization to record, preserve and transmit their folk knowledge and cultural entertainment. Nevertheless, this characteristic highlights the importance of literature.

Genres of literature

Any sort of literature can be classified into two main types i.e. fiction and non-fiction. Both these types have their sub-categories which are discussed below:

1. Fiction: The literature in the form of fiction describes imaginary people and events. It is not based on reality or real-life events. Some of its sub-categories are:

Drama: It can be referred to as stories written for theatrical performances. It expresses conflicts and emotions with the help of dialogue and action.

Fairy tale: These are stories written especially for children. Its storyline revolves around fairies and magical creatures.

Fable: These are legendary and supernatural stories. These are the stories in which we observe animals speaking in human language.

Fantasy: The main characters of such fantasy stories consist of strange characters who do not belong to the real world.

Folklore: It consists of various songs, proverbs, myths, and stories that are passed on from generation to generation by the word of mouth.

Fiction in Verse: These are full-length novels that contain everything – from the plot, subplots to themes and major and my characters. In this category of fiction genre, the narrative is presented in the form of verses.

Horror: It is the literature that generates fear among the readers. Its storyline revolves around ghosts and other creepy creatures.

Historical Fiction: Stories consisting of events and fictional characters based on historical settings are termed historical fiction.

Humor: It refers to fiction that is full of fun, entertainment, and laughter.

Legend: Stories of folk heroes as well as real-life heroes fall in this category. Such stories consist of facts as well as imaginative material.

Mythology: Most often mythology pertains to the actions of gods. It is usually based on historical events that highlight natural phenomena as well as human behaviors by its symbolism.

Mystery: It is the category of the fiction genre that produces content focusing on the investigation of crimes or unraveling secrets.

Poetry: It consists of rhyming verses that intend to create emotional responses.

Realistic Fiction: Stories that are true to life and can happen in reality.

Science Fiction: Stories based on the projects of science e.g. stories related to the future, futuristic discoveries, or other planets.

Short Story: These are brief stories that have no sub-plots.

Tall Tale: It refers to the exaggerated humorous stories where heroes carry out impossible tasks with nonchalance.

2. Non-fiction: The literature in the form of non-fiction describes real-life events and facts. It is based on reality or real-life events. Some of its sub-categories are:

Autobiography / Biography: It refers to the complete story of someone’s life who achieved something great in his life.

Narrative non-fiction: It refers to the factual information presented in such a format that tells a story.

Speech: It refers to public addresses made by well-known and inspirational personalities.

Essay: It short literature which reflects the author’s point of view on a certain subject.

Non-fiction: It refers to the text sharing information on real-life subjects.

Importance of literature review

Literature can be referred to as a review article. It is also known as a narrative review. A literature review is a scholarly paper that provides detailed information regarding the topic of a research paper. It includes all the available knowledge as well as methodological contributions on the topic. The importance of a literature review is such that no research paper can be written and completed in the absence of a literature review. A literature review is written after carefully reviewing the already available research papers on the relevant variables. Therefore, the literature review is a secondary source of information and it does not report any new findings. Having said that, the importance of a literature review cannot be avoided because the researcher cannot complete his paper without a well-written literature review.

The literature is important in academic researches due to several reasons. Some of them are discussed below:

• It highlights the relationship between the research topic and the relevant researches conducted in the field previously.
• It brings out the originality of the researcher’s work. Furthermore, it establishes a connection between research and research questions.
• Furthermore, it justifies the methodology of the research study.
• It also clarifies that how prepared the researcher is regarding his research study.

Importance of literature review in research

The importance of literature review in research is highly substantial. It is so because it helps the researcher in finding out that what relevant work has already been done in similar researches. It also helps in devising methodology. However, this is not it. It plays multiple roles in making a research study successful. Some of these roles are discussed below:

• Literature review tells the reader that the researcher has complete command over the subject.
• It enhances the credibility of the research study.
• It compares the research study with the previous researches conducted and develops a relationship between both.
• It demonstrates that the researcher has learned from the previous researches. Furthermore, it highlights that the research will lay the ground for future researches.

The importance of literature review also depends upon four main objectives that it attains in a study. They are described below:

• It surveys literature already available regarding the current topic.
• It synthesizes the information available in the form of literature, into a summary.
• It critically analyzes the gaps in current studies.
• It presents literature in an organized format.

Importance of literature in society

The importance of literature in society is equally imperative. Literature plays a vital role in keeping the folk wisdom and heroes of culture alive. Moreover, it provides an opportunity for every writer of modern society to express himself with the help of his literature. Similarly, some of the literature acts as a mirror of society. In this way, it helps the current as well as next generations to learn about a particular society that existed in a certain time period.

On the other hand, it also highlights the importance to understand the problems of modern society and therefore, solutions could also be devised regarding these problems. Similarly, reading novels and books also impart a society with reading habits. It helps them in their learning. It also enriches their knowledge regarding various matters of importance and helps them in developing logical reasoning.

Importance of literature in our life

Good literature helps the reader in critical thinking. It enhances his thinking capability and makes it more logical and reasonable.  Practical literature also enables the reader to put forward and debate socialist arguments. It plays a substantial role in educating people and helps them while differentiating between good and bad. It makes them good human beings, However, if literature is not understood properly, it can also turn an individual towards a negative side. Therefore, the importance of literature lies in reading good literature and understanding it properly.

Conclusion

No doubt, the importance of literature as well as the importance of literature review both are undeniable. Literature, on one hand, saves the culture and values of today’s society in written form. This information will later be read by future generations and hence, it shall introduce this generation to the new generations. Similarly, literature review helps in the completion of valuable researches which will help multiple generations. Therefore, modern, progressive and decent societies should be able to understand the value of literature and literature review. They should take interest in reading the existing literature and creating more written information.